Avast and Ram issues...

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

Hi guys first time poster in this forum.

I wonder if anyone can shed some light in resolving the following problem that I am getting with Avast.

I am running Avast v4.7.844 with Win98SE on a rig that has an AMD 1.8Ghz cpu & 512Mb DDR ram

In short the problem(s) appears to be ‘memory’ related which I will detail below.

  1. Intermittently when Avast is running a scan, Win98 will freeze ie the system has locked up. This does not happen every time nor have I noticed that it happens more on any particular setting ie ‘Standard’ or ‘Thorough’

  2. When a scan does complete, the icons on the ‘quick launch tool bar’ will disappear. It is only the picture on the icons that is not their. If I move the mouse pointer over where the icon are/where I can still click on them and the prog will open.

  3. Immediately after running an Avast scan, if I attempt to do a ‘scandisk’, Win98SE will display an error message to the effect that there is not enough memory to do this and to close down some progs.

Under issues 2 and 3, if I reboot then ‘quick launch toolbar’ icons return back to normal and scandisk can operate perfectly.

Now I run a RAM defragmenter program which loads and sits in the system tray. When I boot Win98SE, this prog shows that (at boot) the system has about 300-320Mb of available ram.

When the Avast scan is running and finishes, the available ram (as shown by my ram progs) falls to about 1-5Mb. This of course is normal and the previous AV prog which I ran did the same thing.

What I normally do after a full system virus scan is defrag the ram (by using my prog) and the system memory returns to about 280Mb.

Problem 3 ie scandisk error persists even if ram is defragmented (also the icons do not reappear).

These problems, to me, point to some form of ram issue.

I have tried to find some form of answer by searching these forums. I discovered that users of Win98SE where getting various problems with version >build 844. I have also looked through the Avast.ini post but cannot see what could be altered to correct the issues I am getting.

I am pondering whether I should edit the system.ini file in Win98SE by way of adding Min/MaxFileCache entries.

I wonder if anyone has any ideas as to how to move forward from here either by tweaking my version of Avast, using a previous version or indeed whether there are any Win98Se tweaks that I have overlooked.

Apologies for the long post.

Many thanks for any info which you can provide

2

You can go to the program settings and turn on the creation of the report file (with “OK files” to be included as well in the report). This way, you can find out where the scan really stopped (it’s going to be close to the end of the report). After avast! disappears, check the end of the report file - the “troublesome” file is likely to be close to the end (close in the sense that this particular file will probably not be written in the report, but the previous one will be the last line, so it shouldn’t be hard to guess). We would certainly like to have this file - if it really causes problems to avast! - so that we could fix the problem.
The report file created (if you turned it on in program settings) will be (default location) at \Data\Report\Simple User Interface.txt

Yeah… this seems monitor drive related or RAM memory related…

I would suggest memory test tools: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=25139.msg205806#msg205806

Windows 98 seems to have a bad memory control… uploaded drivers use memory that is not released after the program is closed :-\

Why don’t you update to the last avast version 4.7.892 ? ::slight_smile:

3

Many thanks for your reply Tech.

You can go to the program settings and turn on the creation of the report file (with "OK files" to be included as well in the report). This way, you can find out where the scan really stopped (it's going to be close to the end of the report). After avast! disappears, check the end of the report file - the "troublesome" file is likely to be close to the end (close in the sense that this particular file will probably not be written in the report, but the previous one will be the last line, so it shouldn't be hard to guess). We would certainly like to have this file - if it really causes problems to avast! - so that we could fix the problem. The report file created (if you turned it on in program settings) will be (default location) at \Data\Report\Simple User Interface.txt
I set up the report logger when I installed Avast and the last file checked before it froze was adobe\photoshopelements. Subsequent freezes did not log a report.
[I would suggest memory test tools: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=25139.msg205806#msg205806
The ram in this pc is fine. I ran memtest86 in the first instance and prior to posting.
Why don't you update to the last avast version 4.7.892 ?
I did try build 892 but had issues with it. These issues are similar to those already posted by some. In addition, that build was very VERY slow ie when opening the Avast prog it too ages.

>> Since my last post and given that this is to my mind clearly an issue in respect of ram ie a conflict between Avast and Win98SE’s generally poor ram management, I have some early information/results which could possibly be of use to other Win98SE users (especially if subsequent testing confirms.)

I did the following. I edited Win98SE’s system.ini as per below.

Under the [vcache] heading I added the following
MinFileCache=131072
MaxFileCache=262144

With these settings, I have run 2 virus scans with Avast one with Standard setting and one with Thorough (archive not ticked).

The problems that I described above did not manifest themselves at all under both tests.

Prior to starting Avast, available ram was 290Mb. During the Standard scan the lowest I saw was 125Mb and in the Thorough scan 140Mb.

It is indicative from these early results that vcache appears to be the key. I am by no means an expert in this field but there appears to be a vcache / VMM problem.

Of course I do want to run further scans to confirm that this tweak resolves the ram issues that I am getting. I also intend on conducting further tests with amended [vcache] values.

In the interim, I wonder, if anyone can provide any insight by way of having tried these type of settings in system.ini with success or any information to further the resolution of my problem.

4

I do not remember anymore how to configure Windows 98… Sorry. Maybe Igor could help…

5

:slight_smile: I also suggest: Unplugging from the net; go to “Msconfig” and unchecked, but remember which items, any service/startups that you will not need loading; reboot and clear any documents from the “Start” menu. I also recommend eliminating any “.temp”/“.tmp” files you feel comfortable in doing so.

This will free up ram and give you more conventional memory to work with. Be sure to recheck in “Msconfig” when through and beboot.

6
I also suggest: Unplugging from the net; go to "Msconfig" and unchecked, but remember which items, any service/startups that you will not need loading; reboot and clear any documents from the "Start" menu. I also recommend eliminating any ".temp"/".tmp" files you feel comfortable in doing so.
Msconfig is 'lean' in the sense that only a few item that load up at start up. 10 in total to include Explorer, Systray and the two Avast entries.
I also recommend eliminating any ".temp"/".tmp" files you feel comfortable in doing so.

Already did this with CCleaner prior and post Avast install. In addition I deleted the Temporary Internet Folder and Cookies folders in DOS mode also.

This Win98SE has been completely stable for several years since I built the pc. I have had Norton PFW, NAV and Systemworks working since the begining without any issues.

The problem at hand in my mind is clearly one that relates to the RAM interaction between Avast and Windows.

I have followed up my testing with the vcache settings which are as follows

I have so far tested Avast 9 times. Four times doing a Quick scan, four times doing a Standard scan and once doing a Thorough scan. Over those nine times it failed only once. Avast did not freeze but the icons disappeared and scandisk would not start showing the low memory error message.

These results would suggest that Avast is having issues with Win98SE and larger amounts of physical ram.

I will now start to tweak the registry functions of my o/s and if I feel satisfied that the results are satisfactory, I will post my findinds which perhaps may help others.

Please let me know if there is any info which you feel may be useful.

Many thanks

7

I am afraid that the mentioned problems with disappearing controls and Windows reporting “not enough memory” have actually nothing to do with physical memory / RAM, but rather with so called “resources” - quite a common problem in Windows 9x.
The [vcache] (and other) tweaks are quite useful, but completely irrelevant here, in my opinion.
My suggestions would be:

  1. As already suggested, try to limit the number of simultaneously running programs (using msconfig, for example)
  2. If possible, avoid any “fancy effects”; for example, if you are using the skinned Simple User Interface for avast! scans, switch to the skinless one.
    I’m not really saying it helps, though :-\

Regarding the system.ini tweaks, I recommend these settings:
[vcache]
MinFileCache=16384
MaxFileCache=131072
(128MB is way too much for minimum size, in my opinion)

And a very important one:
[386Enh]
ConservativeSwapFileUsage=1

Both these sessings improve the memory management / responsiveness of your system… but they have probably nothing to do with the mentioned problems.

8

Many thanks for your response Igor.

I already have ConservativeSwapFileUsage in effect. I will try the vcache settings that you suggest.

Its just that the current problem which I have with Avast reminds me of the problem I had trying to run one of my other rigs with 1Gb of Ram also on a Win98SE the solution to that problem also lay in part attention to the vcache.

Many thanks for your info.

Cheers