installation impossible?

[gstime]

Avast! 4 Home version 4.1.342
vps 0401-8
W0792316H/400A0905
Pentium II 400 MHz
Windows 98 SE 4.10.2222

I've been using Avast! 4 Home for about 6 months and been very pleased with it, but now I have a problem I can't solve. The current installation program seems to be defective.

The automatic update feature almost always fails, probably because my dial-up ISP isn't very good. (I live in rural Maine and have a choice of one.) So I've been updating Avast! manually. Last time the update got interrupted as usual by an ISP glitch. After that, Avast no longer worked. "The package is broken."

Tried updating both vps and program. Your web site told me both were up to date, but the program still wouldn't load properly. Blue ball icon with red cancel circle. "Error 42040: VPS file was destroyed."

Tried reinstalling from the setupeng.exe that I downloaded when I originally installed the program. That didn't work. "The ASHUINT.DLL file is linked to missing export ASWCMNS.DLL: FixRegistryString."

Tried uninstalling Avast! from Control Panel, then reinstalling from the setupeng.exe. That didn't work.

I read your FAQ and tried downloading new setupeng.exe from your web site. This new installation from scratch didn't work either. "An error 1006 (000003E) has occurred. Last performed operation was opening the self-extract archive."

I read the Forum topic on error 1006, which suggests the problem is a corrupted setup file due to a bad Internet connection. So I redownloaded setupeng.exe and for good measure downloaded avclear4.exe.

I tried using avclear4.exe to completely uninstall before reinstalling, but the uninstall program doesn't remove the Alwil directory under Program Files. I don't know if it actually gets rid of the other components it says it removes.

The redownloaded setupeng.exe doesn't work either. Error 1006 again.

So I uninstalled and reinstalled again just to be sure. This time the installer said it finished, but there's no .exe program in the Alwil directories, no menu entries, no nothing. This time the last entry in setup.log is "The package is broken." I'm attaching the setup.log file.

Is there any way I can install Avast! and get it to run? Or should I move on and try AVG?

Sincerely,
Gary Stimeling
gstime@uninets.net

[Culpeper]

Please don't go from bad to worse by installing AVG.  Wait for the Alwil staff to respond to this question.  You have tried everything I would have already suggested.

[igor]

There's no log file attached... maybe it was rejected due to its size?

Anyway, if there are no exe files in the installation folder - didn't it actually install somewhere else? Isn't there another installation folder somewhere on your disk that the installer tries to update?
Try to search all your drives for the ASWCMNS.DLL file (for example)... is it where it's supposed to be? (and nowhere else)

[gstime]

Dear Igor,
I've downloaded setupeng.exe a total of six times now, including once from the Czech server. I've run the Virus Cleaner, which came up empty. I use Task Manager to exit everything but Windows core Explorer module before running the setupeng. One of the setupeng.exes unpacked a bunch of .vpu files to an Alwil Software directory under my Program Files folder, and seemed to do a few more when I ran it additional times, but never any .dlls or .exes. There's no aswcmns.dll anywhere on my system. And I can't resend a .log file now, because I deleted everything between installation attempts, and emptied the Recycle Bin, and my sixth copy of setupeng.exe doesn't do anything except give me the 1006 "Last operation was unpacking archive" message, even though it didn't actually unpack anything. This one doesn't get as far as making a .log file. The .log file was way under 150 KB, though. I'm totally baffled, but at least I'm sure the file isn't getting corrupted during download. I comes through with the same number of bytes (7,790,350) every time. P.S., I hope this is the right way to reply to a reply. Thanks.

[kubecj]

Hi gstime,

I've downloaded setupeng.exe from avast.com right now. Works like a charm, file length 7 790 350, tstamp 04/01/29, 19:59.

CRC32 of the file is 886A77F8. You may check it by computing that with specialized program or simply by storing (compression level 0) into zip file and then checking the checksum.

If the CRC32 matches, that would be some temp file problem.
If it doesn't match, it seems like a download problem.

[gstime]

Well, here I am again. I noticed leftover Avast! temp files in my Temp directory, so I emptied the Temp directory. No improvement. Neither PKZip nor McAffee WinZip have anything in their help screens about CRC checks or compression level 0, so I don't know how to do that. I'm trying again to attach the setup.log file. I know it can't really be a defective install program or a thousand other people would be having the same problem. But I don't know what else to try.

[igor]

Compression level 0 = "stored"; it certainly should be possible to set in PKZIP...
Though I'm afraid it won't help you much.

[gstime]

Dear Igor and Jindrich,

Thanks for your thoughts on this problem. A few more questions before giving up:

1. Is my system perhaps infected? Windows has been a bit erratic lately, crashing when deleting a file, and so on. But nothing new there. I've used every version between Win/386 and Win98, and each one has been pathetically unstable. I used the Avast quick scanner from your web site and found nothing.

2. The Startup section of the Win98 System Configuration Utility shows the ashMaiSv module left over from the original successful installation, though disabled. Also McAfee's Vshwin32EXE and McAfeeWebScanX, also disabled, both of which were left over after uninstalling McAfee, and both of which were there when Avast! was running fine. I presume these are Registry entries. Could they be causing the installer to bomb? If so, how do I get rid of them?

3. I tried a Minimal install instead of Typical. This time the setupeng got further than ever before but still ended with a blank Finish screen and a Finish button that did nothing. I've tried attaching the setup.log by browsing for it till the path and file name shows up in the attach box, but I gather it's not really getting attached. Maybe I need to rename the .log to .txt? I'm trying that, but since I really don't know what I'm doing wrong here either, I'm also including the last few lines of the setup.log as part of this message. To my untrained eye everything looks OK up till the end.

12:08:13 vrb/pkg  Extracting from av_pro_dll409-b2.vpu (1)
12:08:13 nrm/fil  Direct move of file: C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ENGLISH\Base.dll
12:08:13 vrb/fil  Installed file:C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ENGLISH\Base.dll
12:08:13 min/fil  Extract: tried to extract 'Lang.dll' from pkg 'av_pro_dll409' but failed miserably.
12:08:13 dbg/gen  progress end - forced
12:08:13 dbg/gen  progress thread end
12:08:22 nrm/pkg  Transferred files: 10
12:08:22 nrm/pkg  Transferred bytes: 7311807
12:08:22 nrm/pkg  Transfer time: 279 ms
12:08:22 vrb/fil  NeedReboot=false
12:08:22 min/gen  Return code: 0x20000011 [The package is broken.]
12:08:22 min/gen  Stopped: 03.02.2004, 12:08:22

Best regards,
gstime

[gstime]

Jindrich, I just checked the CRC32 of the setupeng.exe file with FSum, and it matches the one you posted: 886A77F8. So I guess that means my problem is with one of the temp files. Does that bring me any closer to a solution?

Gary Stimeling (gstime)

[techie101]

gstime,

I will try to help you.  Installation of Avast has never been impossible, only difficult for some.  
Let's see what we can do.

From reading the posts, I think that you have corrupted too many files for Avast to work until we clean out a lot of junk.

Before we begin, have you had any other anti-virus installed on your computer?  This is crucial.

I will be making a list of things for you to do before we attempt an actual installation of Avast.

I use Win98SE and have had no problems with Avast at all.

Also, I am a bit confused.  Even in "rural" Maine, there is more than 1 ISP.  You are only limited by whether the phone call is long distance or not.

techie101

Edited post:  Ok, I re-read the posts and saw you had McAfee installed.  It might be a cause for concern.  Even if Avast ran fine before with the leftover files, you cannot rule out a compatibility issue with any new update.  We will need to remove all traces of McAfee.  We'll get to that in due time.

[gstime]

Dear techie101,

Thanks in advance for your help.

I was using McAfee for several years, as part of their Office2000 utility suite. I've left the other utilities installed because I still use a few, mostly WinZip and Fortress, the encryption utility. But there's nothing there I can't live without or easily replace with something else.

I once started to set up AVG, but stopped when the setup package told me I needed to download some enormous file from Microsoft before it would work. I thought I had cleaned everything out from that, but I'm no expert and may have missed some things. Those are the only two antivirus programs I've ever tried besides Avast.

As to the ISP, the phone number is exactly the problem. I have yet to find a second company that has a local access number for my little neck of the woods, which falls in the cracks between several service areas. If I lived a few miles in one direction or another, I would have more choices. Everyone in my little village wants to end the local monopoly.

[techie101]

I was using McAfee for several years as part of their Office2000........ I still use a few, mostly WinZip and Fortress, the encryption utility. But there's nothing there I can't live without or easily replace with something else.

Exactly.  I would dump the whole package.  Some "power utility" programs wrap themselves around the guts of your system real good.  There are many freeware programs to replace them that are better!

I once started to set up AVG, but stopped when the setup package told me I needed to download some enormous file from Microsoft

I do not know of any "enormous file" that AVG requires from Microsoft.  Hopefully we will get Avast up and running for you.

As to the ISP, the phone number is exactly the problem. I have yet to find a second company that has a local access number for my little neck of the woods

Let me have your area code and I will see what I can come up with.

Ok, I sent you a rather long IM to conserve space here as to recommended steps and programs that you might need.
To fix things, you need tools and that is what I sent you.

Basically (for information to other users), you should completely clean out your hard drive and check it for errors.  The registry is probably a mess by now so it will need a polishing.  Finally, complete removal of any trace of Avast, AVG and McAfee, followed by an online virus scan.

Optional programs might be Smart Uninstaller which does a much better job than Windows at taking out programs without leaving junk behind,  and Clean Ram which always adjusts the available RAM to keep the computer running at its' best.

Does this guarantee to solve the problem?  Well, if it doesn't fix it, then either try another AV or reformat the HD and start over from scratch.

Good luck
techie

[gstime]

Success at last!
But not Avast!

ScanDisked. Defragged. CheckReged. PCcleanered and DiskCleanered.

Used RegSeeker and BeClean on the registry. Got rid of 309 entries for McAfee. Found another 895 defective registry entries. Unfortunately Windows seems to need some of them. Had to go back to the backup registry. When I have another week to kill, I'll delete a few at a time to get rid of that trash.

Ran Avclear4. Then deleted 19 Avast entries from the registry, and the Avast folder under Programs, and some Avast temp files. What exactly does Avclear remove?

Shut down every running program but Explorer via Ctrl-Alt-Delete. Still the setupeng.exe quit with a broken package error 1006. Same as ever.

Meanwhile, I need an antivirus program. AVG installed and ran without a hitch on first try. Maybe Avast needs a more forgiving setup procedure, though my trouble was probably some Windows crack peculiar to my system. There is no metaphor powerful enough to express my disgust with Microsoft. It's Apple with worms, and we all have to eat it.

Techie101, thank you for your strenuous effort on my behalf. It wasn't all wasted. I got some promising utilities out of it, and wantdbest.com is awesome. Probably never would've found that on my own. And I'm sure I'll try Avast again when something breaks AVG.

Cheers,
gstime

[techie101]

gstime,

Glad to hear that some medium amount of satisfaction was gained through all of this.  I truly suspect that the problem lies within your Wndows OS, not Avast.

If you ever have occasion to reformat Windows, then give Avast another try.

Good luck and I hope to see you again on a more pleasant note here at the Forum.

techie101

[Vlk]

Just a for a reference/ future improvement --  can you tell us some examples of reg keys that were left over by avclear?

Thanks
Vlk