Just updated the program to 5.0.594 from 4.x. All went well.
Except, any time I try to start up a game that plays full screen the computer locks up and requires a hard reset. This occurs right after the splash screen appears, so the desktop is still visible. This did not happen before the Avast install, and did not happen with the prior version. There have been no other changes to my system.
As an experiment, I temporarily disabled Avast and games loaded normally without any problems. This is repeatable. I have not yet gone through each specific shield to turn them on/off to see if just one of them is causing the trouble, as waiting for hard resets to finish booting takes a lot of time. I will get to this, but wanted to see if anyone else was having this or a similar problem or if there was a fix.
With File System Shield On, in Expert Settings, there is this:
“Scan libraries (DLLs) when loading.” With this enabled, all games that require full screen to play lock up the computer at their splash screens. Disabling it solves the problem.
So, is it dangerous to urn with this one function disabled?
Well, it’s an option to be checked.
If you run avast on-demand scanning, does any file is detected as being infected?
Can you identify which dll is responsible for that behavior?
To create the dump, download and run http://public.avast.com/~vlk/hangrep.exe . In the list of processes select it and use the Save button. This generates a file which you can either send to his email address vlk (at) avast.com (if it’s smaller than e.g. 1 MB, ZIPed), or upload to ftp://ftp.avast.com/incoming
The command-line version http://public.avast.com/~vlk/userdump.exe . The syntax is userdump.exe <program_to_dump>.exe c:<report_name>.dmp
(producing dump file in the root of C:\ drive)
Please note that prior to taking it, you’ll have to temporarily disable avast self defense - otherwise, the program responsible for creation of the dump won’t be able to open the process.
You need to discover which process is hanging (using all CPU for instance).
I won’t be able to do this until tonight or tomorrow, but will pass on the results.
Just for clarity, this isn’t a case of the CPU being used to 100%. This is a total lock up. The only way out is a hard reset with the reset button. I’ve tested my hardware to make sure nothing out of the ordinary is going on, and can find nothing wrong. Machine is not overclocked, and so on.
If you need a computer dump, then generate a manual dump: when the machine is in stalled state, hold down the rightmost CTRL key, and press the SCROLL LOCK key twice. This will cause a machine to ‘blue-screen’ and dump of memory will start.
In notebooks without the right most CTRL key, see http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=51847.msg440718#msg440718
