Sound Glitches, Slowdown After Update

[Mvega]

The other day I noticed Avast had turned itself off -- and when I went to turn it back on, it prompted me to update (to program version 6.0.1367 )

Since the update, I've had major issues with the sound on my system -- lots of glitches, stuttering etc. Video has also been affected, causing jerks, skips, etc.

I've also experienced general slowdowns in the computer's (XP) behavior, as well as in Firefox, although these seem to come and go.

As a temporary fix, I'm turning off various shields (seems that the Behavior, Script and Networking shields are the biggest culprits), but what's the point of having an antivirus if I have to shut it down in order to use my computer? Is there a way to roll back the program version.

Has this issue been addressed?

[Lisandro]

I suggest an installation from scratch:

1. Download the latest version of avast! Uninstall Utility and save it.
2. Download the latest avast! version and save it.
3. Uninstall avast from Control Panel (if possible). If, for any reason, you can't run it, try booting in Safe Mode and doing it from there. Anyway, boot after that.
4. Run the avast! Uninstall Utility saved on 1. If, for any reason, you can't run it, try booting in Safe Mode and doing it from there. Anyway, boot after you've run it.
5. Install avast! using the setup saved on 2. Boot.
6. Register your free copy or add the license key for Pro. Or even upgrade your key from old versions.
7. Check and post the results. If, for any reason, you did not solve, try doing the step 3 in Safe Mode anyway.

[Mvega]

Hi,
The reinstall seems to have fixed the sound and video problems.

The computer's still pretty sluggish -- hopefully this will get worked out with the next update.

[Asyn]

The computer's still pretty sluggish -- hopefully this will get worked out with the next update.

No problems here on XP.
Other security related software installed..??
Wich SP on XP..??

[Mvega]

I have no other security software active. Windows Firewall is off. I keep my machine pretty clean and clear of clutter, startup programs, services, etc. - I've got SP2. Don't want to bother with SP3.

Things were working fine until the Avast update.

The sound still stutters, but seems limited to the opening of the file. This happens both in Firefox and VLC player.

Certain things run more slowly -- Typing in this field is pretty annoying, for example, I keep having to wait for the system to catch up (this is new behavior).

Opening windows and certain programs also lag -- especially VLC player. OK buttons often hang.

All of this behavior pretty much disappears when I turn off Avast. And it all appeared when I updated Avast.

[ady4um]

I have no other security software active. Windows Firewall is off. I keep my machine pretty clean and clear of clutter, startup programs, services, etc. - I've got SP2. Don't want to bother with SP3.

...
Things were working fine until the Avast update.
...

If you HAD some security program, ever, you need to run the respective removal utility. A program not being *active* (or having been uninstalled already) doesn't mean it can't have some conflict with avast.

Since you are suspecting from Avast being the source of the problem, maybe you should run its removal utility under Windows Safe Mode and then manually clean up any remnant folder. Then install the latest stable version and reboot.

OTOH, it may just be some other thing altogether, like some defrag needed or a hardware problem in your HDD (just to give some examples of possibilities; I don't have any indication whatsoever, so please don't take this as any kind of fact or real conclusion).

[Asyn]

I've got SP2. Don't want to bother with SP3.

Update your XP to SP3 and reinstall avast!

[Mvega]

I know my way around XP pretty well, so nothing is running that shouldn't be. I did indeed uninstall Avast using the utility and reinstall it. This seemed to help a bit, but not all the way.

It's Avast that's causing the problem, nothing else. If I turn off Avast, everything works fine. As soon as I turn it back on again, the computer has problems.

I suspect there's a glitch in this version of Avast's monitoring function, something conflicting with the particular configuration of my machine. I can't tear down the machine just to make Avast work. And I can't go on a wild goose chase to try to fix it either.

Since it's Windows, my guess is Avast is trying to use memory it's not supposed to be, or that one of the other components (i.e., my sound card) is also trying to use.

I've found other complaints of similar issues with past versions of Avast, maybe it's just my turn.

[ady4um]

How much free HDD space do you have (in each separate partition)?

Do you use some defrag tool?

Sometimes, updating drivers can help, but I guess you won't find anything "revolutionary" for XP, and probably you don't want to touch your XP for anything related to this (in spite some recommendations you already received, which I agree with).

Maybe it is avast, but we are trying to offer you suggestions for your particular system (workarounds), since I doubt avast will find what exactly is triggering this issue so to solve it (at least not in the near future).

[Mvega]

Is there a way to roll back Avast to the previous version?

Avast has worked just fine for me (and this computer) for the last two years. These problems only came up with the most recent update.

I've done the defrag thing. I've also done a virus scan. I'll scan for spyware too, tonight. I'll have time in a couple of weeks to do a thorough cleaning of the system, there's plenty of clutter on here. There should be enough hard drive space, but it wouldn't hurt to have more.

I do appreciate people's help, don't want to give the wrong idea. What's weird is sometimes the system works fine -- other times, the Avast icon starts spinning round and round and everything slows down.

[bobo1]

Should be as mentioned on SP3 xp. For efficiant running of xp use crap cleaner and clear all junk files/ within the program do registry error check/ download malwarebytes free to check for spyware/ after that do full defrgment & reboot. What ram is installed? 256mb is no good. Put more than 512mb ram in and your computer will fly away!!!!
No issues on my computer as it is a basic one IBM T22 512mb ram maxed out!

[YoKenny]

I've got SP2. Don't want to bother with SP3.

Update your XP to SP3 and reinstall avast!

Definitly update to SP3:
Support for Windows XP Service Pack 2 ends on July 13, 2010
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifean31

[Mvega]

I've updated to SP3. This has helped but things still aren't perfect -- still get some sound stuttering, and a lot of applications (VLC, Adobe Reader, Firefox) take forever to open.

Even Windows Explorer and certain other windows hang for a bit while the Avast icon spins about.

I've put VLC and Reader on the exclusion list, can't do that with Firefox, obviously. I've also turned off the shield on opening files, which seems to help a bit.

I've already done the uninstall/reinstall of Avast -- should I do that again, now that I have SP3? (I've also already defragged)

This machine as 1 GB of Ram. There's about 11 GB of free space on the main partition. I'd really like to wait until next year to move onto the next computer.

[Asyn]

I've already done the uninstall/reinstall of Avast -- should I do that again, now that I have SP3? (I've also already defragged)

Yes, please do so.

[ady4um]

Please review again the possibility of updating drivers for your hardware and OS.

About the partition free space, you mentioned 11GB, but how much is the total space of that same partition?

Do you have any resident software running? Try closing anything "optional" (like adobe, which usually adds some autorun to make their tools start faster; or, say, quicktime; or some automatic defrag;  or anything that is not absolutely indispensable to be active). The task manager services and processes tabs can help you identify some unneeded autoruns.