4.7.892 Problem

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

Used auto-update function to update to 4.7.982 on two machines - one Windows 2000 SP4, one XP SP2.

Same problem on both - can’t start the on access scanner.

Error message…

“The AAVM subsystem detected an RPC error”

And I can’t start any Avast services directly from the Computer Management > Services menu.

On the W2K machine I tried uninstalling and reinstalling an earlier version - but now I get the same problem with that! Even though it work fine before. Haven’t tried that with the XP machine yet.

But clearly there’s a problem with the 4.7.982 upgrade.

I realise this sort of problem has been mentioned in other threads - but I wanted to start a new one because it appears to be very specific to the 4.7.982 upgrade in this case.

2 computers with Avast working fine on different OS > 4.7.982 upgrade > 2 computers with same problem.

2

Please try this: http://www.avast.com/eng/faq-red-circle.html

If it doesn’t help, please post the message you’re getting when (unsuccessfully) trying to start the avast service.

Thanks
Vlk

3

Had to register again - forgot my details.

When I attempt to start the service manually I get the following message…

Could not start the avast! Antivirus service on the Local Computer.

Error 1068: The dependency service or group failed to start.

4

In this case, go to Control Panel → Administrative Tools → Event Viewer, open the System category, and look for an entry by Service Control Manager, saying which dependency service failed to start (and why).

Is it “Standard Shield support” service? What is the reason?

5

The aswRdr service failed to start due to the following error:

Access is denied.

6

Problem solved - turns out it was my fault.

The lesson is - don’t use Windows Encrypting File System (EFS) to encrypt your %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temp directory. Otherwise here is what happens…

Avast downloaded program update - or initial setup files - get extracted to %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temp directory where they get encrypted.

Then when Avast files are copied to the program directory and windows\system32 they may remain encrypted. I assume this is a problem because when Avast tries to access them it attempts to do so not as the user who encrypted them but as system?

Anyway, the bottom line … don’t use Windows Encrypting File System (EFS) to encrypt your %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temp directory!