Avast 4.7 problems [Win2K/NT4 access rights issue]

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

Hi all. I have been using Avast for some time now, and have really liked it. This morning I updated manually, and it installed the latest version of the software. I rebooted as always when there is a program update. Upon reboot, my computer no longer had the Avast icon in the system tray. I tried right clicking a file to manually scan, and there is no ‘scan for viruses’ option. Avast is not running.

I came to the forum and read through some of the recent posts, and saw one that indicated where the ‘Repair’ feature is. Tried that. Rebooted. No good.

I uninstalled and reinstalled. It seemed to go fine. Rebooted, got the ‘Welcome to Avast’ message. Clicked ok, immediately got an error message. Access denied, I believe it was. Tried running the repair again, no good.

I just now looked in the event viewer (in Windows Management Console), and there is this error from Service Control Manager (presumably from boot-up).
“The avast! Antivirus service failed to start due to the following error:
Access is denied.”

Running Win2k Pro on a Pentium 4 machine.

Please help!

2

Can you check the access rights on the Avast4 folder? (C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4)?

Thanks
Vlk

3

On the security tab - It shows that the Administrator and System groups defined, but with all of the Allow and Deny checkboxes empty. At the bottom there is an advanced button, indicating that additional permissions are present. There is also a checkbox- Allow inheritable permissions from parent to propagate to this object. It is checked.

I click on Advanced and it shows Allow System and Administrators Full Control, This Folder Only. Underneath it says ‘This permission is defined directly on this object. This permission is not inherited by child objects.’ There are two check boxes- Allow inheritable permissions from parent to propagate to this object, which is checked, and Reset permissions on all child objects and enable propagation of inheritable permissions, which is not checked.

I get the feeling that I should check that second box. Is that correct?

4

Anybody?
???

5

Okay, after trying several things and having nothing working, I located an installer for Avast 4.6 and installed it. Works fine. So the problem is definitely with 4.7. I suspect that it has to do with the differences in security handling between XP and 2K, but that is just a hunch on my part.

I would be curious, of those of you out there running Win2k pro who got 4.7 working, are you running NTFS or FAT32 drives? Obviously FAT32 would have no security settings to deal with, and I suspect that 4.7 would run fine.

Very tired of rebooting my computer…
Sol

6

Welcome to the forums, solstone. :slight_smile:

I have never used W2K and so can not really help you. Hopefully, someone familiar with W2K will be along soon to help you.

7

File system is not a problem for an antivirus.
avast works fine in both of them for sure.
I have NTFS in all partitions and haven’t a trouble at all…

You access permition should be inherit in that folder but they can’t be empty (not allow not deny marked).
There should be a ‘greyed’ check mark on the option.

8

I was just writing a post to that effect. I looked at the older version that I now have running and saw how the security permissions were set (ie- Everyone, all boxes checked but greyed). In 4.7, there were no names and no boxes checked. I am referring to the individual files (such as ashAvast.exe).

Note: The Folder (Avast4) properties are identical between the two versions. It is only the actual file properties within the folder that are different.

ps- Thanks to CharleyO for the welcome. :slight_smile:

pps- I want to clarify about NTFS vs FAT32. FAT32 has no security permissions, at least not like you can have under NTFS. My thought was that XP handles permissions differently than 2K, and perhaps that is part of the issue. I don’t know, though. Tech, are you running XP?

9

Why don’t you try to uninstall the previous version, boot, install the new one and boot to see what you get.
Can you post the access rights for the C:\Program Files\ folder and the inheritage of the subdirectories under it?

10

Well… maybe. But I think not… we need to google a little to discover if there is differences on how they handle permitions.

XP SP2+ and, in other partitions, SUSE Linux or Kubuntu Linux :slight_smile:

11

Okay. Uninstalled 4.6, rebooted (sigh), installed 4.7 from freshly downloaded installer, rebooted (sigh…). This time Avast started, gave me the ‘Welcome to Avast’ screen, and the 2 icons in the systray. The main icon had the little red o on it, though. I clicked on it to get to the registration pop-up, and Avast crashed, the two icons disappearing a moment later.

I went into the Avast4 folder to see how the permissions were set. As they were the last time, no user names and no checks in any of the boxes. So, I manually set all of the file permissions (selecting them in groups and by folders, of course) to Everyone- Full Control. Odd thing is that there were a couple of folders that did already have permissions set (the same settings), but most did not. Now they are all showing the same settings (I think) as they did under 4.6, with the only difference that they are solid and not grey checkmarks.

I double clicked the desktop icon, entered the reg code, and the program ran fine.

I rebooted (… sigh…), and now everything seems to be functioning again.

I only worry that I will have to go through this process with the next update as well.

12

Problem :stuck_out_tongue:

Which other antivirus are you using? Any other security program?

The permitions are messed in your computer… You had badly changed them some time in the past, without knowing and wanting…
Full control to everyone is not a good choice…

13

I am using Kerio for firewall, and no other antivirus. This is the first time that I have any type of issue with Avast. There was one other time, when the Web Shield was having some difficulty, but I traced it to my firewall settings.

The ‘Everyone’ and ‘Full Control’ settings, as I applied them to all the contents of the Avast4 folder, are exactly as they were under a fresh install of Avast 4.6. I had checked them thoroughly. The only one that was slightly different was an .md5 file in the Data folder which does not exist in the new install of 4.7. (I am thinking that it is related to updates?)

I disagree that I had previously changed my permissions badly, or at all. All of the permissions set in other folders, both under Program Files and elsewhere, are just as they should be. It is only in the Avast4 folder that they were screwed up, and screwed up from a fresh install of Avast 4.7. It is the installer for 4.7 that seems messed. I suspect that over the next week, as the update rolls out bit by bit, there will be more of this issue arising for other users.

At least for now I have a functioning antivirus again, and hopefully this issue will be resolved by the next incremental update.

Out of curiousity, if you go and look at the permissions set file by file in your version of Avast 4.7, what are the settings?

14

Isn’t this related to the recent Microsoft update patches?
MS06-015 http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS06-015.mspx
or http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=20646.msg173339#msg173339

md5 file could be related to the ‘beta’ phase of the 4.7 version… did you use the beta?

15

Hi solstone,

I did the same as you – manually updated and got the new version 4.7 installed unexpectedly yesterday. I run w2k pro sp4 and had no problems with the new version. For sure, your permissions somehow got messed up.

Did you resolve your issue with running the new version? I can help get you back to default if needed.

Regards
Jaws

16

I am confused about how they could have gotten messed up, but that aside I will focus on fixing this. I am also running w2k sp4.

To recap- I updated originally through Avast itself (and please note that I have been using Avast with no problems for at least 2 years), but as soon as it had done it, it would not work. I tried repair- no good. I uninstalled and reinstalled from a fresh dl of the installer from Avast website- no good. I uninstalled and re-installed Avast 4.6 from an installer found on cnet (since they are still hosting the previous version, at least as of yesterday)- worked fine. Permissions set properly, or so it seems. Uninstalled 4.6, reinstalled 4.7 (again, dl a fresh installer from Avast website)- no good. Same problem every time. Manually set permissions to match what they were in 4.6- seems to run fine. Tech (username on this forum) says the permissions I am setting manually are unwise, but they are exactly what is installed by default under 4.6.

Todays update- updated iAVS through Avast, and it reset file permissions in the Avast4 folder so that the program doesn’t run again. What a pain. So I manually set them again, just for functionality at the moment.

I don’t understand how it is that my computer, and something I may have changed at some time in the past (?) would make the installer for 4.7 behave in this way, but the installer for 4.6 not. It seems to me to be a fault in the install for 4.7.

Jaws (and Tech and anybody else who is willing), can you look and see what permissions are set for core Avast program files (such as ashAvast.exe) on your machines. I am curious.

Meanwhile, I suppose I may have to revert back to 4.6 again just for stability.

17

Similar problems with Windows NT, except many less options for permissions. 4.7 seems to change them to something NT does not understand, and will not allow the program to update or run. Changing permissions only works, as you say, until the next update. And, I also have never messed with the permissions from the default that previous versions set.

18

I’ll have this checked asap. Thanks for the heads up so far… :slight_smile:

19

Settings from my w2k sp4 computer. I checked and these are the same for every folder of programs (ewido, winpatrol) on my computer. Avast 4.7 didn’t seem to change permissions on my system.

Solstone, the core files have the same permissions as the folders.

Security tab for – C:\Program Files > Alwil Software > Avast4.

***Administrators (computer name\Administrators) – Check marks in all boxes for allow.

***CREATOR OWNER – No check marks in any box.

***Power Users (computer name\Power Users) – Check marks (allow) in all except Full Control.

***SYSTEM – Check marks in all allow boxes.

***Users (computer name\Users) – Check marks (allow) in Read & Execute, List folder contents, Read.

Check mark in box for – Allow inheritable permissions …

Advanced … button

Highlight name – Click View … button.
***Users – Check mark in allow for – Traverse Folders/Execute File, List Folder/Read Data, Read Attributes, Read Extended Attributes, Read Permissions.

***Power Users – Check mark (allow) in all except – Delete Subfolders and Files, Change Permissions, Take Ownership.

***Administrators, ***SYSTEM, ***CREATOR OWNER, check mark in all allow boxes.

When in view mode for each named user there is no check in box for – Apply these permissions to objects and/or containers within this container only.

HTH
Jaws

20

Hi Jaws, yeah, these seem to be correct, and that’s how they should be.

I’m wondering what might be causing the problems other users are having.