Hi. Hope someone here can shed some light on this...
I have Avast5 free (up to date, currently 5.0.462) on an XP Pro system (all up to date), and it was working great since it's release.
However, recently some issues have developed. When booting up Windows, I have a few background tasks that get loaded/initialized when the desktop is getting set up (CCleaner, which does a quick cleanup... a RAM monitor... and the activation of my internet connection, etc). That all worked fine, and I had Avast load first (so I was secure before the internet or any viruses might jump in before the shields went up, so to speak).
Now, on bootup of the desktop, Avast is loaded, but the web shield and some other modules are disabled for some unknown reason, and (according to the Task manager), Avast is using about 65% CPU (at this point), and the CPU use overall (Performance graph) is hitting the roof at (usually) 100% for a couple of minutes. Access to the internet (and starting up any other apps) at this point is held back (as if whatever Avast is doing has priority).
After a few minutes, The CPU strain suddenly drops, Avast activates the disabled modules, and the system runs normal again.
Seems like part of Avast5's startup is done with great difficulty, and as a result the whole CPU is used (and all other tasks are delayed) as it attempts to complete whatever it is that is causing it grief.
Task Manager is only really pointing out one of the Avast modules as using up any significant CPU power... usually the AvastUI.exe... during this 'strain'. But, once it's released after a few minutes, AvastUI goes to zero, and only the AvastSvc.exe module is occasionally going to about 6% for a brief moment (....which is all fine... I'm just saying it all returns to normal after that initial strain/pause).
I tried switching off the setting that has Avast load before all other apps, and that helped with the holding back of some of the items, but the internet connection is still held back (and other apps that I try to start during this strain are held back). I have no problem with that (Avast should have priority anyway)... it's just that it strains for a few minutes, makes the CPU hit the roof, etc... rather than it's usual fast initialization.
Granted, I've been having some issues with this system recently (registry is starting to go a bit on things like file associations)... and I'm in the process of trying to install Windows on a new drive, and reinstall everything... but for now, I need this old system to run while it can.
Any theories or things I can look into? Seems to be running just fine once it gets over that initialization thing.
P4 2.8 with 2 gigs ram, if that's relevant. Ran just fine before. This has only been happening over the last few weeks.
