Windows XP PCs not seeing all files/folders on Windows 7 PCs

[Pedro Hin]

On my network, I have 2 PCs running Windows 7 Ult, and 2 PCs running WinXP-Pro.

When my XP PCs browse a shared folder living on a Win7 PC, not all files or folders are listed. It is as if once a certain number of filenames have been listed, something gives up.

For example, on my WIndows 7 PC, I have a folder with about 400 folders of pictures. The XP PCs only see about 300 folders. The number is consistent as far as the number of folders the XP clients see. It is not a permission problem, because if I move some of the low-numbered folders out of the share, then the names at the bottom of the folder list start to appear.

I even copied all picture folders to the other Windows 7 PC, and created a fresh share and still the XP clients only see the same limited number of folders or files.

It also seems to be based on a percentage, and not a finite limit of file or folder names. For example, if I have 700 objects in a folder, only 500 are visible on the client. If I have 400 objects in a folder, only 300 are visible.

I have looked all over the web. I am usually very good at a well-crafted google search strings when I want to find something, but this one has me stumped.

I uninstalled Avast!5 from the Windows7 and the problem went away. I installed the Avast 6 beta, and it worked for 2 days, then broke again.

[itmgr]

I have been following this same problem for about 2 weeks. I have tried changing settings in Avast 5 and Windows 7 without any luck. If I uninstall Avast the problem goes away, when I reinstall Avast 5 Pro the problem starts again.

[Pedro Hin]

That's a bummer, at least I know my problem isn't totally unique.

Many users might not even have so many folders/files, so they would never notice.

Is yours on a home network, or is this something you are tracking down in a workplace?

I have found nothing new. I created a ticket with tech support 6-FEB and haven't heard back yet.

I don't want to abandon Avast! because I really like it's detection, script blocking and boot time scans.

[Pedro Hin]

I just found out that the ticket I created the other day got glued to a ticket I created over a year ago. I just created a new one, so I hope to hear back

[SMBGuy]

Same problem here and I was pulling my hairs since a few days trying to find out until I found this article using Google.
I think it started less than a month ago.

Here's what I have found before finding this thread:
There's a folder test in a shared folder on a Win7 64 machine with Avast 5 pro, latest version.
If I try to see the folder content from a Vista 64 or Win7 64 station, it works.
If I try to see the folder content from XP, I don't see all files. The ones with the filenames that are alphabetically the latest in the folder disappear.
All permissions and attributes are correct.

If I copy only some "invisible" files in the test folder to a new folder on the same share while on the Win7 64 machine, these files magically appear when I try to see them from XP. The problem seems folder related and not file related.
If I copy the test folder on a shared folder on another machine that has Win7 64 with Avast, the problem is still there.
If I copy the test folder to an XP shared folder, I can now see all files from XP machines. If I copy back this folder from the XP share to a Win7 64 with Avast share, the problem reappears.

I was cursing at MS and how they screwed file sharing since Vista and especially Win7, but it seems it's not their fault this time. Avast developers, please fix this and don't let this drag on forever, I am a dedicated paying business user, I love your products and business philosophy, but this one made me loose so much time.

[MossyRock]

It just now bit me.  A user was saying that her laptop syncing software was acting up.  I wasted days trying to find the cause.

This user is running Avast Free on all networked machines (2 XP Pro SP3 machines, 1 Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit machine).

It was the affected shares on the Windows 7 machine that were truncated as viewed from the XP clients.

I reproduced the problem on my machines exactly.  When I uninstalled Avast (Internet Security, in this case) from my Windows 7 Pro 32-bit machine, the problem went away.  When I reinstalled it, the problem resumed.

I filed a ticket with Avast support.

I can't believe this hasn't been fixed.

[Pedro Hin]

It just now bit me.  A user was saying that her laptop syncing software was acting up.  I wasted days trying to find the cause.
<<snippity>>
I filed a ticket with Avast support.

I can't believe this hasn't been fixed.

Yeah, They sent me an email a few days after I opened the ticket and said that they cannot reproduce the occurrence, so they closed the ticket.

I know that the tech support does not officially monitor these threads, but if you find out anything new I would appreciate seeing something posted here.

Thanks!

[MossyRock]

Pedro,

Yes - I will post back when they reply.

Unfortunately, this is the last straw for me and that user I support... we went through a rough patch of four false positives in a two-week period on two different machines.  Then, I updated to Ver. 6 on an XP machine and the new "autosandbox" feature virtualized Firefox without asking and wouldn't release it - I had to uninstall and reinstall both Avast and Firefox to regain control.  Now this...

I know there is no such thing as a perfect A-V - far from it - but this is ridiculous.  My user has very little patience for computer glitches due to the amount of work that has to get done.

The big choice now is where else to go.  Like I said, each A-V has its own share of problems, some worse, some better, but you never really know until you install it and use for a few weeks.

[Pedro Hin]

The company I am with is also a reseller for Avast. I will be unlikely to suggest Avast antivirus in environments where Windows7 and XP are file sharing.

I find it hard to believe that their technical support were unable to replicate this problem. I have 2 PCs running Windows 7 64bit and 2 PCs running XP Pro 32 bit. Both XP PCs had trouble fully listing the shares on both Windows 7 PCs.

Yes, I understand that an AV company probably has more challenges than any other software company. It can be quite difficult to be everything to everybody.

I will continue selling Avast PRO or AIS to residential customers who want a very good, unobtrusive product.

[igor]

The problem was fixed in build 1035 (beta).

[Pedro Hin]

good news. I hope it trickles into the production updates soon

[MossyRock]

I just received this from the ticket I opened:

"thank you for reporting this issue, the bug has been fixed and the fix will be included in the next program update (it's already included in the latest avast! RC version - http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=74515.0)"

[Asyn]

I just received this from the ticket I opened:

"thank you for reporting this issue, the bug has been fixed and the fix will be included in the next program update (it's already included in the latest avast! RC version - http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=74515.0)"

Try it then.

[Pedro Hin]

I just received this from the ticket I opened:

"thank you for reporting this issue, the bug has been fixed and the fix will be included in the next program update (it's already included in the latest avast! RC version - http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=74515.0)"

awesome! I will try it when I get home this evening

[MossyRock]

I just installed the RC 6.0.1044 and I'm seeing ALL files now in that shared directory so it looks like the problem has been fixed.  Thank you, Avast, for your attention to this issue.

Webrep is not working correctly but they know about this.