AvastSVC High CPU + Memory

[AWUK]

Since a recent-ish update (deferred rebooting to update for a bit) to Avast one of my machines has decided to go on a slow down, turns out AVASTSVC.EXE was using 70 - 90% CPU and close to 1.5GB of RAM.

Disabling the shields helped a bit, CPU usage went down to 20% but RAM stayed, I have had to disable the service for my machine to be usable, not ideal obviously, but the fan noise was becoming unbearable.

I am using Avast Free, Windows 7 x64 and there are no other virus scanners etc installed and nothing has change in the last few months that would cause this, Chrome has done a few updates that's about it.

What is going on? This isn't the first time this has happened, and I had to roll back to a previous version and block updates for a while until it was resolved previously.

I have had to already remove the behaviour shield as it made the machine so unstable it just used to lock up until I forcibly rebooted it. 

[Asyn]

- Which version of Avast Free..?
- Other security related software installed..?
- Which AV(s) did you use before Avast..?

[morganuci]

I have the same problem.  My Avast version is 19.8.2393 (build 19.8.4793.541).  My OS is Windows 7 Pro 64bit.

[Asyn]

I have the same problem.  My Avast version is 19.8.2393 (build 19.8.4793.541).  My OS is Windows 7 Pro 64bit.

Hi, you're hijacking AWUK's topic.

[AWUK]

Hi,
Only ever had Avast installed on here since the hard drives were replaced.
Win 7 x64
and 19.8.4793 Avast Free.

I did mention all of this in the original post apart from the version number of Avast.

I have removed the AvastSVC.exe so it wouldn't keep locking up the system, so I can't get much from it (or update it through the UI) at the moment unless I re-enable it.

Cheers

[Asyn]

1. Download Avast Free Antivirus: https://files.avast.com/iavs9x/avast_free_antivirus_setup_offline.exe
2. Follow instructions: https://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility (Run this tool for all prior installed Avast versions..!!)
3. Reinstall Avast with the downloaded installer from point 1.
4. Reboot.

[AWUK]

Hi Asyn,

Yes, I do suspect your steps will work as I had to reinstall it last time it went wrong, but WHY does it keep doing this?
I've had other AV's installed in the past on other machines that have not done this, I use Avast as it used to be one of the more non-intrusive to system resources, now it is eating them faster than a fat kid in a cake shop.

It seems as though the premium version also has similar issues reading through the forums, surely there must be something the developers can do rather than suggest every time it starts going haywire to simply reinstall it.

By the way this captcha is one of the worst ones to try and read!!

[bob3160]

The captchas are there to deter spammers.
They are only there for the first 3 posts so you've passed that hurdle.

[Asyn]

It seems as though the premium version also has similar issues reading through the forums, surely there must be something the developers can do rather than suggest every time it starts going haywire to simply reinstall it.

Well, keep in mind that this is a help forum, so it's normal to see mostly issue reports here.

[AWUK]

I understand that it is a help forum, but it seems as though these issues are quite dated and still exist, and I would have hoped that the information would have been passed back to developers to try and solve the issues.

Reinstalling just masks the issues, they will come back next update or after a period of time has elapsed unless the root cause can be identified.

I mean the system is left on for hours, idling sometimes, and the service just sits and chews sometimes up to 60% CPU sometimes spiking more, sometimes it only uses (only!) 30%, and what I can only assume to be some kind of memory leak using nearly 1.5GB of memory if left too long, what in the world is it doing?

[Asyn]

You could try the latest beta: https://forum.avast.com/index.php?board=15