Avast Error on update killed my system aswsnx.sys

A bit of a warning to everyone really about the update on the free avast, he go’s i’ll try and explain my best

Avast free edition
win xp sp3
dell insperon 530 quadcore 4gb ddr

I have been using avast for about 2 years and did actually think it was a fantastic programme and was recomending it to everyone i spoke to about pc’s as i had never had a problem with it,

I updated to i think its v7? im not going back to check, as it asked me if i wanted to update so i did I was then hit by blue screens just after the log on window as soon as you see the desktop background with the error ASWSNX.SYS
I couldnt do anything but wipe my drive i tried allsorts for about 4 days I later found that this error is from AVAST so the update has killed my pc ,

I managed to get it all working again after a format and thaught its poss just a error so I reinstalled the trusty avast and straight away i had the same problem I cant use your programme and definatly wouldnt risk it again as this is a music studio pc,
I also have to stay on win xp too as my vsts are wrote for xp, I lost 3 finished releases which as you can imagaine I’m gutted about, the second install aswell before I added avast It took me another two days to set up my DAW and vsts/samples, so as you can imagine I’m very dissaopinted

heres the details I’ve found on it

The following is the available information on aswSnx.sys:

Property Value
Product name avast! Antivirus System
Company name AVAST Software
File description avast! Virtualization Driver
Internal name aswSnx.sys
Original filename aswSnx.sys
Legal copyright Copyright (c) 1996-2010 AVAST Software
Product version 5.0
File version 6.0.999.0

Hopefully you can fix this so it doesnt happen again to someone else

Very outdated version… :wink:

thats just what i found the error to be online for the file description (google)

my avast was up to date until feb 27th 2012 so v 6 im guessing???

With the given information, nobody can fix anything. (In case this problem is still relevant…)

Its a error thats within the update as it was fine before,

I’m sure avasts coding experts could easily fix this so other people dont have it happen to them as I think you will hear of this quite a few more times

For me and the people this happens to we can only never use avast again unless this is either fixed or we have a totaly new config (higher windows) or system (new hardware) so the compatability would be different

For me my music software is wrote on xp so I wont be upgrading my windows anytime soon,

Do you mean the update to version 7…??
If so, there have already been a couple of fixes.
Latest version is here: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=94790.0

yes the latest version out now, i was fully upto date until last week when it happened i’l have a look but dont fancy risking a new instal to be honest even if the errors fixed it took me a long time to get me back on track and seriously dont want to have to do it again,

I suggest to use some kind of imaging software.

I use a backup external drive to instal from, when you say imaging software do you mean cd back ups?

When i realised i couldnt access anything apart from my bios I just booted from disk and formatted to start over, I couldnt get to change any settings I was hoping to start in safe mode and delete avast but couldnt

I’m basicaly happy with my back up system and it was my own fault for loosing the projects as i didnt expect anything to happen really as they were all done within the last few weeks

It kept saying Virtualization Driver on the searches i done what exactly is that?? as that is what the problem is,
and the question is why does it happen on my system and not everyone elses? I cant help but wonder if its a xp conflict but I’m far from clued up in coding I expect most people will be on a higher windows like win 7 and it was poss tested for theese newer platforms?

No Hard Disk Imaging software, makes an exact copy (image) of your Partition/Hard drive that can be restored.

That sounds really handy !!

and a brilliant idea do you know of a programme i can get ? and where to find it I fancy doing that right now while everythings running well! I could even experiment with fixed updates then when i hear this issue is fixed

This may help you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_disk_imaging_software
I use Paragon, btw. :wink:

I’m looking into that right now :slight_smile: ,

say i made the saved image could i save that to a usb HD without wiping all your files off that HD would it simply save it on that drive kind of like a file? to be reloaded later by a image prog am I on the right path?

Yep, still I would use an empty USB drive.

Also say I did have a crash could you simply save this to a cd and boot from disk locate the file on your other drive then simply copy over my C: or would you stil need to format then use the prog?

I’ve never heard of this so pretty clueless lol

nice 1 I am backing up as we speak !! I’ve learned something really handy there I appriecaite that thanks :slight_smile:

hopefully now if i see they fix this I can test it with out the worry of loss! 8)

You’re welcome.

I use Paragon, btw.
So do I. But I never create or restore an image out of windows. I always use their bootable CD WIN PE version. I never had a bad image backup or restore using it. I do have the 9.0 Pro version and it wasn't cheap.

a cd would be too small for me my basic set up start point was 64gb, so I put it on a external drive that image programme was very easy to use too im well impressed i can now simply restore all in one go if it gos wrong again

Do avast programmers use theese threads or is it more of a help forum for virus than actually fixing bugs?? As so far no avast person has said if they have or are going to fix this problem?

Do avast programmers use theese threads or is it more of a help forum for virus than actually fixing bugs?? As so far no avast person has said if they have or are going to fix this problem?
This section of the forum (virus and worms) is for solving virus problems

bug fix is over here - avast! Free/Pro/Suite http://forum.avast.com/index.php?board=2.0