Avast causes my computer to hang after every update

:cry: My computer hangs after every update. I turned off the automatic update because it would hang during an important or inopportune time. Now when I am ready to do the updates, I will sometimes click on the pop up or open the update screen after I have been informed bu the update pop-up. This problem just started about 3 weeks ago and is very annoying. I completely deleted Avast and reloaded it. No change. What happened 3 weeks ago to your program that would cause my computer to lock up after the updates. I haven’t changed anything. Is this an attempt to force people to buy your prof version? If it is, it is despicable at best. If not, please test your system to determine the trouble that was just recently inserted into the program and correct it.

How exactly does the lockup manifest?
I mean, can you still move your mouse cursor? Can you maybe select the icons on the desktop, but when you click them, nothing happens?

What is your operating system?

Which is your firewall?
Did you have any other antivirus before avast in this computer?

“How exactly does the lockup manifest?
I mean, can you still move your mouse cursor? Can you maybe select the icons on the desktop, but when you click them, nothing happens?”

I can usually click on one icon, then nothing happens and I can not click on any other icons, but the mouse still moves. I can not shut down by selecting start and shutdown, nor can I click CONT,ALT,DEL. I have to hold the power button and force a shutdown.

“What is your operating system?”

I don’t know what difference this makes as I have changed nothing since I loaded the program initially, but it is Windows XP Pro with SP3.

“Which is your firewall?
Did you have any other antivirus before avast in this computer?”

I do not have any firewalls except for the antivirus that I know of. I do have another antivirus installed that has always been there as well (Trend Micro). I have changed nothing in the Trend Micro settings either.

As I stated, this has happened in just the last 3 or 4 weeks and I have changed nothing.

Maybe you have a undetected virus that’s trying to pend avast from updating. But I’m not a pro at this so wait for another user to respond.

You need to completely uninstall the other antivirus.
Even though it may seem illogical, because they seemed to work together for a time and now they do not, that is almost certainly the cause of the problem.
For detailed instructions see here.
If you don’t run a third party firewall (Avast is not a firewall; the network shield provides some additional firewall-like protection) it is seriously advisable that you make sure the windows firewall is turned on.

I was writing this when Tarq57’s post came in. I will post it anyway.

My computer momentarily hangs as well, to allow the update to come through. There is a moment there. I have to wait. If I am doing something - clicking the mouse, more than once, say - the computer may hang and I have to wait for it to right itself, which is does quickly enough. But once I realise the update is coming through, I stop what I’m doing, to avoid locking up CPU processing. A computer will multi-thread but still really only does one thing at a time (by binary reasoning).

I dont know if this is your problem but Im sure others will know what I mean. There is a moment there where I have to wait for the update to complete. With a faster computer I would not have this problem, perhaps. But I am happy to put up with any minor inconvenience like this as long as my online protection remains up to its present standard.

Im am not actual saying that this is the problem that you are having.

Actually, I do have the similar experience to mkis, as my computer sometimes goes into go-slow mode with some Avast updates. Not all, just some, maybe a third of the time. When I notice this I just bide my patience, it’s over in maybe half a minute.
wvangosen your problem sounds more severe, and is almost certainly contributed to by the presence of the other AV.

Thanks for responding, however, my computer hangs after I get the complete screen and I have waited for over a half an hour to allow it to start working again and i have a new Dell XPS (a pretty fast machine). Is this the same as your machine? My next question would be to wonder if this is just a laptop issue? Is there some compatibility issues with the XPS? This happens after every update.

I can understand how you might wish to load avast on your system.

However, it has already been made clear that to do this you will need uninstall the other antivirus, which in this case you have informed us is Trend Micro. If you do wish to uninstall Trend Micro you will need to make a good job of it otherwise remnants are likely to be left in your system and continue to interfere with the smooth running of avast. Tarq57 has already told you this.

You need to completely uninstall the other antivirus. Even though it may seem illogical, because they seemed to work together for a time and now they do not, that is almost certainly the cause of the problem.

Furthermore you should always run a firewall over and above your Windows default firewall. But that is a matter you can deal with once you have your antivirus situation sorted out. It is possible that your system may have been infected over the 4 weeks so it would not hurt to run a HiJackThis scan and post a log for us to look at. This would help clarify the situation.

Click here - http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US/tools/security_tools/hijackthis/qsg

Download and run.
Then do scan and save a log file.

Post the log file here.
You may have to post the log file in two or more parts if the whole log wont fit in one post.

OK, I unloaded the Trend Micro and am putting all my faith into the AVAST. I will wait until the next update to see if this cleared up the issue. If it did not, I will come back and perform the operation you have listed above and post the results. If it does work, I will come back and post that as well.

BTW, I am using a wireless router that has a firewall in it that is active. It is a Linksys, however, the error was occurring anywhere I went, whether I took my laptop to work or on vacation, I had/have the same problem.

Unloading it won’t do the job. It really needs to be uninstalled. Unloading (terminating, I guess you mean) could still leave drivers and other stuff active.

Since I know mostly el zilcho about the subject, I should probably keep my mouth shut.
But: I had the same general problems around avast! updates and is the period just after.
The Techs here (some of the same ones trying to help you) quickly sent me in the direction of finding out how much memory (RAM, I think) I had.
Since it was low, they suggested Crucial.com for an assessment and upgrade.
A $45 memory card arrived in two days, installed in 2 minutes and totally solved the problem, as well as some others.
Maybe you will be as lucky.

wvangosen, avast won’t work with Trend Micro in background… Disabling is not enough…

Gosh, I suppose I should have used the proper terminology. I completely uninstalled Trend Micro and the problem has cleared. I still don’t understand why it has been working just fine for nearly 5 months but the last 3 weeks it decides to start locking up. I hate computers. Anyway, the problem appears to be gone as I have updated 3 times successfully now. Thanks for all you help and quick respones.

We always say that sooner or later the two antivirus will conflict.
Well, glad you’ve succeed solving the issue :wink:

Gosh, I suppose I should have used the proper terminology
My misinterpretation. I once was a bit casual in offering someone advice on a forum, and it led them to do the wrong thing, so I always try and make sure everyone's on the same page. Real glad the problem is fixed.

I am Having The Same Problem. I’ve Been Using Avast for about 4 years, and never had any problems.
But Recently, I was using Quick Heal and gave it a try. It was Good, and when It Expired, I Again Installed Avast 5.
It was Working Ok for the day I installed it, but after it got updated, it asked me to Restart.
When Restarted, My computer went Crazy! It Hanged while Booting. So I Restarted it again, yet It hanged.
Then again I Restarted and my computer started Properly, but then Again It Hanged.
I Have a New Computer, and Its a Core 2 Duo with 2 GB Ram,Using Windows XP SP3 and There’s more than 50% Space in My System Drive.
I Have Used All The Top Registry Cleaners, Microsoft Updates, and Cleaned Up My Whole Computer.
There Seems to Be No Problem except that My Computer Hangs When I Install ANY anti-virus, not only Avast.

@ Tyson_08,

In the future, instead of adding on to a 5 month old thread, please start your own new topic/thread and we will help you there:

  • Go to this link, http://forum.avast.com/index.php, scroll down to the Avast Free/Pro/Suite forum and click it, click the New Topic button at the top of the list and post there. Thank you.

Questions so we can help you:

  1. What product of Avast did you install? Free, Pro, AIS?
  2. What other security software do you currently have or did you have in the past on this machine including antivirus (AV), firewall (FW), trial versions, and other security programs? If they were in the past, how did you remove them (the vendor’s uninstaller’s tool or another way)?

My understanding is that QuickHeal contains an antivirus (AV). Having 2 AV’s in your machine will create all kinds of problems! Take a look here:
Clash Of The Antivirus Apps:
http://www.smartcomputing.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles/2003/s1407/38s07/38s07.asp

Why you should never run more than one AV (see reply from quietman7):
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?s=49db784baecf17e7b189c833aafb624d&showtopic=260844&view=findpost&p=1441638

I suggest that you uninstall QuickHeal by the vendor’s uninstaller tool and reboot.

Then try an Avast Repair:

  • Go to Control Panel > Add/Remove programs > Avast Antivirus.
  • Scroll down and choose Repair function in the pop-up window.
  • Reboot.

If Avast got corrupt because of having more than 1 AV on your machine, then you will need to do an uninstall and clean install of Avast:

  1. Save a copy of newest version of Avast (5.0.677) for the version you need and save it to your HDD:
    Freehttp://files.avast.com/iavs5x/setup_av_free_eng.exe - (English only)
    Prohttp://www.avast.com/pro-antivirus#tab4
    AIShttp://files.avast.com/iavs5x/setup_ais.exe
  2. Download the Avast Uninstall Utility, aswClear5.exe http://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility and save it to your HDD (it has uninstall tools for both 4.0 and 5.0).
  3. Disconnect from the Internet at this time.
  4. Go to Control Panel and uninstall Avast through Add/Remove Programs if possible and reboot.
  5. If Step 4 fails, boot into Safe Mode (hit F8 repeatedly) and run the Avast Uninstall Tool.
  6. Reboot.
  7. Install the newest version of Avast and reboot.
  8. Get Internet access and register your copy or add the license key for Free, Pro, or AIS.
  9. Update the Avast definitions.

Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you.