Avast 6 causes xp sp2 login/boot failure [ Solved ]

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

I have had this annoying problem for a while. i dont understand whether the avast 6 doesnt support sp2 version. Because whenever i updates to 6 version windows crashes just before login , ie system fails to start.

I have to uninstall avast 6 from safe mode to get the system back to working . Is this a bug or something . It doesnt allow me to switch new version. pls help !!

2

avast6 does work on XP SP2 OS, do you get blue screens?
please send me a couple of the latests minidumps from \Windows\Minidump folder to kurtin@avast.com

thanks!

3

REMOVE AVAST IN SAFE MODE AND INSTALL SP3 FROM WINDOWS UPDATE & RE INSTALL AVAST 6 .
Will work afterwards as needs to be in windows SP3 ONLY MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
IMPORTANT YOU NEED TO BE ON SP3 AS SEVERAL VIRUS LOOPHOLES HAVE BEEN FIXED ON SP3 ISSUE

4

Well I would tend to believe pk (one of the avast developers), that avast6 minimum requirement is XP SP2.

There is no more guarantee that avast6 would work afterwards because the OP had XP SP3 installed, than if he simply did a clean reinstall of avast6.

Whilst it is recommended that they have the latest SP and full security updates, it isn’t a mandatory requirement for avast6.

You appear to be having problems with your CAPS LOCK KEY.

5

;D

6

No what i meant by login failure is that i get bsod when it has to show the login prompt…

Not problem with caps lock as i cant type the passwords because of BSOD.

My system is Pentium 4 2.6 GHZ , 758 mb DDr ram . windows xp sp2 5.1 build 2600.
So system will be slow if i update to sp3 , but i agree with need to update.

BSOD shows problem with fltmgr.sys . Dont know what its anyway.

I will try to send the minidumps …

i have sent the mini dump to kurtin@avast.com

Thanks!!

i have edited the dmp format to txt to post the mini dump here

7

The caps lock comment was not for you :wink:

My system is Pentium 4 2.6 GHZ , 758 mb DDr ram . windows xp sp2 5.1 build 2600. So system will be slow if i update to sp3 , but i agree with need to update.
One possibility would be to perform the update to SP3, but minimize any dispensable "multimedia" settings in Windows, so to try to compensate. Think this through before actually updating, because undoing the update might leave you more "mess".
BSOD shows problem with fltmgr.sys . Dont know what its anyway. I will try to send the minidumps ..
It would be a good idea to put the minidumps together with a text file all into a zip. The text file should include a link to this topic, and it would be better if you post here the name of the zip after uploading it to the ftp incoming site.
8

waht did you meant by uploading to ftp incoming site !! didnt understand

thanks

9

What did u meant by uploading to ftp … I didnt understand!!

Thanks

10

well i have xp sp3 , I also had the bsod at the windows logo.Started my pc in debug mode after pressing f8 as it wouldnt start in safe mode.Uninstalled avast and my pc works fine again.I thought Id download and reinstall again.As soon as my installation had finished it Bsod instantly lol.
So now im running my system without Avast until they sort this out as its clearly the software.

11

Same problem here !

Have been trying to update my avast 5.1.864 from 6 version onwards.

But i have been able to remove new version from safe boot and install back to 5.1.864. it runs fine.

12

@ullas, dump shows a crash in MS driver – and I see you’re using XP SP2 RC2, would you mind to upgrade XP to SP3 at least?

13

Now that pk has got back to you he has obviously received the minidump files. For the future thei sis what uploading to the avast ftp (file transfer protocol) incoming address means.

  • Upload any minidump or memory.dmp files, zipped to reduce size. Give the zip file you are uploading a unique name (e.g. forumusername-mem-dump.zip, etc), so they can identify it. It might not be a bad idea to create a text file (readme.txt) with any relevant information, avast topic URL, user name, etc. etc. in the zip file.

  • Memory dump locations, Mini Dump files in, C:\Windows\Minidump\ - Full Kernel dump file, C:\windows\memory.dmp

Upload the zip file to the ftp server ftp://ftp.avast.com/incoming:

  • Using Internet Explorer, Connect to the link and drag the file into the Right pane and drop it, that starts the upload, you don’t have read access to this folder.

Or

Upload it using the Run command-line in Windows: Windows Key + R (to get the run box), copy and paste this [nobbc]explorer ftp://ftp.avast.com/incoming[/nobbc] and drag the file into the window, from another explorer window.

  • First you have to create your zip file with the unique name, containing the dump files and the readme.txt file, before you even consider connection to the ftp location [nobbc]explorer ftp://ftp.avast.com/incoming[/nobbc]. You do not have read permissions on the [nobbc]explorer ftp://ftp.avast.com/incoming[/nobbc] location, so you won’t see it has been uploaded.

Now you make your first windows explorer connection to the ftp link [nobbc]explorer ftp://ftp.avast.com/incoming[/nobbc], now open another explorer window where you locate your unique zip file containing the dump and readme.txt files; drag and drop that file into the other explorer window (right hand side), no need to click enter or any other action.

The problem being if you don’t forward the dump files, they don’t have the information to find the cause and sort it out as you say.

I have XP Pro SP3 and I haven’t experienced any BSOD with any og the avast 6.0 beta builds or the regular releases, so not all XP systems are effected and that is why it is important to upload the dump files for analysis.

14

Thanks For the detailed uploading info… I will keep that in my mind for future purpose…

15

Well i have tried it before , but the system gets really slow… So i wont try to change to sp3 unless i buy a new PC…

Do u mean to say that the avast 6 wont work with my version of sp2…

well i have tried avast 5.1.889 now . it also works fine. Problems with 6 onwards.

thanks

16

youre assuming there was something in my minidump folder :P otherwise i wouldve

17

it will, but you don’t even use official SP2 version (you have SP2 RC2, i.e. Release Candidate 2)
and your bsod was caused by a bug in fltmgr.sys (MS driver)

18

Well, pk is saying that you are running XP SP2 RC2 and RC2 (release candidate 2) essentially isn’t the regular release of XP SP2.

So some of the drivers in SP2 RC2 might well have been updated in the regular release version of XP SP2 as that is meant to be the minimum requirement for avast6 and ideally SP3 for your system security. You could try to find a download location for the regular SP2 release and install that as a start point.

I don’t know why things are slow on your system as SP3 for the most part are the security updates released after SP2 and a few security enhancements and I never say any noticeable slowdown on any system that I installed SP3 on. Perhaps the problem could be one of not having the regular SP2 version when trying to install SP3.

If you are short on RAM, that is a fairly easy and relatively cheap upgrade and one which I would recommend, a minimum of 1GB and XP will really see a performance improvement 2GB better still.

19

@ullas,

As already mentioned, your SP2 version is not the “final” (“STABLE”) version of SP2, so you are looking at the problem from the incorrect angle.

Forget about Avast (just for a moment :slight_smile: ). For your system to be more stable (and, generally speaking, safer too ), you could uninstall your SP2 (because it is NOT the “stable version” of SP2) and install instead the “final stable” version of SP2 (since you don’t want to update to SP3 ).

There are better methods so to gain more stability, but it is OT.

20

Memory

XP SP3 + xp-AntiSpy :slight_smile: