Near total Freeze after update to 7.0.1426

[RichU]

I have twice updated from 6.0.1367 to 7.0.1426, once a month ago and again today.  After doing so, my computer, 4.6 Gig, Win XP SP3 with 4 Gig RAM, nearly froze. Each time I restored from a backup to reverse the changes, as my machine became unusable.

The update seemed fine at first.  After the restart, I clicked into Avast - don't remember if I updated definitions - I have that set to manual.  I do it daily and more, but I want to know when it updates, as it can slow down the machine.  Then I said do a Quick Scan.  It froze at some 9 min 51 sec in. The time stopped changing, and the data markers like speed and files done and such seemed unchanged.

I tried to open a browser - nothing happened - actually - probably just incredibly slow.  Many seconds with no sign of activity. . . . .  I tried a different browser - same nothing.  Clicking on Stop in the Avast scan window didn't do anything - seemingly frozen.  I finally opened System Explorer via Start-Programs - a manager like doing Ctrl-Alt-Del.  It showed that Opera and Firefox were in the list, but after several minutes they had never appeared.

I tried to End Process them, then avast.  At that point the machine was hung - nothing seemed to be happening.  I powered off by holding in the power button to shutdown.  Then I put in my Acronis boot disk, started the machine, then restored from backup.  I am sure I went through a similar update - freeze - shutdown -restore in early March.

Given the non-functioning state just prior to the Restore-from-backup, there was no way I could analyze or post or do anything. Since I had backed up just before the upgrade - no real harm, but a loss of perhaps a couple hours from the start of the upgrade to freeze (maybe half an hour or so) to the end of Restoring and rebooting and such.  Certainly not trivial, but at least no harm was done.

Any explanations or recommendations?  Avast has worked nicely for me for about 4 years, but this is a big deal.  Is it perhaps time for me to change to another option?

[Lisandro]

Well, I see two options:

1. Make a dump while frozen and upload the dump for analysis.
2. Try an installation from scratch (not upgrade).
Which one you think you could follow better?

Any other security program that could be interfering? Firewall?

[Usicat]

Similar problem here with XP SP3 partially freezing with Avast 7.0.1426 (previous version 6 worked OK):

1. First, had updated online to V7.0.1426, and it worked OK in the Primary User Account, but upon rebooting to the Limited account I found that Firefox would not open at all (but other browsers would), and some (but not all) other applications would open but then freeze  (eg: CCleaner/installed, SumatraPDF/installed, and PDF-XChange/portable). When attempts were made to close a non-running program, it could not be closed either directly or via the Task Manager, and furthermore the XP operating system itself had froze and could not be shut down via the desktop's START button - it required a hard reboot (power off/on).

2. Completely removed Avast with uninstaller aswclear.exe, rebooted, and all apps ran OK in both the Primary and Limited user accounts.

3. Made a clean Avast re-install with downloaded V7.0.1426. Applications ran OK in the Primary account.

4. Rebooted to the Limited account, and at first all the above apps seemed to work OK. Breathed a sigh of relief, and to verify I again rebooted to the Limited Account.... BUT,  dammit, then again the above apps would freeze, could not be closed, and XP could not be shut down except via a hard reboot.

5. Next, I went to Avast's User Interface and excluded the above apps, rebooted to the Limited account, and re-tried the apps - the problem was unchanged.

6. Went again to the Avast User Interface, deleted the exclusions, turned off the Real-Time File System Shield, and rebooted to the Limited Account....now all the above apps work OK; however, the Avast icon in the System Tray has a caution sign indicating lack of full protection.

Any suggestions? As Avast says the File System Shield is the most important, it would seem that this anti-virus program is useful only in a XP Primary User Account and not a Limited account, which is the most used.

[RichU]

I don't know how to do a dump, and I'm not sure it I'll be able to when the machine near-freezes.  Might be worth a try, though, since it can also provide info for others..., as to what's going wrong.

I do have a Firewall - Comodo. But I exited it for the initial install. Of course, it restarts at the system reboot . . .   I did check its log.  It said something about avast like - searched on it and deemed safe.  Because I was a little surprised that I did NOT get a warning about a "new" program operating, as usually happens when a new version of something starts up. Yeah - I can't verify that because it went away when I did the Restore.

A clean install is probably the easier option. After I do another total backup, I can uninstall version 6 and then start from scratch for version 7, right?

Thanks for the replies!

[Usicat]

Conflict revealed between Avast 7 and Comodo Free Firewall, fix needed:

Like RichU, I am also using Comodo Free Firewall (V5.10.228257.2253), and further testing reveals that the freezing of some apps and/or the Windows XP SP3 O/S itself (in XP's Limited User Account, not the Primary User Account) as reported above by RichU and myself, is due to conflicts between Avast (V7.0.1426 and some earlier) and Comodo Firewall - turning off or uninstalling either of those 2 security apps ends the freezing problems.

I found that if Comodo's Behavior Settings, separate for the Firewall and Defense+, are both set to Safe Mode or higher, then the freeze problems occur; however, if either one or both are set one notch lower to Training Mode, then no freeze-ups occur.

This is a lower level of safety, so, until Avast Support comes out with a fix, you might want to consider switching to a different firewall. I think that some time ago Avast had to engineer a conflict fix for the ZoneAlarm free firewall, so perhaps ZA will also work for Avast V7. I don't know if ZA is as secure as Comodo.

I tried to submit a submit a problem ticket to Comodo Support, but that part of their site appeared to be down - it asked for registration but the process went in circles, never allowing a ticket to be sent.

[iroc9555]

@ Usicat.

Open Avast! > Behavior Shield > Trusted Processes and add this Comodo files.

cfp.exe
cfpconfg.exe
cmdagent.exe

You also have to choose between Avast! Autosandbox or Comodo's

Go to Comodo > Defence + > Defence+ settings > Execution Control Settings > Buffer Overflow protection > Exclutions and add all Avast! folders from Program files and Documents & Settings

EDIT This thread can be followed here:

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=97233.msg775929#msg775929

[RichU]

I'm pleased to report that initial results after a clean install look perfect! Since I'm a primary account/single account user the issues of Usicat may not apply.

I removed 6.0.1367 using Control Panel, then rebooted.  Then I installed 7.0.1426 from the downloaded file.  At some point, Comodo Firewall did ask about one or two of the actions, and I said OK.  I had to re-register.  The Quick Scan was OK and I have rebooted and verified that I have updated virus def's . . . everything seems just fine!    No issues at all so far: all programs so far are working as they should.

Life is normal again, which is such a relief!

Thanks, avast!

[Usicat]

Apps freezing and O/S locking problems seem to be fixed thanks to iroc9555 -  the steps he suggested above for modifying Avast's Behavior Shield and Comodo Firewall's Defense+ settings cured the freezing and lockup problems in XP's Limited User Account.
    See thread at   http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=97233.0 

I also discovered that at least some 3rd-party RAM booster utilities can interfere with the latest versions of Avast and/or Comodo Firewall, although they didn't cause problems with earlier versions. So, anyone experiencing mysterious slowdowns and apps hanging might try uninstalling such system utilities and then test again.