Ok. I got my friend hooked on avast! (actually all my friends). He has it set to scan his disk while the screensaver is running. This feature has worked fine for some time. However recently, It will scan a few files and desplay the message and stop scanning files. I cant provide the vps version information yet, but he is on an XP Pro system. Any help would be appreciated
Any clues? Anyone? This post was about to fade into oblivion, and I would really like to fix my friends problem.
Well, it’s rather strange that it would “scan a few files and display message ”… if the scanner fails to initialize, it shouldn’t scan any files, I’d say.
Some more info is needed… what version (build) of avast! is it? Did anything change when this feature stop working? (like, a new screensaver was set, a new software was installed to the computer, …)
The other scanners (e.g. the Simple User Interface) work without problems when the disk is scanned?
Could this be a little problem with the file system? I suggest to let him run chkdisk and make sure there are no errors. If it doesn’t solve the problem, ah well, it can’t hurt trying 
He has done chkdsk before w/o any probelms. We also double checked it with BARTs version of scandisk. We tried a repair install of avast! without any suscess and a an uninstall and reinstall, also with out any suscess.
??? ??? ???
Hi RedSector,
Is this what you used to Un-Install the program???
Avast! Complete Uninstall Utility
http://www.avast.com/eng/download/programs/avast_uninstall_util.html
If not, please try it, reboot, and re-install.
No it isn’t bob. I appreciate the link, I will give it a go and hope for the best ;D
It appears to work! Thanks a bunch bob ;D
RedSector
I guess that’s what this is all about. Glad your problem is solved. 
Just found what appears to be a bug in the latest version of Avast Free… if you uncheck the Settings >> Silent/Gaming Mode >> ‘Silent if a full-screen application is running’ option, the Avast screensaver, when ran, will show the “Failed to initialize” error.
Checking the above-mentioned checkbox (so Avast is ‘silent’ during full-screen application usage), the screen-saver again scans normally.
You have replied to a topic that dates back to July 2004.
@NOYGDB
I think it should probably be tested before calling it a bug. To call it a bug means that you are implying that it is a programming error. It may be an isolated problem. If it was a widespread problem don’t you think that there would be more posts about it on the forum? I can’t recreate it on my computer. I’m using Windows 7 64bit.
If you are having problems you should create a new topic of your own so that there will be no confusion.
What is it that they have running at fullscreen mode (F11) ?
I have just tested this with just my browser (and avast settings ‘Silent if a full-screen application is running’ option enabled:
a) Maximum icon, see image.
b) using the F11 function key to have it at full screen.
In both cases cases the avast screensaver started as it should and started scanning my system.
So I don’t believe it is related to this ‘Silent if a full-screen application is running’ option but something else the “Failed to initialize” can also be related to other scans. If it were truly a bug I would expect this to be more widespread and I don’t see that in the forums.
Try a repair of avast. Add Remove programs, select ‘avast! Anti-Virus,’ click the Change/Remove button and scroll down to Repair, click next and follow.
Charyb wrote:
You have replied to a topic that dates back to July 2004.
So? I found the thread by searching in Google, and if I’m having the problem, odds are, so are others (BTW, I had already tried re-installation, and proven that the error is replicable (on both the old and new installation) on this machine), and they’re probably searching for the same exact error message I did (the one that the Avast screensaver threw when it failed), so why not let people find the answer, even if it’s from a thread originating in 2004?
Would you rather I start a new thread (that would have ranked poorly in Google’s search results for a very long time), and force people to struggle to find a potential answer to their problem?
Not a newbie, you know… been fixing computers and programming for over two decades. I think I know how to troubleshoot a problem.
DavidR wrote:
What is it that they have running at fullscreen mode (F11) ?
Nothing… only the screensaver itself. It is a full-screen application.
Fresh install OEM WinXP Pro SP3 32-bit (all latest updates), Dell XPS 200, 4 GB RAM. All other drivers are latest versions. Only other anti-malware software is Spyware Blaster and Ad-Aware. Also running Secunia PSI, but that’s not rightly categorized as ‘anti-malware’, just an update utility to ensure security holes are patched.
Avast has had new versions released since then. Creating a thread of your own helps to prevent threads from being hijacked by other posters and helps to prevent confusion when this happens. You may have similar issues but different solutions. Since you were not the original poster you can’t change the subject line to Resolved when the solution is found.
No Comment on the rest.
- What operating system are you using? 32 or 64 bit?
- What version of Avast are you using? Free, Pro, AIS?
- Do you currently have any other security software on your computer and what security software have you used in the past?
- How was previous security software removed?
- What method did you use to uninstall Avast? Did you use the uninstall tool? http://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility
- Sometimes malware can cause failure to initialize problems. Will you download MalwareBytes from here http://filehippo.com/download_malwarebytes_anti_malware/
and run a full scan? Make sure you update it before scanning. Please post the log results.
EDIT: I see you modified your post. Ad-Aware is known to conflict with Avast. http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=66956.0
OEM WinXP Pro SP3, 32-bit
Free, latest version
Spyware Blaster, Ad-Aware, Secunia PSI
No previous security software… fresh install OEM WinXP Pro SP3, 32-bit.
Add/Remove Programs, then manual registry search-and-destroy for Avast keys, and Explorer search-and-destroy for all Avast files.
No need, it works as needed, with the caveat that the user keeps that checkbox checked.
Ad-Aware is known to conflict with Avast. http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=66956.0
Yeah, but I’ve read that MBAM 1.5 Free doesn’t provide real-time protection.
And no conflicts are found with Ad-Aware… uninstallation of Ad-Aware still results in the same problem detailed above in Avast. No other problems noted between Avast and Ad-Aware.
How about this:
http://www.iobit.com/security360.html
It’s got real-time protection, faster scanning than MBAM, better detection rates on both Full and Smart scans than either Ad-Aware or MBAM, and is compatible with AV programs.
http://forums.iobit.com/showthread.php?t=4223
The free version of MalwareBytes doesn’t offer real time protection so it doesn’t conflict. That is why it is used as an on-demand scanner for a second opinion. So, you did uninstall Ad-Aware?
- Please run the MalwareBytes scan to insure that there is not any malware that was missed by Avast. Please post the log.
- Please uninstall Ad-Aware as it is known to conlict with Avast.
- If steps 1 and 2 do not work for you then uninstall Avast using the developers uninstall tool http://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility and reinstall a fresh copy of Avast Free http://www.avast.com/free-antivirus-download.
- If steps 1, 2, and 3 do not solve the problem then there is something else going on.
You can not run more than one resident AV scanner (iobit, ad-aware, etc.) with Avast or any other real-time scanner for that matter. It will create all kinds of problems. Most anyone who has been on this forum for any amount of time will not use Iobit because of the reputation they have built for themselves.
read this
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=53033.msg449591#msg449591
Well I also tested the standard screensaver running with no full screen application and no problem on this system also XP Pro SP3. Yes the screensaver is full screen but that is somewhat different to normal windows applications running in full screen mode. So I’m at a loss as to why this is happening on his system.
Though unchecking that ‘Silent if a full-screen application is running’ option would seem a reasonable work around if it isn’t something that they absolutely require.
I presume that you don’t have that problem on your system either ?