avastsvc.exe high CPU usage

DavidR · 2015-03-23T14:31:01.000Z

indest post:33:

You guys rock. I know this is an old thread but, I had to say thank you.

Anyone knows if this edit will survive future updates? …or will I have to edit the webshield.ini after each update?

It should survive the update, if it is an update in-place and the update done from the avastUI. It should also be OK if you do an install over the top of your existing avast version.

The doubt would be if you did a clean reinstall, if the webshield.ini was replaced.

system · 2015-03-30T14:23:20.000Z

Hey guys, I’ve been trying to update the WebShield by adding “[General] UseStreamFilter=0”. I disable avast for 10 minutes, add the 2 lines to the webshield, save the document, an avast popup asks if I want to make the change, I click yes, I (try) to save the document, then I get another popup that says “access denied”. I’m logged in as admin, running windows 8 on a Surface Pro 3. Any ideas?

DavidR · 2015-03-30T14:34:40.000Z

englishpatient post:35:

Hey guys, I’ve been trying to update the WebShield by adding “[General] UseStreamFilter=0”. I disable avast for 10 minutes, add the 2 lines to the webshield, save the document, an avast popup asks if I want to make the change, I click yes, I (try) to save the document, then I get another popup that says “access denied”. I’m logged in as admin, running windows 8 on a Surface Pro 3. Any ideas?

Disabling avast for 10 minutes won’t cut it as that is disabling only the scanning protection, but it won’t stop the avast Self Defence module from protecting avast itself.

AvastUI > Settings > Troubleshooting and disable the avast Self Defence module. Now you can run notepad as admin, open the avast WebShield.ini file and do the edit.

system · 2015-04-02T18:55:34.000Z

That worked! Thanks!

DavidR · 2015-04-02T20:00:24.000Z

englishpatient post:37:

That worked! Thanks!

You’re welcome.

Alpha-UMi · 2015-04-02T22:26:16.000Z

Just for curiosity, what exactly does the option “UseStreamFilter=0” do? I suppose it disables the Stream Filter, but what is this Stream Filter and how does it affect the web navigation?

I have the same CPU problem while watching online videos. After adding this option, the CPU is always at 100%, but the videos seem less laggy.

DavidR · 2015-04-02T23:32:23.000Z

Alpha-UMi post:39:

Just for curiosity, what exactly does the option “UseStreamFilter=0” do? I suppose it disables the Stream Filter, but what is this Stream Filter and how does it affect the web navigation?

It reverts to the old method of streaming the data being scanned as it is downloaded. I don’t believe it makes any difference to actual web navigation.

Alpha-UMi post:39:

I have the same CPU problem while watching online videos. After adding this option, the CPU is always at 100%, but the videos seem less laggy.

Two things which you don’t mention: ?

your OS as the “UseStreamFilter=0” isn’t supported on XP or Vista as you would still be using the old method.
what version of avast 2015.10.2.2215 being the latest.

Alpha-UMi · 2015-04-03T08:28:40.000Z

Thank you for the info about the Stream Filter, DavidR!

About your questions:

XP SP3 - So for me that option doesn’t make any difference!
Latest version, 2015.10.2.2215

I’ve disabled all the protection for a test, and my CPU still goes to maximum almost instantly when flash player is involved in some way. So, I believe avast! is not the problem here. Thank you anyway!

bob3160 · 2015-04-03T12:05:33.000Z

Alpha-UMi post:41:

Thank you for the info about the Stream Filter, DavidR!

About your questions:

XP SP3 - So for me that option doesn’t make any difference!

Latest version, 2015.10.2.2215

I’ve disabled all the protection for a test, and my CPU still goes to maximum almost instantly when flash player is involved in some way. So, I believe avast! is not the problem here. Thank you anyway!

Don’t know if this applies to your situation but, you may want to try the following:
https://youtu.be/IToxyxi7tRQ
Let us know if that helps.

DavidR · 2015-04-03T13:38:30.000Z

Alpha-UMi post:41:

Thank you for the info about the Stream Filter, DavidR!

About your questions:

XP SP3 - So for me that option doesn’t make any difference!

Latest version, 2015.10.2.2215

I’ve disabled all the protection for a test, and my CPU still goes to maximum almost instantly when flash player is involved in some way. So, I believe avast! is not the problem here. Thank you anyway!

You’re welcome.

With XP - some of the new features wont work because XP doesn’t have the interface to handle them, so avast uses the existing (old) methods. Interestingly enough it is these new methods that have cause some slowdown issues, which shouldn’t be the issue here.

Hopefully Bobs youtube clip will resolve your problem.

Michael574 · 2015-07-07T16:57:55.000Z

Hi, I’ve got this same problem now and it’s really Peeing me off.

I’m running windows 8. I’ve tried looking for that “webshield.ini” file bu can’t seem to find it.

I’m not very computer savvy, so any step by step instructions on how to fix this problem will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your help.

system · 2015-08-08T16:21:11.000Z

Michael, you should find the answer you’re looking for in this thread on page 2.

system · 2015-08-08T17:09:56.000Z

Just by the way, I applied Bob’s fix too, which is what brought me to this thread. It worked!

Thanks.

bob3160 · 2015-08-08T17:17:51.000Z

My pleasure. Glad I was able to help.

system · 2015-10-22T22:09:14.000Z

essexboy post:16:

Are you emptying your temporary internet files ?

Clear Cache/Temp Files
Download TFC by OldTimer to your desktop

[*] Please double-click TFC.exe to run it. (Note: If you are running on Vista, right-click on the file and choose Run As Administrator).
[*]It will close all programs when run, so make sure you have saved all your work before you begin.
[*]Click the Start button to begin the process. Depending on how often you clean temp files, execution time should be anywhere from a few seconds to a minute or two. Let it run uninterrupted to completion.
[*]Once it’s finished it should reboot your machine. If it does not, please manually reboot the machine yourself to ensure a complete clean.

Thanks for this great utility, it helped me clear a little over four gigabytes of temp files that were cluttering up my system, but this, nor did a fresh re-install of Avast bring me joy.

Asyn post:24:

Asim Omer post:22:

I have tried that several times with no luck.

Add the two lines in your WebShield.ini

[General]
UseStreamFilter=0

Asyn, thank you so much for posting this edit. I’ve an older desktop that’s running Windows XP with Service Pack 3 installed, and I was experiencing a high (100%) CPU usage for nearly a week, and could not pinpoint what was causing Avast to hog up my machine’s entire CPU and resources, despite completely removing, and re-installing Avast.

Since my resources and CPU were being tied down, while AvastSvc.exe was running in the background, I wasn’t able to edit WebShield.ini in Windows normally, and applied the changes, while running Windows in Safe Mode. So far, my machine seems to be running without any issues. I will monitor it, and report with any updates.

system · 2015-10-23T04:22:15.000Z

After monitoring my desktop for a few hours, the modifications to WebShield.ini did not remedy my problem.

AvastSvc.exe has crippled my system, and even affected Skype, causing it to have critical errors, and disallowing it to run properly.

I’ve uninstalled Avast through Revo Uninstaller Pro, then removed the remainder through Avastclear to ensure that it was completely removed.

I’ve even experienced this issue with the 2016 Beta. Upon installing it, my machine froze. After rebooting my machine, I was back to a crawl, thanks to AvastSvc.exe bogging down my system’s entire resources.

Unfortunately, I’ve uninstalled Avast (yet again) and switched over to AVG until this matter gets resolved.

For those curious, I was running Avast 2015 on a custom-built desktop computer, running Windows XP, with Service Pack 3 installed.

My machine has a Maxtor hard drive, two gigabytes of RAM, an AMD Athlon (XP 2600) Processor at 2.08 GHz, and an American Megatrends Motherboard.

I realize that Microsoft is no longer supporting Windows XP, but my desktop is mainly used for audio production, and I’ve used Avast for ten years.

As I’ve said in my previous post, this problem began, late last Friday (October 16, 2015) so I’m assuming I’ve run into a bad update, or some kind of conflict in my machine.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Dr. Kosher

MíraS · 2015-10-27T18:22:50.000Z

My noun in Avast version 10.4.2233 instaled on W-XP/SP3 (two different PC) and slow CPU (about 1GHz).
If user have system setting without password and starting automaticaly to desktop (without login screen) AvastSvc and Csrss is locking together, but if usualy change setting windows to use Login screen and wait about 1 minute before loging - everithing is OK.

system · 2015-11-11T21:43:41.000Z

Asyn post:24:

Add the two lines in your WebShield.ini

[General]
UseStreamFilter=0

Just did it but no success. After a few minutes, the high cpu usage by AvastSvc.exe returns. Any other ideas?

Avast free 11.1.2241
Windows 7 64 bit fully updated

Asyn · 2015-11-12T10:51:54.000Z

Please note: Avast has changed in many ways/aspects since I posted (check the date!!) this.
If you’ve similar problems with the newer versions I strongly suggest to start a new topic.

system · 2016-03-23T08:32:33.000Z

I am also having this problem after last update. Windows XP with Lenovo T61 (Core Duo T7500)

Announcements