Hello,
Can you please confirm what other users are reporting? Is avast deleting virtualbox virtual machines? I had 4 virtual machines and after rebooting my system they are no gone, wiped.
Thank you.
Hello,
Avast 2015 deleted all af my virtualbox harddisks. >:(
After that happened I turn off the Avast virtual box “feature”. Uncheck the: Settings → General → Use secure virtual machines.
Avast VBox configuration and VMs storage space is strictly separated from official VBox. So this is hardly possible. What makes you think Avast is responsible for this?
As I remember nothing else happened between my vdi files were in folder and there gone, just an avast update. I not used my virtual machines everyday, but before Avast 2015 they not were deleted for 4 years.
I tested it, and I have to say that Avast delete all virtualbox vdi-s and machines.
A few days ago I enabled the “Use secure virtual machines” option in settings. Now all of my virtual machines gone.
http://oi60.tinypic.com/16hrt4g.jpg
(I made backup.)
Hey
the same problem here. :-[
On my desktop all the VM were deleted, but on the laptop there were no problems (both with Windows 7; VirtualBox v4.3.20; Avast 2015 free).
One difference is that on the desktop the VirtualBox home directory was manually set by an environment variable (VBOX_USER_HOME).
On the laptop, the default directory is used.
Maybe this causes Avast to use the same “VirtualBox.xml” and deletes all the referenced VMs.
I deleted the variable, and since there were no more problems (However, only a few hours tested).
good luck…
I also just had all of my virtual machines wiped out by Avast 2015 - Free. Had no idea about the whole NG thing, started having some trouble with my machines starting up today. After reading up on NG and how Avast uses VirtualBox I chose to remove the NG feature (Programs → Change → Remove NG) so it would stop interfering with my setup. Opening up my VirtualBox GUI showed the exact same thing as the screenshot above. All of my machines (about 20 in all) that were working fine within the last few days were gone. Upon further investigation, it wasn’t just my VirtualBox.xml that was overwritten by Avast, but all of the machines files and associated hard disks (VDI) were physically deleted. I have used Avast for years and never had a problem prior to this. Unfortunately, this is an unforgivable mistake and I will never again use an Avast product ever again. I will be uninstalling immediately. Anything that wipes out that much stuff in one fell swoop with no indication or warning whatsoever has no place on my machine. Good riddance Avast.
Edit: My VBOX_USER_HOME was also set via Environment Variables
Hi guys,
I am confirming the issue, it applies only to VBox installations using redirected home directory using VBOX_USER_HOME environment variable. Fix will be delivered ASAP.
I think this issue pops up again in the context of Linux Live programs like linuxliveusb or unetbootin. Whenever i try to prepare a usb stick with these tools, avast kills the contained virtualbox.exe immedietaly.
The setting about virtual environments mentioned above seems to be gone. How can i stop avast from doing that ?
That picture looks very familiar.
https://i.imgur.com/dNE9G6K.png
This is with VirtualBox 4.3.12 and Avast 11.1.(something) on Windows 7 64-bit. Virtual machines were stored in C:\VirtualBox; they’re gone now. This apparently happened over the weekend.
Welcome to the forum.Old topic, you are using an old version of Avast.
Update Avast and if you still have a problem, start your own topic. 
I am aware. But as I recall, the release date was from around January 2016, plus or minus a month. Which places it at almost a year after this message:
…So either the fix didn’t work, or there’s a new bug that just happens to do the same thing.
That is not an experiment I am willing to try.
I’m not looking for help; I’m only posting to let interested parties know that there might still be a problem.