Cannot Right Click On Icons

[sean_skroht]

Hi There

I have two PC's both with Windows XP 32 bit SP3 installed on each one. They are also both fully patched and up to date.

Both of my computers have the same problem after I have installed Avast!.
As soon as Avast! is installed and I have restarted my PC, when I try to right click on any icon, whether it be My Computer, a drive, a folder, or a file or program, Explorer hangs and wont show the menu that is supposed to come up when you right click. To fix it I then have to press CTRL + ALT + DEL to end the Explorer Process, which says it is not responding.

Usually it will only hang once or twice when i try to right click on something but then it corrects itself after that. But if I restart my PC again, the problem will occur again.

I DEFINITELY know Avast! is responsible for this because if I uninstall it then the problem goes away. If I reinstall it, the problem comes back. AND REMEMBER: this is happening on both PC's.

This problem occurs with the latest build 4.8.1335. I suspect Avast! is causing problems with the explorer context menu.

[igor]

What other shell extensions do you have installed? (i.e. what do you have in the context menu)

[Lisandro]

Which was your old antivirus? How did you uninstall it?
Which other security programs do you have in this computer? Firewall?

[RejZoR]

Considering you're experiencing the same problem on two separate systems, i'd try to look for something it was or still is installed on both of them. Either a program or a specific tweak.

[Omid Farhang]

Hi There

I have two PC's both with Windows XP 32 bit SP3 installed on each one. They are also both fully patched and up to date.

Both of my computers have the same problem after I have installed Avast!.
As soon as Avast! is installed and I have restarted my PC, when I try to right click on any icon, whether it be My Computer, a drive, a folder, or a file or program, Explorer hangs and wont show the menu that is supposed to come up when you right click. To fix it I then have to press CTRL + ALT + DEL to end the Explorer Process, which says it is not responding.

Usually it will only hang once or twice when i try to right click on something but then it corrects itself after that. But if I restart my PC again, the problem will occur again.

I DEFINITELY know Avast! is responsible for this because if I uninstall it then the problem goes away. If I reinstall it, the problem comes back. AND REMEMBER: this is happening on both PC's.

This problem occurs with the latest build 4.8.1335. I suspect Avast! is causing problems with the explorer context menu.

Same problem here, just a few different, sometimes when I've 2-3 programs running (For example Live Messenger, Live Mail Desktop, IE and FF running) and I double-click on avast! shortcut in desktop, nothing don't happen, So, now problem: after that double click, when I right-click on anything, for example in Taskbar Icons, on desktop or any place else, the context menu appear too slow, and when I click on any item of that menu it works, but, the highlighted clicked item remain on desktop, on top of other programs...
Then, when I close 2-3 programs, The main window avast! that I had clicked would show, this highlighted item of context menu would go away and everything work normal

[sean_skroht]

What other shell extensions do you have installed? (i.e. what do you have in the context menu)

I have WinZIP, WinRAR, and Eraser in context menu. I had previously used Avast! with these three programs in the context menu and there had never been a problem.
I was using Comodo Internet Security for awhile but got sick of the false positive and problems plaguing that software. Besides Avast! is a much superior antivirus program then the one built into Comodo's suite.
I uninstalled Comodo using its uninstaller. Dont have any other security software besides Windows Firewall at this stage. Looking for a decent free firewall that will run in both 32 and 64 bit.

[Lisandro]

Looking for a decent free firewall that will run in both 32 and 64 bit.

Right now, I'll stay with Windows Firewall until next months, second semester, when we'll have avast firewall, probably.

[sean_skroht]

Well I got to the bottom of the problem. There seems to be some sort of conflict between Eraser 5.8.7-beta4 and Avast! in the context menu. Uninstalled Eraser and everything was fine. Installed Eraser beta 3 instead and no problem. So I might stick with that instead.

Looking for a decent free firewall that will run in both 32 and 64 bit.

Right now, I'll stay with Windows Firewall until next months, second semester, when we'll have avast firewall, probably.

For real? Avast! is working on a free firewall for 32 bit and 64 bit windows? That would be awesome if that were the case!!!

[Lisandro]

Well I got to the bottom of the problem. There seems to be some sort of conflict between Eraser 5.8.7-beta4 and Avast! in the context menu. Uninstalled Eraser and everything was fine. Installed Eraser beta 3 instead and no problem. So I might stick with that instead.

I really doubt. I have Eraser installed and never had an interaction or conflict with avast...

For real? Avast! is working on a free firewall for 32 bit and 64 bit windows? That would be awesome if that were the case!!!

Yes, it's real for both 32 and 64 bits

[RejZoR]

Comodo could be the reason. CIS borks up Vista context menu so it looks like Windows 98 menu when CIS is installed. Who knows what kind of side effects it has on other systems...

[sean_skroht]

I really doubt. I have Eraser installed and never had an interaction or conflict with avast...

What version have you got installed. If its not 5.8.7-beta4 then of course you're not going to have this problem. Anyway the problem is verifiable on both PC's.
It doesn't seem to occur with beta 3, thats why I've gone back to it.

[Lisandro]

Yeah... I have the latest stable (not beta) version.

[dao]

well, to open the thread again I too have the problem. Not just when I right click but when I try to hit the del button for the selected file.

I also have comodo installed but when I stop avast - everything returns to normal - i.e. I can right click and delete things, not so if avast is running and comodo is stopped.

[Lisandro]

If you uninstall Comodo, will it help?
If so, won't you choose another free firewall that does not have that many issues with avast?
Online Armour
PCTools
Outpost Firewall Free
ZoneAlarm

[toasty]

I've run into the same problem as the OP.  I'm running avast 4.8 and had Eraser 5.8.7 (final release) installed.  After a clean boot if I right clicked on any file/folder/drive/shortcut the folder would show up as "not responding" in Task Manager.  This would usually happen 2-4 times in a row and after ending the task each time, after the 4th (or so) everything would function normally.  But if I reboot or shut down, it all starts again.  This happened with Eraser 5.8.7 and 5.8.8 (beta 1).  As soon as I uninstalled Eraser, everything was normal.  Currently I've left Eraser off my system although I'm flirting with the idea of installing 6 (release candidate 5) to test that out.

Has anyone had any luck (fix, workaround) with the Eraser/avast! combination with the more recent versions?

I'm running XP SP3, Zonealarm 8.0.298.0 (free), avast! 4.8

Right now, I'll stay with Windows Firewall until next months, second semester, when we'll have avast firewall, probably.

Where can we find out how this is coming along?