PC locks on start-up

[kaone]

I'd welcome some advice on the problem I now have:

When starting my PC it frequently locks up during startup.  The desktop appears OK, followed by the Avast icon in the system tray with a red circle and then the system locks completely.  The only way out for me is to power-off the PC manually and start it again.

I'm running XP, and have Zone Alarm Free, Ad-Aware & Spyware Blaster.

When the PC starts successfully the next s/w to load after Avast is Zone Alarm, so I suspect that the problem may be an interaction of some kind.

Has anyone experienced a problem like this?

Thanks

[Lisandro]

Do you have any other antivirus in this computer?
Did you  have in the past? Which one?
Any new hardware added?

[kaone]

I don't have any other anti-virus s/w on the PC, but prior to changing to Avast about 2 months ago I used AVG.

No new hardware has been added.

[oldman]

Just curious. Is ZA set to block all at startup?

[kaone]

Sorry - I don't know!

I've had a look at the ZA settings, but can't see that one.  How can I tell if it's set to block all at startup?

[oldman]

In ZA there is a padlock icon, which when displayed in the locked position means block all.

I don't think this is your problem though, as you would have had to unlock this to browse and you would have known about this setting.

 The reason I asked was because sometimes avast.setup( avast updater) tries to update before the firewall is loaded. If set to block all, sometimes it's impossible to do any thing until setup is finished, about 3-4 min.

[kaone]

Yes - the padlock in ZA is open.

Is there a way of delaying Avast from starting its scanning & automatic updating?

In the meantime I've changed to manual updating with no memory scan on startup which hopefully will prevent any interaction with ZA.

[Lisandro]

Is there a way of delaying Avast from starting its scanning & automatic updating?

Scanning... no.
Updating, yes. Just change (or add) AlwaysConnectedWaitSeconds value into the [InetWD] section of avast4.ini file. You could set the number of seconds to wait before attempting to update. The default is 30 but it may not be enough in some DSL systems. In this case, you can try increasing this e.g. to 60 (1 minute). That should be enough.
More details here: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=1647

[RJARRRPCGP]

Random lock ups often means that you have an overheat problem. Please check your PC for dust!

PCs being dusty enough that it looks like a cat got it's tail caught is common! The same with sneezing! LOL!

[Shadow42]

Hi,

I have EXACTLY the same problem!   Most time I start my PC it locks solid on bootup.  I'm a bit disapointed in this as I have been using AVAST! for years and love it! 

Anway, I did some further testing to try and issolate the issue so here are my findings (FYI, I have switched to AVG until this can be resolved  ).

First some info about my system (brand new, as in days old):

• Intel Core 2 Duo 6600
• ASUS P5N32-E Plus M/Board
• 2GB OCZ PC6400 DDR2
• XFX GeForce 8800GTX
• Silverstone 600W PSU
• Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic
• + the rest of the usual suspects

OK, so nothing unusual there and it is all brand new!
Now, where I have gone a little left-field is with Windows XP Pro x64 (yep the 64-bit version).  However, everything is running VERY well.  And no, I have NO Zone Alarms are any other software firewalls installed!  Not even the nForce stuff OR the Windows Firewall! Avast! was installed on a CLEAN system.

As to building the system, I posted a long story on my web site, so you can read all about it here:
(http://www.shadowlans.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=505&Itemid=49)

But, essentially, after 3 attempts I got everything running.  However, everytime I loaded Avast! I'd end up with these anoying lockups.   I tried everything to resolve this and even resorted to uninstatlling everything of Avast!, except the Real-time scanner.  Still no joy.   To further check what was going on, I started task manager as soon as the system came up.  In EVERY case where the system locked, the last item to start (before it locked) was the Avast! update system.  I can't remeber the full process name, but it started with "av..." and ended in ".setup".

Well, after seeing this, and finding NOTHING in these forums or via Google, I gave up and un-installed Avast!.  The problem just went away.    Oh, I even tried the lastest BETA, still no joy.

And before anyone asks, this is NOT a heat or power issue.  These all check out.  The CPU idles at 30C and the PSU is barely working (until I start a 3D game of course  ).

This issue, seems very isolated and hence I expect it will be diffcult to resolve.  But, I am hopeful it will be and am more than happy to help out where I can.

Regards,

The Shadow (aka Andrew)

P.S. kaone, you are not alone. 

[Lisandro]

Avast! was installed on a CLEAN system.
However, everytime I loaded Avast! I'd end up with these anoying lockups.
In EVERY case where the system locked, the last item to start (before it locked) was the Avast! update system.  I can't remeber the full process name, but it started with "av..." and ended in ".setup".

It's avast.setup file used to update avast.
Anyway, avast should be locking a system, specially a clean one (without any other antivirus installed, nor firewall, nor other security program).
It would be good if you could have saved the log files...
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\DATA\log\Setup.log
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\Setup\setup.log

[Shadow42]

It would be good if you could have saved the log files...
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\DATA\log\Setup.log
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\Setup\setup.log

Darn, I knew I should have kept the log files.  I'll re-install Avast when I get a chance and capture those log files for you.  Anything else of interest while I'm at it?

Oh, for the record, the only time I noticed a lockup was when the avast.setup process was running.  When this didn't start all was well, for awhile at least.  I'd normally get a lockup within an hour or two.  Without Avast, I have the system running for days on end with no problems.  I suspect this may be a 64-bit issue as everyone else I have setup with Avast (about 12+) have no problems, but these are all running XP 32-bit...  That seems the only difference to me...  Just a thought. 

[Lisandro]

Oh, for the record, the only time I noticed a lockup was when the avast.setup process was running.

The new beta version should take care of the update priority and could help.
Check out this topic, http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=27439.0 it is a beta release with a number of fixed/improvements some relating to Vista. It may or may not be related to your problem, if so it depends on how you view beta testing on a live machine. However previous beta releases for avast have generally gone well.

[Shadow42]

I don't have any issues using BETA software and actually tried this release before my post.  Unfortuantly it didn't make any difference, still got the lockups.

I'm still in the process of re-testing to capture those log files.  Will hopefully get them tomorrow for you.

/Shadow

[Lisandro]

I'm still in the process of re-testing to capture those log files.  Will hopefully get them tomorrow for you.

Thanks for helping to make avast even better and more stable