PC shutdown problems

[DarkZero556]

av4me,  thanks for the link to the 20.4 version.   After doing another safe mode boot. an AvastClear uninstall again and then still even after that uninstall finding a ton of Avast crap in my registry which I then deleted and then installing 20.4 I can now shut down in 5 seconds after clicking the icon that runs the batch file in admin mode.   These are the commands in the batch file:
sc.exe control "avast! antivirus" 255
pause
shutdown /s /f /t 0

   You will want to pause a couple seconds and then click 'OK' on the Avast window that pops up asking if you want to shut it down - that's why there is a 'pause' in the batch file so you can do that and give Avast a couple seconds to popup and shutdown.  Then just tap any key to finish the shutdown.

   Still not thrilled about some things I see.   If I block all Internet access with my firewall I still saw access happening on my router upon shutdown with 20.7 and I believe there may be some with 20.4  but very little with the shutdown batch file I use above.   Makes you wonder what all is being collected.   And by who.   This program increased in size by 114 Megabytes in just the last couple months - about 25% bigger. 

[DougCuk]

Are you sure your shutdown issue is primarily due to Avast? 
The commands you are using affect a lot more than just the Avast Service
- the shutdown command you are using says it " forces all running programs to close without warning".

The key identifier for the Avast "Slow Shutdown" issue is the System Event Log error message:
"The Avast Antivirus service did not shut down properly after receiving a preshutdown control."
Logged as a Service Control Manager Error - Event ID: 7043.
Were you getting this error?

This type of error is behind most Slow Shutdown problems - and is not restricted to Avast.
Have you found any other services (for other programs) reporting the same type of error?
If you were getting the Event ID: 7043 error - then all I can say is for me my fix has worked 4 times now on different computers.

[DarkZero556]

When I removed Avast, rebooted and used the program Private Firewall as a temporary AV (which warns of any and all changes - annoying but it works very well and is only 3.5 Megabytes versus 478 Megabytes for Avast!)  and then shutdown the computer shuts down in about 4 seconds.  So yes it is very related to Avast.  I've gone back to 20.4 and when issuing the Avast stop command in my batch file (sc control "avast! antivirus" 255) as mentioned it shuts down in about 10 seconds.   

When trying to do the same routine with 20.7 it takes a full 60 seconds to shutdown.   Using a normal shutdown from the Windows menu 'Shutdown' takes about 4 minutes with 20.7.   Also something quite unbelievable is that 20.7 actually blocks the computer from shutting down when holding down the power button.  Normally almost all computers will force a Windows shutdown if you hold down the power button for 5 seconds but I could not even force shutdown with the power button after holding it at least 30 seconds!   Avast has taken over way too much power!

[bob3160]

When I removed Avast, rebooted and used the program Private Firewall as a temporary AV (which warns of any and all changes - annoying but it works very well and is only 3.5 Megabytes versus 478 Megabytes for Avast!)  and then shutdown the computer shuts down in about 4 seconds.  So yes it is very related to Avast.  I've gone back to 20.4 and when issuing the Avast stop command in my batch file (sc control "avast! antivirus" 255) as mentioned it shuts down in about 10 seconds.   

When trying to do the same routine with 20.7 it takes a full 60 seconds to shutdown.   Using a normal shutdown from the Windows menu 'Shutdown' takes about 4 minutes with 20.7.   Also something quite unbelievable is that 20.7 actually blocks the computer from shutting down when holding down the power button.  Normally almost all computers will force a Windows shutdown if you hold down the power button for 5 seconds but I could not even force shutdown with the power button after holding it at least 30 seconds!   Avast has taken over way too much power!

If you're serious about getting to the actual cause of this problem, please do the following,

Submitting a support file to Avast
Instructions how to use it can be easily found at:
https://www.avast.com/en-us/faq.php?article=AVKB33#artTitle

[r@vast]

When I removed Avast, rebooted and used the program Private Firewall as a temporary AV (which warns of any and all changes - annoying but it works very well and is only 3.5 Megabytes versus 478 Megabytes for Avast!)  and then shutdown the computer shuts down in about 4 seconds.  So yes it is very related to Avast.  I've gone back to 20.4 and when issuing the Avast stop command in my batch file (sc control "avast! antivirus" 255) as mentioned it shuts down in about 10 seconds.   

When trying to do the same routine with 20.7 it takes a full 60 seconds to shutdown.   Using a normal shutdown from the Windows menu 'Shutdown' takes about 4 minutes with 20.7.   Also something quite unbelievable is that 20.7 actually blocks the computer from shutting down when holding down the power button.  Normally almost all computers will force a Windows shutdown if you hold down the power button for 5 seconds but I could not even force shutdown with the power button after holding it at least 30 seconds!   Avast has taken over way too much power!

Hi,

Could you please provide us with the dump.
Please see this post:https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=234120.msg1547400#msg1547400

[sinister2]

I'm still running version 20.5 (2415) and the shutdown is OK. It was the following version  (20.6) that caused the huge shutdown delay for me.

20.5 is still getting virus definition updates (latest just installed today), so for now this is a good workaround for me.  Presumably at some point the virus definitions will no longer be updated unless the main program is updated too, but for now it's still OK.
 
At that point I'll probably try the complete clean uninstall method as mentioned above , but as that means a complete backup of my 120GB boot drive (and then restore if the shutdown problem is still present) I'm putting that off for as long as possible.

[DavidR]

I'm still running version 20.5 (2415) and the shutdown is OK. It was the following version  (20.6) that caused the huge shutdown delay for me.

20.5 is still getting virus definition updates (latest just installed today), so for now this is a good workaround for me.  Presumably at some point the virus definitions will no longer be updated unless the main program is updated too, but for now it's still OK.
 
At that point I'll probably try the complete clean uninstall method as mentioned above , but as that means a complete backup of my 120GB boot drive (and then restore if the shutdown problem is still present) I'm putting that off for as long as possible.

Well the latest regular release is 20.7.2425, so in all honesty resolving an old program version isn't going to happen.

You should update to the latest version and see if the problem still exists, then there is something to investigate.

A clean reinstall of Avast doesn't require complete backup of your 120GB boot drive.  Even if there were to be a problem uninstall avast, yes and revert to the existing version, this assumes you have kept a copy of the off-line installation file or can get a copy of it.  Nothing else on your OS should change.

Sledge hammer to crack a nut comes to mind.

[sinister2]

so in all honesty resolving an old program version isn't going to happen.

Not sure what you mean here, there's nothing to be resolved in 20.5, it works fine and for now continues to receive definition updates.

You should update to the latest version and see if the problem still exists

It almost certainly will still exist, as they apparently haven't even acknowledged the problem yet, never mind claimed to have fixed it. Maybe 20.8 will fix it, or maybe not.

Even if there were to be a problem uninstall avast, yes and revert to the existing version, this assumes you have kept a copy of the off-line installation file or can get a copy of it.  Nothing else on your OS should change.

Maybe. But maybe not. Maybe the newer version makes some registry changes or puts a DLL down a system folder or whatever. No guarantee that simply re-installing the older version will revert everything to exactly the same condition and function as it had previously. Same with Windows restore point before an update or program installation, sometime works, sometimes doesn't. I've been using PC's for over 30 years and have seen stuff like that happen many times... only way to be 100% sure of restoring identical operation the first time would be to do a complete restore. I'm backing up with Acronis at least once a month anyway, so the only hassle is having to do the full restore.

If you think installing a new software version then re-installing a previous version restores exactly the same conditions as existed before the new install 100% of the time then you haven't been using PC's for very long.

I've already wasted hours tracking done this problem when I first posted about it after version 20.6 was released, I've no desire to waste further hours playing about going back and forward between different versions.

[DavidR]

1.  If there is a problem in any version other than the current one, then essentially there is no fixing it, unless the problem still exists in the current version

2.  How will you know this if you first don't try it.

3.  I don't speculate. 

4.  I have only been using avast for over 16 years and computers very much longer than that, 1980s. 8086 and 8286 and window 3 come to mind.  So don't make assumptions, it pretty much like speculation, not based on fact.

5.  Me too, so I done here.

[sinister2]

Thank you for trying to help anyway, I appreciate that.

Hopefully we all get a solution for this shutdown problem soon, one way or another.

[bob3160]

Thank you for trying to help anyway, I appreciate that.

Hopefully we all get a solution for this shutdown problem soon, one way or another.

I'm on Windows 10 v2004 running Avast Omni v20.7.245 Build 20.7.5568.599
and I don't have any problems or delays with shutdown or re-starts.

[sinister2]

After a full backup to allow easy restoration of my fully working 20.5 version I updated to the latest version and the long shutdown delay returned as expected.

I then tried the complete uninstall util and full offline install of latest version as suggested by DougCuk and am happy to report that it's working fine with normal (under 20 secs) shutdown over last few days. So a big thanks to DougCuk , if you'd like to PM me your paypal address I'd be happy to send you something to buy a few beers, coffees, hot chocolates or whatever.

I'll outline exactly what I did as there are a few custom install specifics that may have made a difference to the success, where others have found this method didn't work for them.

1. Used the "Backup settings" option on Avast Troubleshooting page
2. Un-ticked the "Enable Self-Defense" option on Avast Troubleshooting page
3. Ran the Avast Uninstall Utility (AvastClear.exe) on the intact Avast installation
(As DougCuk did I ran this from normal mode even though safe mode was recommended)
4. After the re-boot I manually deleted the remaining C:\Program Data\AVAST Software\ folder including sub-folders
5. Ran the full offline installer of latest Avast version, with custom install:
(On first page, un-ticked the "Yes, Install Avast secure browser" option, then did customised install and selected only the basic features I needed, that is the first 3 options (File Shield, Behaviour Shield and Web Shield) and the very last option ("Do Not Disturb" mode). All other options were un-ticked.
6. With latest version now installed I went back to the Avast Troubleshooting page and selected "Restore Settings" to restore my settings saved in step #1

[av4me]

can anyone suggest a safe/trustworthy place to down the 20.5 offline installer?

unfortunately IA archive didn't capture it, goes from 20.4 to 20.7

20.4 is no longer being allowed to get virus signature updates and I'm not going through the 20.6-20.7 update/shutdown hell until people confirm the newer versions no longer have the problem

really don't understand why avast poisoned the product like this, makes no sense

[rocksteady]

Some of us use old versions on old OS like XP. A source for those has been File Puma.
You should be able to find 20.5 on there if you go:
https://www.filepuma.com/download/avast_free_antivirus_20.5-25985/download/

[av4me]

both 20.8 and 20.9 beta still take 5+ minutes on shutdown

this is an absolute nightmare waste of time to constantly install, uninstall, disable modem and install old version

GIVE US 20.5 OFFLINE INSTALLER direct download link please!

my gosh this is ridiculous