Avast 4.* update / avast.setup issues

[Marlon]

Hello there,

  Avast updated the program last night to the latest edition and requested a system reboot as normal, I just turned the machine off as I was going to bed that moment. However, this morning I went to turn on the computer but it hangs between logging on and the windows start bar displaying so all I get is the background image and nothing else. I left it for 20 or so mins to see if it corrects itself but no such luck.

I then opened up the task manager and saw avast.setup there, and I'm assuming that is the program that is causing the system to hang as that is the only change to the system that was done since my last boot. I am typing this under windows safe mode with networking enabled.

I tried to rename avast.setup to avast.setup1 but seemingly avast has some sort of protection against viruses trying to do the same so it went straight back to the previous name when I restarted and hung.

My question is, is there any way of telling windows to ignore this execute instruction or is there a windows service I can disable which does the same job? Also, what do people recommend I do with regards to this issue, as up to this point avast has been very good and I paid for home pro but this is kinda annoying considering its meant to stop things like this from happening lol. can Avast be rolled back?

Kind Regards and any help very much appreciated

Marlon

[Marlon]

ok well I've tried uninstalling avast and running the avsclear program (unsure why this is needed over the normal uninstall procedure) and then installed the latest avast pro, but had exactly the same problems. going to go back to avast 4.7 for the time being until this problem is resolved.

[psw]

What kind of hardware are you using? E.g., Motherboard etc.

[DavidR]

Firstly the avast.setup file isn't a permanent file, it is created to handle the avast update and is deleted on completion, so it would be somewhat difficult to rename, even if avast's self-defence module wasn't there.

What is happening is your system has an internet connection and avast detects that and checks to see if there are any. Boot time can be somewhat busy, so the avast.setup might not be able to get cpu time and could tie things up depending on what you have starting on boot.

You could try delaying the auto update check until things have settled down after boot.
You need to edit the [InetWD] section of the C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\Data\avast4.ini file and add the following line (depending on your connection type enter one or other of the Bold lines below):
Dial-up connections, add this line: RASWaitSeconds=120
Broadband connections, add this line: AlwaysConnectedWaitSeconds=120

[InetWD] AlwaysConnectedWaitSeconds=120
Or RASWaitSeconds=120

The figure is seconds and the above equates to two minutes, you could try that and adjust upwards if required, 180, 240, etc.

[Nameless One]

I had about the same problem as Marlon. My Avast auto-updated to latest version but I didn't restart the computer for a couple of hours after that. When I restarted, after logging in all I could see was my desktop without the taskbar or any icons. I restarted the computer several times but always with the same result. Only response I managed to get from Windows was to start task manager, but it revealed nothing strange: System Idle was taking up 99% of CPU and all processes were taking up a normal amount of memory. I finally decided to restart in Safe Mode and start Windows without Avast. Except for asking to be reactivated, Windows now works correctly as far as I can tell. However, I cannot re-enable Avast. I try to enable it in MSCONFIG and restart, but it doesn't start and when I open MSCONFIG again Avast (ashDisp.exe) is still disabled. I tried starting the Avast through Start Menu and then turning on the resident protection through Settings -> Resident Protection, but it doesn't work either. I set the slider to Standard, but when I open the menu again the slider is reset to disabled. I'd appreciate any ideas on how to get Avast to work again. Thanks in advance.

[Marlon]

ok I will give that a go when I next have time, my boot is rather busy so that may help things, I will keep you posted.

out of interest, why would that change from 4.7 to 4.8?

I'm on a laptop so I'm not sure which motherboard it has, if I remember correctly it has Intel 850 chipset but don't quote me on that. I'm running windows xp sp2 with all current windows updates on it.

"Nameless one", have you tried setting the avast service to run automatically? as I assume that has precedence over the preferences within avast itself.

[bluesceen]

I'm having the same problem as Marlon. I didn't feel like dealing with problems this morning, so I did a system restore. Windows loads normally, then I get the avast needs to restart Windows message, and its blue screen(no background pic) time again on reboot.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Anyone have any ideas?

Edit - DavidR I tried your suggestion and that didn't help.

[ambo]

I'll add to the list.  My laptop is hanging between after logging in and getting the message "loading personal settings" and I actually can't do anything.  I've hard rebooted several times and sometimes even leaving the system for more than 3 hours and still the same.  I did a system restore and I was able to log-in back but avast immediately updates back to the latest version.  I uninstalled avas 4.8 and everthiong was ok.  Reinstalling it again and the same problem.  WHat could be the problem.

I don't have this problem on my desktop pc though.

[padech]

I'm also have same problem, one of them is Notebook Compaq Presario 2500 and other one is PC Compaq Presario 6245AP. Both of them is Windows XP Home SP2, but I don't have any problem with New Dell Vostro 1200 Notebook with Windows XP Pro SP2. Could it be Windows XP Home SP2?

[clasher]

Exact same problem here.  Using Acer Travelmate 3000 laptop, winxp sp2.
I had to boot into safe mode and uninstall avast, then the system is back to normal.
Please solve this problem soon as I have no antivirus running at this moment.
Thanks.

[gianime]

Hi!

I'm also having the same problem. After the update and reboot, it the PC hangs during "loading personal settings". OS is WIndows XP home running on a Dell Laptop.

I"ll try doing the suggestion DavidR posted.

Thanks for the suggestion. Hope it solves the problem. I"ll post what happens

[Lisandro]

There are a lot of newbies here... for each one, please, post the last 200-250 lines of avast log: C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\DATA\log\Setup.log

[gianime]

Did what DavidR said but somehow it's still the same so I just uninstalled 4.8 and everything went back to normal. I'm currently reinstalling 4.7 for the meantime.

to Tech: I'm not sure if I could still get the log since  I uninstalled 4.8 and reinstalled 4.7.

[Lisandro]

to Tech: I'm not sure if I could still get the log since  I uninstalled 4.8 and reinstalled 4.7.

Most probably you've lost it... anyway, it would help on troubleshooting, I guess.

[Marlon]

Hello,

 Just attempted to install 4.8 again with the edited avast4.ini like suggested, but did not help 

avast.setup just isn't doing anything, isn't using any cpu time at all (the priority is set to below normal, but I cant change it as it says access denied).

I have attached the setup.log but I doubt it will help as the installation seemed successful.

am going to uninstall 4.8 now so I can use my computer again.