Unp tmp files, 89million of them!

[SitxNZ]

Hi all,

Just having a look at a PC that's extremely slow with excessive hard drive access.

Looking at it, the explore service was getting stuck in the folder c:\users\<username>\appdata\local\temp\low\_avast_

This folder has files named from unp10000000.tmp to unp99999999.tmp  (all zero byte size)

Running a chkdsk /f on the drive finds no issues.

It seems like somehow a file has been split into millions of fragments.

I think ill have to do a rmdir or del /s on this folder, but it will take some time to unlink all these files.

Has anyone else had this issue?

Windows 7, Avast 6.0 free edition. Sole antivirus installed. Can't check much more until the machine is running.

[ady4um]

This is not the first time that a user posts about this issue, but the definitive cause was not found in that topic.

My suggestion would be to DIRECTLY use the removal tool for Avast located at http://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility.

I suggest booting into Windows Safe Mode directly and running the removal tool, selecting the correct path where Avast is installed and the correct installed version.

If you used to had a previous version of Avast before (for example if you updated from Avast 5.x to 6.0), then reboot AGAIN into Safe Mode (and please, don't skip this reboot) and run again the removal tool for the previous version too.

Repeat the reboot for each version of Avast you ever had, and run again the removal tool, selecting the correct version each time.

Please skip the "Add/Remove Programs", and avoid running the removal tool from Windows Normal Mode so to get the best results.

Once all versions of Avast are removed, search the TEMP path and delete any *avast* folder, and reboot again.

Now install the latest stable version of Avast (with right click -> "Run as Administrator" in Vista/Seven), and reboot immediately (before updating, before configuring Avast and before registering it).

Test it during several days and report back.

Note that "some" amount of those temporal files during some time is normal, until Avast performs a "clean up" by itself, once in a while.

If you used to HAD other security tools before, they should also be removed. Some specific removal utilities (but not all) are listed at http://thewebatom.net/uninstallers/security-software/.

[SitxNZ]

Hi ady4um,

Yes I did read the previous post and cleaned up Avast using the tools. I could see versions 4 and 5 had been previously installed and removed. Even in registry I could see references to v4&v5.

My estimates were wrong and their were actually 9 digit files in the folder! Fortunately it *only* took about 4hours to clear the folder at a command prompt. A chkdsk /f on reboot reported no errors, avast cleanup tools ran, and for the next few days I have installed Microsoft Security Essentials for low level security while I research what may cause this.

I suspect its a combination of something happening, or a corruption or crash that may cause windows to auto-correct a corrupt file which ends up being fragments. I doubt I'll ever be able to reproduce the error, but an interesting one indeed.

At least disk cleanup works for the owner again, as it was getting stuck in that folder

The other tool I notice installed is Malwarebytes Anti-Malware - installed as the free 'no live scanning' option. Not sure if this would cause this issue, I havent seen this outcome with any other avast install's Ive seen.

Will see how we go over the next week.

[ady4um]

Hi ady4um,

Yes I did read the previous post and cleaned up Avast using the tools. I could see versions 4 and 5 had been previously installed and removed. Even in registry I could see references to v4&v5.

The "key" in such cases is to run the removal tool 3 times, with reboots in between, selecting the correct folder (if there is still one) and correct version each time, using always Windows Safe Mode.

Some users run the removal tool only once, or only using Normal Mode, which may be not enough in such rare cases like the one you described.

My estimates were wrong and their were actually 9 digit files in the folder! Fortunately it *only* took about 4hours to clear the folder at a command prompt.

Again, my guess is that under Safe Mode, a simple

Code: [Select]

del unp*.tmp

while the prompt is already in the correct directory should be much faster and direct (specially being all zero-byte files).

Normally, this is unnecessary, and Avast should clean up itself once in a while.

A chkdsk /f on reboot reported no errors, avast cleanup tools ran, and for the next few days I have installed Microsoft Security Essentials for low level security while I research what may cause this.

If you want to reinstall Avast, remember to run the specific removal tool for MSE under Safe Mode before installing Avast.

The other tool I notice installed is Malwarebytes Anti-Malware - installed as the free 'no live scanning' option. Not sure if this would cause this issue,

Even if there is some problem with both tools installed, it would be not enough to cause this issue. What I mean is that having Avast and MBAM Free both installed might (or not) be a necessary condition, but it is not enough to cause this problem, since many other users use both without having this type of problem.

The only thing that is clear is that Avast was not able to delete old defs files, so some "block" attribute, or Administrative permissions, or something alike, was interfering with Avast cleaning up itself.

[iroc9555]

SitxNZ.

One question. What firewall are you running ? Neommy and Solidacid both with the same problem as your run Comodo.

[neommy]

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=85750.30

Actually it seems that my problem is solved, ( same with SitxNZ's problem ) it has been 9 days and only one .tmp file is produced, I wrote what I did to solve the problem at that subject in my last message.
In the beginning my number one suspect was my network adjustments at the control panel, but now my number one suspect is IE9 itself, not even Comodo!
.tmp files produced at that time were all empty, nothing written in them! Since 9 days only one .tmp file is produced. Igor had asked if there was anything written in them, in my only one temp file mentioned above the following is written;
try{T(R.wa(),"sy180");S(R.wa(),"sy180");U(R.wa(),"sy180");}catch(e){_DumpException(e)}try{T(R.wa(),"sy327");function iH(b){return Va(Neb,b)>=0}var Neb=function(){var b;if(Pf)r

I hope this will help somebody to understand the cause of the problem?