Avast stuck in loop at bootup

I am running WinXP SP3 in a VmWare Virtual machine. This is in order to run a piece of legacy software that won’t work past XP. Suddenly noticed that in Task Manager, the Avast is running high CPU and causing the VM to be using 100% CPU. I uninstalled Avast… the CPU returned to normal. I rebooted the system… all looked normal, but got the “no antivirus protection” pop up from Windows. (correct since I had uninstalled Avast) I then reinstalled using “minimal protection”… it installed fine and ran all day. The next day when I booted on the VM, it went back to the high CPU usage again. My only work-around for now is to uninstall, reboot, then reinstall Avast. The glitch in the CPU usage has also popped up if the VM is open for several hours… roughly 12 hours, and all the sudden it will spin up CPU usage again. I am using the “Free” download and install. I tried upgrading to Premium, but it gives me three options, but then that window locks up. I can go online inside Firefox inside the VM, but I am wondering if something is trying to access the internet to do additional updates but something is set wrong. – I use the particular legacy software every day and had been for over 10 years on VmWare. I had to uninstall McAfee after it no longer supported XP. I went with AVG for a few years til it glitched, so uninstalled and switched to Avast. The glitch has happened each day since for about 17 days now. – I am far from a computer expert, so please don’t get too technical unless you need me to do certain steps. – I normally do not access the internet inside of the VM… nor e-mail, etc… It is set up on a home network so I can transfer specific files back and forth (or share on my network). Just JPG or a file type that is specific to my legacy software program.

Your antivirus options for XP are nearly nil. However, I run VBox with a XP SP3 guest on a Win 11 host and use 360 Total Security as A/V on the guest. It’s not perfect, but it works pretty well.

360 Total Security: Download 360 Total Security - MajorGeeks

Oh, and be sure to run Avast Clear before installing 360… Avast Removal Tool | Download Avast Clear | Avast

FYI. The last Avast AV for XP/Vista was v18.5. There are issues with icon showing red X “you are unprotected” but can still get definintion updates, albeit now untested on XP by avast.
@bob3160 kept a copy of that version if needed. See this: End of support for Windows XP/Vista - #283 by bob3160

It’s still available. :slight_smile:

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