OMG Issues with Avast 7 on x64 - False Positive Rootkit?

[Keter]

bryank - did you try disabling the auto-decide sandboxing feature, or could you just not get to it even in safe mode?  I didn't have a problem with my XP or Vista systems, but they are 32-bit, and I think the really nasty issues seem to be on 64-bit systems.  After I disabled auto-decide sandboxing, my systems came right back to life as if nothing happened, although I am noticing that they run more slowly at times.  I ended up taking Avast off of my old reliable netbook because it simply could not keep up with Avast's demands and still run other things.

I agree with you that this new Avast 7 "feature" (bug?) poses a non-trivial issue for some users.

[DavidR]

The default mode for the autosandbox for avast 7.0.1426 is Ask and not Auto. In an earlier build of avast 7 it was set to Auto, but after a significant number of complaints in the forums that was changed back to Ask.

It is possible, though I don't know, if the user was in at a very early stage of avast7 then they may have been on Auto and I don't know if subsequent program updates from within the UI would have changed that.