Author Topic: Avast tries to "kill" hdd when updating *fixed*  (Read 12302 times)

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Vauxi

  • Guest
Re: Avast tries to "kill" hdd when updating
« Reply #15 on: November 18, 2011, 11:00:31 PM »
May I ask, since "when" you discovered this HDD resources problem? I mean, it was right after Avast was installed? Or maybe something else might have triggered this? Do you happen to see a similar behaviour in this same system using other tools or under other situation?
Speaking of wich, Foobar 2000k music player might do the same when starting and closing it. Not when using it. But I don't know yet for sure. That is all I can think of. I don't even have much programs installed. This was not started straight away after install. I can't say excatly when this started. I've been following this only fort two weeks.

Vauxi

  • Guest
Re: Avast tries to "kill" hdd when updating
« Reply #16 on: November 19, 2011, 04:17:32 PM »
Ok. Uninstalled Avast with uninstaller software. Damn it was fast boot up afterwards! Downloaded latest version from site, installed and registered straight away. So far I cannot say has anything changed at all. Installed it to C:.

ady4um

  • Guest
Re: Avast tries to "kill" hdd when updating
« Reply #17 on: November 20, 2011, 12:35:01 AM »
Well, then we are almost denpending on you to find out the cause of the problem.

If you are certain there is no conflict with any other software of configuration, and you are using the latest stable version of Avast, then I am currently out of ideas (and I consulted also with others about this, with no new suggestions either).

The definitions download itself is just a few KB (between 10 and 400KB). Once it is downloaded, Avast takes the previous VPS and rebuilds it with the new differential update. That's about 65MB. Let's assume that between the old and the new VPS you have less than 140MB.

How much time the HDD is using intensive resources? Are 140MB (or less) something that "sounds about right" in your system? How much free space do you have in each HDD?

Just to be clear, we are simple users here. Maybe some Avast Team member could potentially give some tip or direction towards what could be the problem (if it is really one).

Vauxi

  • Guest
Re: Avast tries to "kill" hdd when updating
« Reply #18 on: November 20, 2011, 08:17:12 AM »

The definitions download itself is just a few KB (between 10 and 400KB). Once it is downloaded, Avast takes the previous VPS and rebuilds it with the new differential update. That's about 65MB. Let's assume that between the old and the new VPS you have less than 140MB.

How much time the HDD is using intensive resources? Are 140MB (or less) something that "sounds about right" in your system? How much free space do you have in each HDD?


This sunday morning it was working as it should. Sdd didn't die at glance :D And boot up is still as fast as it was few months ago. Not that fast without Avast, but that is normal.
So far it seems to that problem is long gone. Foobar is still weirdly slow to start and close. But it is not that slow to be worried. I digged a littlebit deeper with this and found out that my both regular hdd are showing bit high level results at SMART test. #13 to be exact. To be worried? I dont think so. Time will tell :D

Every partitions have at least 50% free space. And writing ~140MB in ~6minutes is slow. Really slow. But today it took only few seconds. Of course ssd is faster, but still. I will continue this topic, if prob still is occurs. :)  Thanks so far.

ady4um

  • Guest
Re: Avast tries to "kill" hdd when updating *fixed*
« Reply #19 on: November 20, 2011, 09:03:00 AM »
Glad you are having at least less problems.

About the 140MB, that's only an approximate maximum. Only some KBs are new. About 65MB are from the previous database. So the 140MB I mentioned is "read+write", and half of it could be only a simple "move to new folder" action (which doesn't require a full read + write operation, so it would be much faster than the rest).

My suggestion would be to have / make a backup of your data, and then run the relevant HDD test tools (from the respective manufacturers, but not all of them provide those type of tools). After that, perform filesystem checks (chkdsk / scandisk with fix).

Finally, if you find problems again with Avast, you may want to try the removal utility of Avast applied for each and every version you ever had installed, under Windows Safe Mode (although, if I understood correctly, the only version you have *ever* installed is Avast Free 6.0.1289). Once removed under Windows Safe Mode, you would try again installing in the second HDD, and reboot immediately. Of course all this would be relevant only if problems arise again with Avast, and if you would want to compare the situation between the installation in the first or the second disks.

If you have any other problem or comments, please don't hesitate to come back.

joonamo

  • Guest
Re: Avast tries to "kill" hdd when updating
« Reply #20 on: November 20, 2011, 08:12:14 PM »
I have had the same problem on my Win 7 machine for about two months now. I have only one 1Tb HDD with plenty of free space. When Avast tries to update itself it some times almost locks the disk access. HDD indicator light just stays on when it normally flashes. The drive is quite noisy and I can hear that only a very little data is being read/written. Opening anything, even the task manager, takes ages.

I ran the repair function from Control Panel and it helped for couple of days. Tried setting Avast to start after other processes helped also for couple of days. After hhd froze again I ran the complete uninstall on safe mode and then re-installed. It worked for a week, but today after resuming from hibernate hdd locked again. This time I clocked 15 minutes for the freeze. (Or during the freeze Avast said that it haven't checked for updates in a while. After the freeze said it had checked for them 15min ago. It found no new updates.)

Specifications for the pc: Intel Core i5-2600, 8Gb of ram, 1Tb traditional HDD on sata, Win 7 Ultimate (licensed) with all the updates from WinUpdate. Avast 6.xxxx is the only security software ever installed.

I have now set updates to manual and have Process Explorer running at all time so when it freezes next time I can see what software is using the HDD. It still might be something else than Avast, but it always happens right at the same time with Avast Updates.

EDIT: During the freeze cpu usage is 0-1%. Pc is built basically by myself.
PS. The forums are loading super slow on my mac.
« Last Edit: November 20, 2011, 08:22:16 PM by joonamo »

ady4um

  • Guest
Re: Avast tries to "kill" hdd when updating *fixed*
« Reply #21 on: November 20, 2011, 08:30:55 PM »
You may try avast main GUI -> settings -> troubleshooting -> "load avast service only after other system services", but probably it won't be enough.

There are additional settings to add in the ini so to delay the first definitions update after the boot. I'll search for it and will post it here, just in case you would want to try it. But, that's going to MAYBE help only for the first update.

Other security tools that were installed in the past may have some remnants, so searching for the specific removal utilities may help (partial list at http://singularlabs.com/uninstallers/security-software/).

I would repeat: HDD manufacturers have some useful tools to test hardware (HDD and cable connections to ports).

ady4um

  • Guest
Re: Avast tries to "kill" hdd when updating *fixed*
« Reply #22 on: November 20, 2011, 08:36:06 PM »
I am copying this from DavidR.

Quote
- In avast6 you need to edit (using notepad) avast5.ini the [InetWD] section of the C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Avast Software\Avast\avast5.ini (XP file location).

- Broadband connections, add this line:
AlwaysConnectedWaitSeconds=120 and
AssumeAlwaysConnected=1 if not present (or edit AssumeAlwaysConnected=0 to AssumeAlwaysConnected=1)


Code: [Select]
[InetWD]
AssumeAlwaysConnected=1
AlwaysConnectedWaitSeconds=120


When complete save the changes, avast's self-defence module will ask for confirmation, etc. answer Yes.

The figure is seconds and the above equates to two minutes, you could try that and adjust upwards if required, 180, 240, 360,etc.

Of course the values may not be relevant for your case (permanent Internet connection is needed, for example)

@joonamo , for more troubleshooting (if necessary), please open a new separate topic.

BTW, the forum is currently slow for me too.