Avast hangs a long time at boot

[Lars-Erik]

When I boot my system (XP Pro) the desktop appears, but not Explorer/taskbar.

If I take up the process mangager "avast.setup" is using 25% CPU for a couple
of minutes. Then the tastbar appears and autostart programs launch.

Any idea why this has started to happend. It's very annoying.

[.: L' arc :.]

Try delaying avast services on startup via:

Avast GUI > Settings > Put a check beside "Load avast services only after loading system services"

[Lars-Erik]

Allready tried that one.
Have disabled most things I can think about.
Could try disabling "auto update".

[YoKenny]

How much RAM does the system have?

What is the type and speed of the CPU?

I don't have a problem on my systems with avast! loading or hanging up.

[Lars-Erik]

I have never had any problems earlier either :-/
1 GB RAM and a 2.54 GHz Intel CPU

[.: L' arc :.]

 Your computer specs are definitely capable of handling avast. Do you have any antivirus(es) running alongside avast?

[Lars-Erik]

Nope. Only ZoneAlarm Free.
Have used avast for many years.
So I find this very strange.
Have scanned my system for viruses and spyware.
Have all MS updates as well.

[YoKenny]

ZoneAlarm has become a bloated beast to rival Norton applications.

If you must use a software firewall then I have read that Outpost is quite good:
http://free.agnitum.com

[Lars-Erik]

Oh... I don't use the latest ZA.
Stayed on version 4.5.594
Latest good version :-)

[CharleyO]

***

Hi Lars,

ZA Free version 6.1.744.001 works well and is also before the bloat from CheckPoint.

I do not know if that will make any difference, though.

Actually, on my computer, avast usually appears on the task bar before anything else yet it causes my computer no problems. Sorry, I know this does not help you any but I do not know what to suggest since the other suggestions above were no help.


***

[Sgt.Schumann]

Hi Lars,

I had a very similar problem on one machine. After a lot of testing, i unchecked the option "show symbol in tray" in the settings for the avast! update, which solved the problem:

See:
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=42010.msg408749#msg408749

Regards,
Sgt.

[Lars-Erik]

For some reason I have never clicked that "Details" button :-)
Also I found a tip of changed the wait time before checking for an update...
I'll try both