Avast Free Antivirus keep breaking after restart

[Ferrara]

I am going to describe what happens. This has happened three times in the past two weeks. I am running Windows 10 on a Dell XPS 8930 desktop. I have been using Avast Free version for over 15 years and it has been a stable and effective program until recently.

1 I get a popup saying "Avast needs to restart your computer"
2 I assume this is because of an update to Avast and I restart.
3 When the computer is all loaded upon restart, there is a RED X on the Avast icon in the system and when I mouse over it it says Avast is not working.
4 I restart again and I get the same issue. Avast stopped working.
5 When I click on the avast icon in the system tray or taskbar to open the user interface I get a popup which says "Avast Loading. This shouldn't take long." And it doesn't load, it just stays like that for ten minutes until I close it out and restart and Avast remains broken.

With help from my Dell tech support team and from a user here on the forum, I have learned how to fix this by doing a clean uninstall and reinstall of Avast using the Avastclear.exe and running safe mode, etc. Today I repeated the process and then ran into another separate issue related to Windows startup that took me half an hour to fix. But each time I have to do the the fresh uninstall/reinstall of Avast it is thirty minutes of time I have to spend fixing what shouldn't keep breaking.

So what I want to know is: Is Avast aware of this bug that came up in their recent updates to Avast Free Antivirus? Are other users having the same issue? How can I prevent it? Is there a way to contact Avast support directly rather than posting on this forum?

I am not expecting much in terms of customer support for a free program, but I'm putting the call out anyway. I am sure Avast would like to get me to pay for an upgraded version but I am a disabled senior living near poverty level on monthly benefits and do not want to add another purchase to my credit card or monthly billing. Avast Free version worked great for me until recently.

Please offer what helpful reply you can. I do not need to know how to do a clean install of Avast because I have already done it three times and I saved the link with the step by step instructions and I've just about got it memorized by now from doing it again and again.

THANK YOU.

[bob3160]

Not a problem here with a restart request after an update.
There also aren't a large amount of complaints with that problem being reported.
If you're interested in perusing this further with Avast support, you might want to try the following.
Submitting a support file using the Avast Support Tool: https://www.avast.com/faq.php?article=AVKB33

[jedi.khan]

I've run into the same issue, Ferrara, except I'm using the paid version - Avast Premium. I've been able to get Avast working again by using the Repair function that's built in rather than doing a full uninstall/reinstall.

Follow the instructions here to do the repair: https://support.avast.com/en-us/article/Repair-Antivirus

I've found this really only works when performed in Windows Safe Mode with Networking (just in case the Repair needs to download anything from Avast). How to enter Safe Mode manually: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12376/windows-10-start-your-pc-in-safe-mode

Note: I've found that this is not a permanent fix, as I've had to do this twice now. It does get Avast working again, although it might take a few minutes after the first reboot following the repair for Avast to show it is working. The tray icon will still show a red X, but that will go away on the next system boot.

@bob3160 - The issue I've observed is that the restart request appears to be as if it was being prompted by an update to Avast, but there really isn't an update. At least there hasn't been one that I've seen.

[bob3160]

@jedi.khan,
Updates don't always need to be full blown program updates and can come in several different ways.
Emergency update, VPS update.

[Jakub Dubovic]

Thank you for reporting the issue.
Could you please help us with investigation by providing some data?

Please enable debug logging (Menu > Settings > General > Troubleshooting > Enable debug logging)

Wait for the issue to occur again (ideally all 5 points that you have described, from the "Avast needs to restart" popup to the "Avast Loading" popup).

Create a support package (https://support.avast.com/en-eu/article/Submit-support-file) and post the ID here.

Thank you very much,
Jakub

[Ferrara]

I've run into the same issue, Ferrara, except I'm using the paid version - Avast Premium. I've been able to get Avast working again by using the Repair function that's built in rather than doing a full uninstall/reinstall.

Follow the instructions here to do the repair: https://support.avast.com/en-us/article/Repair-Antivirus

I've found this really only works when performed in Windows Safe Mode with Networking (just in case the Repair needs to download anything from Avast). How to enter Safe Mode manually: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12376/windows-10-start-your-pc-in-safe-mode

Note: I've found that this is not a permanent fix, as I've had to do this twice now. It does get Avast working again, although it might take a few minutes after the first reboot following the repair for Avast to show it is working. The tray icon will still show a red X, but that will go away on the next system boot.

@bob3160 - The issue I've observed is that the restart request appears to be as if it was being prompted by an update to Avast, but there really isn't an update. At least there hasn't been one that I've seen.

Thank you, I will give that method a try next time it breaks.

Thank you for reporting the issue.
Could you please help us with investigation by providing some data?

Please enable debug logging (Menu > Settings > General > Troubleshooting > Enable debug logging)

Wait for the issue to occur again (ideally all 5 points that you have described, from the "Avast needs to restart" popup to the "Avast Loading" popup).

Create a support package (https://support.avast.com/en-eu/article/Submit-support-file) and post the ID here.

Thank you very much,
Jakub

I have enabled debug logging as you've directed and will follow the additional instructions next time I face this issue.

Thank you, everyone for your helpful and knowledgeable attention! I can't help scratching my head wondering why this keeps happening? Is it a new update to Avast that has a bug, and if so why aren't a lot of other users reporting it. Did something change in my Windows security settings that is interfering with Avast? I have been using Avast on this computer with Windows 10 since I bought it about eighteen months ago and these repeated issues just started happening two weeks ago. I try to think if I noticed anything that I did that might have caused a change. The only thing I can think of is that on two occasions I ran an app on my computer that caused a Windows popup asking me to allow a firewall exception and I clicked yes for a private network (that happened when I ran the Soulseek app, which I rarely use, and it happens when I use Dell's remote control app for their tech support). Could a Windows firewall issue cause these Avast issues? The Dell support agents told me that when I have an outside antivirus program installed such as Avast it automatically overrides the Windows security program in Windows 10.

At least now I have a couple of things to try next time this happens. Thanks again.

[bob3160]

Windows Defender turns itself off when you install any 3rd party Antivirus program.

[Ferrara]

Thank you for reporting the issue.
Could you please help us with investigation by providing some data?

Please enable debug logging (Menu > Settings > General > Troubleshooting > Enable debug logging)

Wait for the issue to occur again (ideally all 5 points that you have described, from the "Avast needs to restart" popup to the "Avast Loading" popup).

Create a support package (https://support.avast.com/en-eu/article/Submit-support-file) and post the ID here.

Thank you very much,
Jakub

I have generated a support file package which is saved to my computer. The file ID is ZBHKU.

Now I will need to do another clean reinstall of Avast since it is broken again. I wish they'd fix this!!!

[john1632]

I've also had this problem several times over the last couple of weeks on both Win7 and Win10 machines.
Symptoms: after being alerted by Avast that I need to restart the computer, Avast doesn't not come back up ... little red X on tray icon, etc.
I've only been able to get Avast back up by completely uninstalling and re-installing ... on both Win7 and Win10 machines.
This morning, problem happened again (was prompted to restart computer, etc.).
I tried the Safe Mode repair mentioned above, but it didn't work for me.
Had to uninstall and re-install from scratch for Avast to come up and work.

[Ferrara]

I've also had this problem several times over the last couple of weeks on both Win7 and Win10 machines.
Symptoms: after being alerted by Avast that I need to restart the computer, Avast doesn't not come back up ... little red X on tray icon, etc.
I've only been able to get Avast back up by completely uninstalling and re-installing ... on both Win7 and Win10 machines.
This morning, problem happened again (was prompted to restart computer, etc.).
I tried the Safe Mode repair mentioned above, but it didn't work for me.
Had to uninstall and re-install from scratch for Avast to come up and work.

Thanks for your report. So that is you and me and jedi.khan and who knows how many others that are running into this issue lately. It's good to know I am not the only one having the issue so I can rule out thinking that it is something wrong with my PC. I also tried doing the safe mode repair suggested by jedi.khan and although I was able to follow the instructions to enter safe mode manually and I checked the networking box but when I restarted in safe mode there was no network icon in the system tray and I was not connected to the internet. Anyway, I spent over an hour fixing this last Saturday morning and it is very annoying having to do that again every week or two.

I wonder if anyone in Avast support has reviewed my debug log which I posted here. I cannot find a way to contact them directly, only thru this forum.

Next time this happens I am going to try a different approach. I will see if I can use the repair mode in Windows to repair Avast when I get the popup saying Avast needs to restart my computer BEFORE I restart it. I don't trust Avast anymore when it gives me a restart prompt because every time it has done that in the past three weeks it has broken when I restarted. I could just ignore the restart prompt for a time, but I'm going to need to shut down my PC at some point and I usually do so at the end of every day.

When I go to the update panel in Avast settings it says my application is up to date, with a release date of September 19, 2019, version 19.8.2393 - build 19.8.4793.544. That is the version that I downloaded from Avast on Saturday, Nov. 16, and installed that morning after the last failure.

I hope the next major Avast update fixes this! As I said, I've been using Avast as my primary antivirus program since 2003 when I got my first Windows PC, and using Avast as my only security program since July 2018 when I got my current PC. It's a good program, and I hope I don't have to switch to something different.

[Jakub Dubovic]

I wonder if anyone in Avast support has reviewed my debug log which I posted here. I cannot find a way to contact them directly, only thru this forum.

Hello,

I have started investigating the logs, but the cause of the erroneous behavior is not apparent and there is still a lot of work to be done.

This forum is the way to contact Avast directly.

Thank you for your patience and please let us know if you find out anything else (e.g., something that triggers the behavior).

[wizzlbang]

I'm having much the same problem, running the repair tool makes no difference

using pro antivirus on windows 7

[wizzlbang]

I booted up my PC this morning and the problem seems to have gone away on its own, was a fix rolled out? Or should I be worried about it happening again?

[bob3160]

I booted up my PC this morning and the problem seems to have gone away on its own, was a fix rolled out? Or should I be worried about it happening again?

Sometimes it requires more than one restart to solve a problem.
The next step should your problem return would be a clean install.
Repair & Clean Install of Avast -> https://goo.gl/t7aJGq

[恩典]

I Also meet this condition a lot of time includ yesterday 2019/11/22，The repair is not useful，and I can just reinstall avast to resolve that，I'm not use other antivirus software . I think it may a lot of people meet this condition but jus not saying.