There have been a few posts on this subject but none ending with a solution (unless I missed the one).
With my third generation of computer exhibiting the same behavior, over several versions of Avast! (including 4.8.1169) I now know for sure that Avast! is the problem.
One member has mentioned that the problem goes away if he uninstalls Avast! but I found that it is not necessary. Merely stopping resident protection allows the hibernation function to work.
This is rather cumbersome and prone to memory lapses on the part of the user.
I have not kept a history of the many computers I have had over the four years since I started using Avast. All of them have exhibited the same problem whether a network connection is enabled or not.
Typically, they were/are HP laptops with a Pentium and 1 to 2 Gb of RAM, or clone laptops with a Celeron and ½ to 1 Gb of RAM.
The network is the most common Ethernet wired LAN to a router and then to a cable modem.
Please note that by “prevents WinXP from hibernating” I mean that invoking the hibernation makes it hang at the step where it displays “Preparing for hibernation” (or equivalent - I am translating from French). The only way out is to power down the machine, therefore loosing everything that was open.
Can you try to disable the self-defense module of avast to see if it makes any difference? (Troubleshooting tab of settings).
Although hibernation was ‘changed’ to sleep on Vista, if you tweak the notebook settings you can get it back. I’ve tested hibernation with Vista and avast and no problems, but it was version 4.7.
First, I must point out that this is the third major bug in avast that I have had to work around with absolutely no help from this forum, two of which had been reported by several other people before me, but always dismissed or left unresolved. So, I am tempted to question your interest in my problem at this stage.
However, for the sake of my fellow suffering avast users…
The problem lies with one or more of the four “Blocker” options of the Standard Shield module. They are all off in the default task, but I have always turned them on. Selecting “Allow operation” does not make any difference with regard to this problem.
Please note that the problem is with hibernation only, not with the Standby function.
Sorry, with 30000+ posts, my interest is more than proved… also the time I’ve supported other users here too…
Apart from the fact that the Behavior Blocker is an old feature and its usefulness is very limited in today’s Windows environment, it is a blocker of suspicious behavior (thus preventing an unknown virus to spread or perform its payload), not a protector of files.
Almost all the actions on your computer are performed by .exe files. If you prevent .exe files from executing their actions (such as opening a file for writing), you block almost everything - Word won’t be able to write the .doc file, e-mail client won’t be able to save the downloaded e-mail, programs won’t be able to store their settings, hibernation won’t be performed… The operation “opening a file for writing, performed by an .exe file” is very common and there’s nothing suspicious about it. On the other hand, the operation “opening an .exe file for writing” is much less common and more suspicious (actually, I think it’s even more suspicious when it’s performed by a file with .xyz extension - that cannot even be started in an ordinary way - than by an .exe file). It will prevent files (like BAT,VBS,WSH,SCR,EXE…) to execute their actions.
But what is strange is that you’re saying that even allowing the operation, avast is blocking the hibernation… ???