4.7.1001: causing serious slow-down issues

[Vladimyr]

Isn't it just related to Windows Update Tuesday patch...? All the same problem every Wednesday day-after...

Could be a complete coincidence but have we completely ruled out some interaction between Avast! and the latest MS patches?
I got all these "goodies" (see attached 9&10/5/2007) yesterday and today.

[Vlk]

If the problem is happening even with no shield running, it may be useful to create a memory dump of the ashServ.exe process and send it to us.

To create the dump, please follow these steps:

- download the program http://public.avast.com/~vlk/userdump.exe
- run the downloaded program with the following parameters (from the command line)

userdump.exe ashServ.exe c:\ashServ.dmp

- the previous step creates file c:\ashServ.dmp. ZIP this file (name it e.g. ashServ-dump.zip) and upload it to ftp://ftp.avast.com/incoming .
Please note that you don't have READ access to the ftp server (only WRITE) - meaning that you won't be able to verify the upload (you won't even see the file listed).


Thanks
Vlk

[romppainen]

Conflict symptoms... Which other antivirus did you have in the past in this computer?
What happens when you disable your firewall?

I had F-Secure back in the days but I've been using Avast for about 2 years I think. Disabling firewall doesn't affect to situation at all.

I made dump from the situation there's no shields enabled but for some reason I can't upload it: Internet Explorer gives me "can't create file"-error, with CuteFTP server keeps throwing me out continuously. I placed the dump file to my personal webspace and mailed Vlk a link.

[FransH]

Me too, same problem yesterday, after update to 4.7.1001. and latest updates XP prof servicepack 2 CPU usage 100% ashserv.exe in taskmanager. PC couldn't shut down normally, only hard reset possible. Before update no problems.
Today several times a popup window: "Avast needs to restart" etc coming from nowhere (Popup window normally appears after an update) but no slow downs.
Very annoying
Windows XP prof servicepack2
IE7
No other virus programs (never had )
Windows firewall (didn't make any changes neither before or after update)
After restart everything seems fine for now. In the event viewer no problems related to avast.
I will come back when problems starting again and will follow your instuctions for shutting down the services etc. 

[crazyd1415]

hmm, now when I think of it I had set avast to autoupdate. so it did the other day without me knowing. I knew it had to update because my zonealarm firewall said avast was trying to access the internet and it only does that after a program update when the file changes. then it seemed my internet went down. so I tried to click on some icons on the desktop and they would not come up. well, maybe they were trying to but were taking too long. only one program managed to come up and that was my instant messenger. although there was no internet connection. so I restarted my computer and it came to my login screen. I came back 10 minutes later and my screen is black and stuck. I manually restart my computer. login. all is fine it seems. I run a virus db update and it seemed to do a program update instead and made me restart. so I did, and then I did a program update manually and it did something but no restart was needed. my computer was really slow from that point. so I restarted again. when windows came back up I saw the little yellow update shield and thought perhaps it was just avast and windows update at the same time screwing things up. but still today my computer is just running slow although nothing really seems to be showing up in the processes as hogging resources. If I play an online game everything is so choppy. videos online seem so choppy. I don't know if it's avast, windows, or something else causing my system to be so slow now.

[roundtrip]

Isn't it just related to Windows Update Tuesday patch...? All the same problem every Wednesday day-after...

Could be a complete coincidence but have we completely ruled out some interaction between Avast! and the latest MS patches?
I got all these "goodies" (see attached 9&10/5/2007) yesterday and today.

There does indeed seem to be an issue with Outlook 2003 and the latest set of MS patches! The reports are starting to come in on the Microsoft Discussion forums. Outlook is even running like a dog when it is started in safe mode.

MS looks to have broken something!!!!

[next_sa_pulpom]

since recent update, occasionally mail scanner icon appears and slows down my internet bandwich dramatically.this icon doesnt respond either to left or right click and has no menus...
also, ashmaisv.exe takes up to 60 % cpu time...
if i kill ashmaisv.exe procces or restart comp, everything's back to normal.. but is there any permanent solution for this problem?
here's some ss
using home 4.7.1001
virus database 000739-1
everything is updated..
oh yeah, and i tried with stoping providers ( internet, instant msging etc) but that didnt help, so thats not the problem..

[DavidR]

That icon appears only when it is scanning email, either inbound or outbound so that is what is causing the bandwidth use the receipt or sending of email and not simply the scanning.

Now if you personally aren't sending or receiving email (?) it could be an indication that you have an undetected trojan spam bot on your system.

[roundtrip]

The latest MS patches have broken Outlook 2003 and probably prior versions as well. I've blogged about it here, where you'll find the intermediate fix until MS fix it properly:
http://www.roundtripsolutions.com/blog/2007/05/10/239/microsoft-breaks-outlook-again

[next_sa_pulpom]

scan found 2 trojans and 2 adwares in system volume information folder on drive c...
i hope that will end the mail scanner problem.. thank you for your help...
btw, avast found viruses in that same folder several times.. so i begin to wonder if they can be deleted at all..i choose delete option every time but..
its the system volume information folder..you cant just open that folder from explorer..any sugestions how to  avoide virus infection in that sector?
btw, i'm not using outlook at all

[Lisandro]

next_sa_pulpom, if a virus is replicant (coming and coming again), you should:

1) Disable System Restore on Windows ME or Windows XP. System Restore cannot be disabled on Windows 9x and it's not available in Windows 2k. After boot you can enable System Restore again after step 3).

2) Clean your temporary files. You can use CleanUp or the Windows Advanced Care features for that.

3) Schedule a boot time scanning with avast. Start avast! > Right click the skin > Schedule a boot-time scanning. Select for scanning archives. Boot. Other option is scanning in SafeMode (repeatedly press F8 while booting).

4) It will be good if you download, install, update and run AVG Antispyware. Some users recommend SUPERantispyware, Spyware Terminator and/or a-squared (take care about false positives).

5) Use the immunization of SpywareBlaster or, which is better, the Windows Advanced Care features of spyware/adware cleaning and removal.

[next_sa_pulpom]

i already have ad-aware SE professional, XoftSpy SE and Spybot search & Destroy.. tnx for tips, ill try some of them.

[Lisandro]

i already have ad-aware SE professional, XoftSpy SE and Spybot search & Destroy.. tnx for tips, ill try some of them.

XoftSpy was listed as a rogue program in the past. Some users still do not believe in it. Take care.
The other steps aren't all eligible, you *must* follow 1 and 4 for sure...

[Marc57]

The latest MS patches have broken Outlook 2003 and probably prior versions as well. I've blogged about it here, where you'll find the intermediate fix until MS fix it properly:
http://www.roundtripsolutions.com/blog/2007/05/10/239/microsoft-breaks-outlook-again

This may explain why I've been having problems with Windows Mail since Tuesday.

[alanrf]

What happened to the needs of therealrion, the originator of this post. 

What on earth has it got to do with the concerns of marc57 and Windows Mail.

Is this forum becoming a chat room for regulars, posting whatever they like in any thread or a place where an avast user can start a thread to get attention to their problem?