AIS 8.0.1482 - Vista 32 'system/NT Kernel' hogs CPU, i.e. constant 100%

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
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Note: This thread follows on from here.

After a couple of trouble-free days with avast! Free 8.0.1481 I thought it might be time to try AIS 8.0.1482. As you may have gathered from the title, on this machine, this was a bad move. Even before the post-installation restart prompt, the Vista CPU indicator zoomed up to 100% and stayed there. CPU temp shot up, seldom heard and normally-unnecessary cooling fan stayed on constantly, OS response became sluggish and, as with AIS RC 8.0.1481, just getting the program to uninstall was a painfully slow sequence of non-rendered boxes and ‘not responding’ incidents. (see pics)

After running ‘aswclear.exe’ again (BTW, as this file is deleted after use ??? , I have learnt the hard way to save multiple copies) I resolved to custom install AIS 8.0.1482, beginning with only the ‘Free’ features, and then add the extras one at a time 'till I “hit the jackpot”.

Added ‘Sandbox’, no change. next was ‘SafeZone’, still all good. Then ‘AntiSpam’ but still both before and after the required restart, the PC responded with the alacrity to which I am accustomed.
Next ‘Firewall’… BINGO! CPU 100%, overheating, wooden-spoon-in-treacle responsiveness, all back!
Conclusion. The FW does something really unhelpful to or with the kernel. I am holding off upgrading to AIS 8 on other PCs until I’m confident this issue is resolved.

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Have since tentatively installed AIS 8.0.1482 on a Win8 64-bit machine. Happy to report no similar problem there.

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Oh well. I was hoping that 8.0.1483 would fix this problem but it remains as it was with 8.0.1482.

With FW installed CPU runs flat out, machine overheats.
When uninstalling FW, CPU drops even before the restart.

Seems NTKernel and avast! FW just don’t get along.

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I am running Windows 7 Pro SP1 and have been plagued with CPU issues with the CPU regularly maxing out to 100%. After poking around in Safe mode yesterday, I noticed I had NO performance issues. After then eliminating all startup programs, I isolated the culprit to Avast.

I am running Avast Pro 8.0.1483, and it appears my issue is located within the Mail Shield part of the stack. I am using Outlook 2010 and accessing mail using IMAP. When the Mail Shield is turned on, I consistently run CPU loads of 60% or greater. When that is turned off, I consistently run CPU loads of 15% or less.

Has anyone else seen anything similar? Are there any known bugs with Win 7 Pro and this latest version of the code?

Thanks