Avast VPN not turning off and hanging Windows 10 Sshutdown

[J2roc]

I am running Avast Premium Security 19.8.2393 (build 19.8.4793.547) on a Windows 10 machine.

Over the last day, I cannot turn off the VPN. It hangs and internet access is cut off. I can still work on Windows 10, but cannot shutdown. The shutdown process hangs and I have to crash to machine.

I have been using VPN for more than two years and have never seen anything like this behaviour. It is irritating because of the need to crash the machine to get it back on the net.

I have sent in feedback via the Avast UI, but am looking for other hints.

Any suggestions will be must welcome.

thanks

[J2roc]

After looking at some of the other posts on the forum, I realised that I need to make things a
bit more clear.

I normally do *not* use VPN. I use it only for some secure transactions and sites. For the sake of speed, I disconnect it when I do not need it. So, what I meant by "turning off" is that when I manually ask it to disconnect by using the VPN UI and clicking the button, it does not disconnect. Instead I get a circling arrow that keeps going on for at least a couple of minutes. If, during this
period, I try to shut down Windows, the Shutdown process hangs.

As I mentioned, today is the first day that I have seen this behaviour. It was fine yesterday.

The most annoying part is that the computer gets disconnected from the net while VPN is trying to disconnect.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

thanks

[bob3160]

After looking at some of the other posts on the forum, I realised that I need to make things a
bit more clear.

I normally do *not* use VPN. I use it only for some secure transactions and sites. For the sake of speed, I disconnect it when I do not need it. So, what I meant by "turning off" is that when I manually ask it to disconnect by using the VPN UI and clicking the button, it does not disconnect. Instead I get a circling arrow that keeps going on for at least a couple of minutes. If, during this
period, I try to shut down Windows, the Shutdown process hangs.

As I mentioned, today is the first day that I have seen this behaviour. It was fine yesterday.

The most annoying part is that the computer gets disconnected from the net while VPN is trying to disconnect.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

thanks

Was this a clean install of SecureLine or was it part of an Avast installation?

[rickandjackie]

I'm experiencing the same issue. I can turn on the VPN using the user button, but when I attempt to turn off VPN it will hang up. I then have to access task manager to end the task....follow by a restart of my computer.

[J2roc]

Good question! I have been using Avast Internet Security for over 10 years now. (Must add that I also run Malwarebytes -- but the two have played very well together over the years). I got the VPN about 2-3 years ago. At that time it was separate purchase. Since then, I have renewed licenses as they expire.

Then, about 3 months ago, I was told about the changes in the line up of the software. So, I decided to move to Avast Premium Security. The change was seamless. Everything worked just as always.

The problem with not being able to disconnect Secure Line VPN started just a couple of days ago.

If you want more detailed information, please tell me what you want and I can look for it.

I am not sure what version of Secure Line VPN I am using -- I looked for it, but cannot find it.

thanks for your help

[bob3160]

I've reported this problem to Avast.

[J2roc]

New twist ...

After reading the post by the other user with the same problem, I tried to kill the process via the Task Manager. I could not kill it.

Then, I right clicked on the status tray icon and found that both, 'Connect' and 'Disconnect' were grayed out. However, 'Exit' was available and selecting that immediately (!) killed the process and the icon disappeared (as it should). The computer was sill connected to the net and I was able to go about my business.

I then tried to restart Secure Line VPN from the Avast UI (Privacy -> Secure Line VPN). I got a
screen with an 'Open VPN' button. Clicking on it restored the icon in the status tray, but after some time I get a window that says

" Ooops! Secure Line VPN encountered a technical issue. Soirry, Avast Secure Line is not responding".
Underneath that is a "Restart Service" button. Clicking on goes back to to screen with the "Oops" message.

I have not tried to shut Avast down altogether and bring it up.

In any case, something has changed in the past couple fo days.

Any hints to resolve this issue will be greatly appreciated.

[J2roc]

More interesting ... and disturbing --- stuff.

This has happened thrice in the last two days. When Windows is Shutdown after the VPN issue, it hangs, as previously stated. Windows grinds away for a long time, but Windows has, each time, rebooted, rather than shutdown and stay that way. This does not happen when the machine is shut down while VPN is up and has not been used during the session. The Reliability Monitor is
UGLY! There are several messages in the following time sequence:

Windows was not properly shut down   1/13/2020 5:48 PM
Windows stopped working                     1/13/2020 5:48 PM
Shut down unexpectedly                        1/13/2020 5:49 PM

I guess that even though Secure Line VPN 'Exited', there is something left behind that interferes with the Windows Shutdown process. It looks like some kind of crash has occurred, even though there was no intervention (holding down the power button) on my part.

Again, this does not happen for sessions for which VPN is not used.

No more VPN for me till it is fixed .... or I move to a new product.

[pavel.hala]

Hi
could you please provide a log folder so we can do a better diagnostic of your problem?
Copy folder "C:\ProgramData\AVAST Software\SecureLine\log" and share it.

[J2roc]

pavel.hala wrote:

Hi
could you please provide a log folder so we can do a better diagnostic of your problem?
Copy folder "C:\ProgramData\AVAST Software\SecureLine\log" and share it.

I could make a RAR file of the directory. But, how do I upload it? I had done this once before to resolve some difficulty with the completion of virus scans.

More importantly, how about privacy and security issues? Is is prudent to put all that out into the public sphere?

Thanks.

[YOaC]

Same problem here. SecureLine won't disconnect when requested and must be shut down via Task Manager. Thereafter, attempting a reboot in Windows7 causes it to hang in the shutdown process, requiring a hard reset.
This problem started three days ago.

[Asyn]

pavel.hala wrote:

Hi
could you please provide a log folder so we can do a better diagnostic of your problem?
Copy folder "C:\ProgramData\AVAST Software\SecureLine\log" and share it.

I could make a RAR file of the directory. But, how do I upload it? I had done this once before to resolve some difficulty with the completion of virus scans.

More importantly, how about privacy and security issues? Is is prudent to put all that out into the public sphere?

Thanks.

You can upload it here: ftp://ftp.avast.com/incoming/
Pick a unique name (and post it here), so the devs can find it. Thanks

[J2roc]

[/quote]
You can upload it here: ftp://ftp.avast.com/incoming/
Pick a unique name (and post it here), so the devs can find it. Thanks
[/quote]

I cannot make a RAR file of the directory even after I exit from Secure Line VPN. WinRAR
says that some files cannot be archived as they are in use by another process.

Which processes should I kill by hand (via Task Manager) to be able to make a RAR archive
of the 'log' directory?

thanks

[Asyn]

Hi, copy & paste the folder to your desktop.

[pavel.hala]

Sorry I wasn't precise enough. You need to copy the folder first (to a desktop for example) because it is protected and then you can make a rar/zip out of it.