No Scan!!

[linwin]

I just purchased a new notebook today. It has Vista Home as an OS and I immediately dumped Norton and downloaded 4.8 Avast home as a antivirus program. The initial memory check also no problems, but when I started a scan there was no scan! the message "initialzing engine, please wait" came up and the current scanner status, 0% complete also came up and stayed there!! Forever!! No scan. I uninstalled and reinstalled, no differance! What gives?
                             Richard

[onlysomeone]

Hi linwin!

If norton was installed that probably causes problems:

Please try the following:

1. Download the Norton Removal tool:
http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/Norton_Removal_Tool_for_Windows_2000XPVista/1169144666/1
2. Remove Avast!
3. Run Norton Removal Tool
4. Restart your computer
5. Install Avast!
6. Restart your computer again
7. Try to run a scan again...

yours
onlysomeone

[linwin]

Did exactly as you advised with no change! Still no scan.

[onlysomeone]

you could try to upgrade to the actual beta - probably it works then...

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=34612.0

if not there are some questions to answer

- do you use any other security programs? (antivirus, firewall, antispyware,...)
- how long did you wait for the "initializing engine, please wait" to go away?

[igor]

Does it make any difference if you change the scan sensitivity to Quick/Standard/Thorough?

[OldeCrow]

Richard Stay home long enough to answer your phone 

I thought of a couple other things you might want to try, first check and see if your user account is an admin account,
Also try running the avast installer with admin privileges you can right click on the installer and you will see the run with admin privileges option in the right click menu.

The weirdest  stuff I have run into with vista and applications so far always boils down to user level restrictions...argh!

IF all else fails it might be a great excuse to try out 64bit linux!! 

[LorenzoC]

I guess it is the same as: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=35280.0

In short, "quick" works, "thorough" works, "standard" doens't work.

BTW, the "standard" scanning with "local hard disks" finally starts if you wait some minutes, it is not really hanged.

[Lisandro]

Can you try if the latest beta version solves this?
Download the updater (http://files.avast.com/files/beta/aswbeta.exe) and run it or go here for more information.

If the beta does not solve, hmmm, maybe a bug then...

[alanrf]

I am seeing the same problem of prolonged wait before scan starts on "Standard Scan" of "All local drives" with the current beta.

[desi3026]

I am seeing the same problem of prolonged wait before scan starts on "Standard Scan" of "All local drives" with the current beta.

Same here,started happening yesterday (6th).The wait for engine to be ready is about 5 minutes,then scans ok.Have been using Avast for about three years now with no probs until now.Do you think this is a Avast problem that will be fixed?
Regards

[olddog]

Windows XP-Home, SP2, all upgrades. Avast! build 4.8.1187 (beta) and VPS 080506.0

Individual folder scan OK, but on scan "Local Hard Disks", no activity on Quick or Standard after several minutes. On Thorough the hard drive activity light comes on when Start scan clicked, but again no progress after several minutes. Same story if Test archives ticked or unticked. Can't remember whether it has been this way since I installed the beta version, or just since the last VPS update. Certainly didn't have this problem when I installed the original 4.8 download.

Hope this helps. 

[olddog]

Have now done some further tests:-

Did complete uninstall of build 4.8.1187, ran aswclear.exe from boot into safe mode.
Installed released version 4.8.1169 and updated VPS to current 080506.0.
Problem was still present. If Scan of C: drive selected from "folder" it worked OK. If scan of "Local Hard Disks" selected (in this case C:,D:,E:,F:) then no apparent scanning had commenced after 2 minutes (exactly as per my previous post. Further, once a scan had been attempted in this maner, if it was aborted, unticked and then a folder scan attempted, it also didn't get under way, but after exit from simple use interface and then re enter, the folder scan would work again.

Next step - As I use Acronis partition images, I reinstalled an image from earlier this week which had Avast 4.8.1187 but with an earlier VPS - namely 080504-0. The scan from both "Local Hard Disks" and from "Folders" works correctly - no significant delay at the start.

Could this problem simply be something not right in the latest VPS update?

Again, hope this helps 

[MiguelAngelXP]

Hi everyone :

I'm experiencing the same issue but only  when I try toperform a scan via "Show Local Disk Options", so maybe a workaund may be :

a) Scan your machine using the Folder Selection Panel
b) Using the Quick Scan (Explorer context menu)

Kindly regards
MiguelAngelXP 

[DavidR]

I am seeing the same problem of prolonged wait before scan starts on "Standard Scan" of "All local drives" with the current beta.

That is the only scan I do and I have to say I don't notice that in my last scan on Sunday.
However, I just started it off now and am watching it spin its wheels so to speak waiting for it to get under way and it just has taking 2.5 minutes to get started.

The status under the local disks shows scanning, the activity bar is moving but the scan shows 0% So it may be that I just didn't notice it stall (or the rootkit scan is taking longer than it should) before it truly starts its on-demand scan.

Which although indicates it seems stalled 2.5 minutes for me isn't the end of the world, but it may well be greater for others and it needs investigation by the Alwil team.

The scan is well under way now so I will see if it includes the duration whilst it was spinning its wheels.

Update:
Scan completed in 16:32 which is a little over 4 minutes longer than my normal scan duration. So I don't know if that extra was a) the addition of the 2.5 minutes spent spinning its wheels plus a little because I continued browsing and answering posts on the forums.

So It would seem that my last scan on Sunday didn't suffer this delayed start as it was in a little over 12 minutes. So the suggestion this might have something to do with a VPS update is one that might carry some weight as there are other functions carried out other than simply updating the VPS.

So somewhere between Sunday and VPS 080505-0, as I'm a day behind on VPS updates, as I have had updates set to manual testing something else.

[LorenzoC]

The issue seems to be fixed with today's update (080507-0, 07/05/08).