I have 5.1.885 Free I have only email and file system shield running using Windows XP Pro Sp3.
When I go to other drives and folders or even on C folders avast puts a high cpu usage which essentially locks me out of windows explorer until its finished doing whatever its doing.
Constantly I see the file SF.bin popping up during this.
I have transient caching and persistent caching on.
What can I do to stop it doing this lag?
Thankyou
I have 5.1.885 Freewhy dont you upgrade to latest version 6.0.1203. and see if that will fix it ?
Well first off…
I have windows XP, and have all shields running even thou I’m not using some and everything is runnig smooth …
just wondering is there a reason that you only have the 2 shields runing and, is there a reason why you have decided to stay with the free version 5 instead of updating to the free version 6…after all they are both free and the version6 I find has so many more options, and offers more protection…And is rated highly by users and media…
Second…Sounds ike you have some reminants left over from previous security programs
What antivirus if any have you used before and did you download their proper uninstall utillity tool and did a clean instal of Avast 5
In other words any Previous Firewall or Antivirus is probably still running in the background with Avast5…think of any that could be there and do a full search on them if you can think of any previous security software and download their proper uninstal tool…
Also is it possible? that you might still have Avast 4.8 also there…If so download the proper Avast uninstal tool and do a clean instal of AVAST
Cheers and safe surfing!!
Well seeing as though I have a problem with 5, which im trying to resolve.
I wouldn’t be interested in something new before I get this working.
4 always worked fine.
I only have the 2 shields running because I dont like the extra lag of the others and I found I never needed them anyway.
I do not have reminants of other security programs avast 4 and now 5 is the only AV I have ever had installed on this.
And I uninstalled 4 with the tools and cleaned all traces of it from the PC.
I have and use malwarebytes from time to time but its not always running.
I use comodo firewall with no sandbox or anything running, but I have avast and comodo set to exclude everything from each other and when it spikes the CPU comodo is not using much cpu.
There is no previous firewall or AV running in the background with Avast.
Thing is, new versions fix bugs with old versions. So updating is always a good first step for troubleshooting.
Thinking Sf.bin has something to do with the behavior shield, or heuristics, forget which one.
Well seeing as though I have a problem with 5, which im trying to resolve. I wouldn't be interested in something new before I get this working. 4 always worked fine.newer versions usually have bug fixes ;)
http://filehippo.com/download_avast_antivirus/ and version 5.1.885 was not a official release according to this list
on right side you see old versions…click change log to see what was fixed
Well I don’t have those enabled only file system and email.
And I wouldn’t be interested in getting 6 yet because im thinking from what ive read here perhaps it uses even more system resources.
I was about to put Avast 5 on someones PC im fixing now ive second thoughts due to the lag it might make so im just trying to figure out if it can be resolved.
Ummm ok right, did 5 have bug fixes from 4? 4 used less system resources.
So your argument is not appealing to me.
Yet I got it from the Avast website so that’s a little strange.
why did ford stop producing the model T-Ford… it was working just fine…
4 have and outdated scan engine…lots of malware not detected
the bad guys are testing new malware every day, so to stay on top…
from here maybe http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=81028.0 a beta release ?
Yes but to be so paranoid as to say you need an AV that uses 50% or more of your system to be safe is not logical.
I have been using computers for 25 years and I am yet to have a virus that has exploded my computer and killed me.
The solution to my problem is not to upgrade to a new version which by the looks of things on here has similar if not more problems.
I will go and put the new version now on this other PC im fixing, which is clean OS install, and if it causes problems im removing it from all my PC’s and not putting it on anyone elses and will just have to find another less laggy alternative.
Unless someone can find a solution to its methods of grabbing massive amounts of CPU.
No…from the official download from Avast.com
ok… so why not try the last 5.1 version then ?
anyway seems i cant help you 
You have heuristics, if you have File shield, but as I said, I’m not sure which of those Sf.bin applied to. I’m sure someone here does, though.
All software will use more resources eventually, as time goes on. Especially security software. You can’t hide from that forever. Spybot used to be enough, remember?
Even more funny if Pondus is correct and 5.1.885 wasn’t official, you are using both an old and unstable release, twice the reason for you to update.
QFT
No one here is arguing with you…just stating the fact that sooner or later you must move forward or risk infection and bugs, a pure fact. If 4 worked…why did you update to 5, then, by your logic a bad decision?? (rhetorical question)…to finish, Avast! makes a product for the majority, not people sitting on old hardware expecting computing to stay where it is comfortable and affordable to them, sorry.
edit: btw, your email shows public on the forum
The question is WHY does it use more system resources? Because it offers better protection?
Or because of huge flashy marketing graphics? And I believe its the later, which is ignorant beyond belief.
And if that is so the case, then WHY was it released by Avast on their official website?
Just like the previous comment, they were selling V4, which you say is now no good?
But people were paying for that yet it was no good.
Then they release 5, but wait, the versions they release are not even official? Now 6? That must be better right? Because of the previous?
Because they discontinued updates, or at least threatened to.
…right, :
what graphics run in the background using resources? None. Even if you sat there with the UI open all the time, impact from that would be minimal.
sigh…is this about your problem with the program or company policy? I’m done here, someone else can bite the hook if they feel like it.
So basically I installed 6 on the other pc im fixing, and it does the same thing.
With all the shields active its a nightmare.
But even with just those 2 active when you click on things from time to time, AvastSvc.exe is spiking massive CPU usage and popping up SF.bin which is also spiking it and locking you out from explorer while it does it.
So basically im uninstalling it from all my pc’s and will not put it on anyone elses until this is fixed, which I assume now since 5 and 6 both do it then it wont be.
So I guess Avast has gone the route of resource hog and that’s fine, just I will not be using it or recommending it, as people should not need to buy a $1000 Intel gaming processor to run anti virus.
Have you altered any of the default setting’s of avast ? like ticking the scan all files boxes in the file system shield settings.
Personally i find the new versions of avast are extreemly low in there resource usage 4-6 meg of ram for me and it is running very well on my old xp sp3 with only 512 meg of ram.