...there are also people messing with their systems and they won't say it here, they just report the end result after installing avast 5....
FWIW, my XP SP3 system is about as clean as it can be. My system is fully updated (as of today) to XP SP3 (including IE8, which I rarely use). I've got most of BlackViper's list of non-essential system services set to "Disable" or "Manual". The file system is about 99% defragmented (I use the excellent free defrag program "MyDefrag"). I only have 2 "crapplets" running in the notification area - Process Explorer and Taskbar Shuffle. The Windows Firewall is disabled (I use a hardware firewall, haven't had a virus or malware in years). The bulk of my web browsing is via an up-to-date Firefox 3.6. I don't run a mail client, I use gmail. Don't run Outlook or any other calendar, I use Google Calendar. I don't use IM or P2P software (I don't even have anything like that installed on this PC), so, for that reason, I've disabled the Mail, IM, and P2P shields (even less system services to run and clog up my PC).
Avast 4.8.xxxx ran pretty much flawlessly with this same setup - giving me great confidence in Alwil's software. That's why I *believed* the FAQ when it said the upgrade to Avast5 would cleanly remove Avast4.
My concerns are as follows:
- Windows Security Center detects Avast 5 as the resident AntiVirus program, but does NOT raise an alert when the Avast service fails/terminates.
- The log viewer from 4.x is either missing, or I can't find it. It was VERY helpful in determining problems on the rare occasion I had one with Avast4.
- At some time in the future, I'm guessing Alwil will auto-update Avast 4 users with Avast 5. I hope the issue of the service dying and lack of communication between Avast 5 and Windows Security Center is resolved before then.
- Avast 4 updated its own event log that was visible in the Windows Management Console Event Viewer. Since installing Avast 5, that log is no longer available -- another troubleshooting tool missing from this version
Even though my profile says "Newbie", I'm just a noob to THIS forum. I've been an independent (one-man shop) computer consultant for over 20 years, supporting a wide range of OSes (Windows 3.0 to 7, NT3, 3.5, 4, Server 2000, 2003, 2008, Mac OSX, SCO Unix, IBM AIX, every Linux since it came out on diskette, etc.), designing advanced LAN and VPN solutions, and providing custom data conversion services for medical offices. I've used Avast (and recommended it to my customers) since back in the days of Avast 3.
I'm hoping some of the Alwil development team are monitoring this forum, and will provide fixes for the problems I'm having with Avast 5. I'm more than willing to work with them to help troubleshoot this issue, as I'd like to head off problems for the hundreds of users I support who are currently using Avast 4. My guess is that the Alwil folks can contact me through this forum if they'd like my help.
BTW, @Logos -- thanks for the link to the SQLite viewer add-on for Firefox. Unfortunately, there was nothing in the log.db file that provided any clues to the root cause of the problem.
RLW