Hi. I have a strange problem with Avast 5.1.889 Free & 6.0.945 Free Beta (latest versions when i write this message) on windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit. On windows 32 bit i don’t know if the problem manifests. Today i installed windows 7 with service pack 1, clean install, with hard drive format, everything fresh, latest drivers etc. etc. everything went super smooth, BUT after i install avast free (5 or 6), when i want to enter for the first time after the laptop is powered on/restarted in control panel, the control panel just freezes, and shows NOT RESPONDING. If i press ctrl+alt+delete and close control panel with end task from task manager, after that the control panel works fine no matter how many times i open control panel. The problem occurs only for the first open of control panel when the windows is started/restarted.
I thought that the problem is windows 7 with sp1, but it isn’t because i reinstalled windows 7 with no service pack back and the problem is still there. My laptop is a Dell 15R (N5010), and when i bought the laptop (about 5 months ago) i installed avast 5 with no problem, since then he updated himself and still no problem. Seems that the problem is when the windows is fresh installed + avast free 5 or 6 latest version.
If i uninstall avast antivirus, control panel starts with no problem from first attempt. Windows is clean, how it comes from microsoft, not modified in any way.
I installed windows 3 times today and everytime the problem is present. With other antivirus software there is no problem, example AVG, but i really like avast and hope you can fix this problem, or if you have any sugestions, tell me and i’ll try everything.
What exact version of Avast did you install? If you right click the Avast orange toolbar icon > “About Avast” > it will tell you the version and product you installed.
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 of AV, FW and other security programs
Other security software
If they were in the past, how did you remove them (the vendor’s uninstaller’s tool or another way)?
You mentioned AVG. Do you have this on your machine now? If not, how did you uninstall it?
After installing Avast, did you reboot your machine?
Have you tried an Avast Repair:
Go to Control Panel > Add/Remove programs > Avast Antivirus.
Scroll down and choose Repair function in the pop-up window.
Reboot.
We can help you more after we get additional information from you from the answers above. Thank you.
The user dgillham found a workaround for the problem by installing the wireless card drivers manually, not from setup, seems that the wireless utility that installs automatically is somehow incompatible with avast. My wireless card is Dell Wireless WLAN 1501 Half Mini-Card (4313bgn), and the drivers might be from Broadcom, version 5.60.48.35, A01. I think that i had no problem when i bought the dell N5010 laptop, because then was another driver version on dell website, and since then the drivers were updated and older version were erased :(.
I tried Avast 5.1.889 Free, and then i tried 6.0.945 Free Beta, after i uninstalled avast 5 and restarted the computer.
In my laptop was only avast free since purchase, no other security programs.
I mentioned that the windows is fresh installed, after i formatted the hard drive (everything was erased) and installed only avast. The machine was restarted after avast was installed.
I found the reason why i encounter this problem, it’s posted just under your reply.
DW WLAN Card Utility version 5.60.48.35 (latest) is the problem. When control panel (from windows → start>control panel) is accesed for the first time when the windows/pc is powered on, this utility is loaded into control panel, and i think that avast is trying to block it, and then control panel freezes and show NOT RESPONDING.