Disable on-access can to safely remove USB stick; scheduled scans/updates

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

I tried to safely remove a USB stick, but I got the message that a program was still accessing it. I suspect that it was Avast because I never got that problem before installing Avast. Searching the web confirmed that others have found it to be the case. One person said that you can safely remove the USB stick by disabling the Avast on-access scan. I am using the free version of Avast, program version 5.1.889. I went into the following panels and controls

  • Real-time Shields
  • File System Shield
  • Settings

I unchecked the following

  • Scan documents when opening
  • Scan files when writing

There is no Apply button, so I assume the disabling happened immediately. However, I still got the USB error.

I then clicked on Expert Settings and unchecked many of the options that enable the scanning of various things. I then clicked OK. However, I still got the USB error.

I returned to the Real-time Shields panel and under the Protection Status section, I clicked Stop (for 10 minutes). I still got the USB error.

What GUI widgets do I have to disable to prevent the USB error? I hope I can do it without quitting out of the Avast GUI. I am running a full scan. I expect that for much of the time I use the laptop, Avast will be scanning – simply because I don’t have much time to spend in front of the computer, and it takes a long time to scan.

2

Actually, it doesn’t seem to matter whether I close the GUI or not. I closed the GUI and got an exclamation mark on the Avast icon in the System Tray. I still got the USB errors.

I then right-clicked the Avast icon in the System Tray and selected

  • Avast shields control
  • Disable for 10 minutes

The avast symbol then had a red “X” on it (as opposed to an exclamation mark). I was also notified by Avast that 7 shields were disabled (whereas only 1 shield was disabled with the exclamation mark). However, I still got USB errors.

Is there anything else I could be missing?

3

Hi,

could someone indeed help on this subject? i have the same problem and i bought the full internet version.

i tried also a lot disabling everything that was active but the Avast i could not stop and have still this problem.

anyone??

4

Please check out this thread.

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=70743.0

You will have the same problem with the 6.0.945 beta. My workaround is to shut down and remove all USB devices I might want to remove later. Start the computer normally and WAIT 10 MINUTES before plugging in any USB devices you may want to later remove. After 10 minutes, you can plug in and remove USB devices normally.

The reason is at 8 minutes Avast autoruns a rootkit scan. The rootkit scan is suspected as being the real culprit. Any usb device plugged in before the rootkit scan and left in during the rootkit scan will not be able to be safely removed normally.

I would not recommend turning off the rootkit scan as these are really nasty buggers.

I’ve uploaded memory dump files to PK, but I haven’t had any feedback yet.

This works for me on Windows 7 Ulitimate 32bit and 64 bit machines.

5

Thanks for that info. Very illuminating, and I’ll try to see what locks the USB if it happens again.

6

Same here, i also will wait that 10 minutes, see if it works.

do wish to as Avast to look into it as 10 minutes is 10 minutes waist of time for me lol

micmicbee

7

Are there any reprecussions to ignoring the safety warning?

I only ask because that is what I have done on several occassions. The next time I insert the drive I am informed that the flash drive may have errors and would you like to scan. Agree and in a matter of seconds I get the OK to continue. Much easier than waiting 10 minutes etc but is it OK?

Had always thought it was something to do with windows 7 64 bit till I read this post

8

Not sure about any data corruption issues. The devices I use are large external drives with hundreds of movies on them. I also use drives with my system backups so I don’t risk it. I either wait the 10 minutes or turn the system off gracefully before removing the drives.

9

Yeah think I should do that in future - just in case. Thanks

10

I’m curious, though. Why is it risky to pull the stick out without proper safe removal? If for example any app that may have accessed the stick for write purposes is closed, is there still a risk of a write buffer that hasn’t written to disk? Or does the OS set up temporary bookkeeping files on the stick to speed up navigation, even though a user only reads from the stick (no writing)? I’m trying to imagine the hypothetical possibilities. For example, if safe removal causes bookkeeping files to be cleaned up, unsafe removal might cause such files to accumulate.

11

I do have this problems sometimes about 90% i encounter of this.

I was thinking that maybe the flash drive has the problems.

I just shutdown and manually remove it.

So it seems this was a bug from Avast.

12

Waiting 10 minutes then placing the USB on the pc works for me.

10 minutes waiting though to bad.

michael

13

Instead of turning laptop off to remove I find putting it to sleep seems to work for me, not quite as inconvenient as switching off but not ideal.

14

I think Its very stranger to see this problem between avast and removable devices
I never have this problem

15

I believe I am experiencing the same problem with an external WD USB attached drive. Something, perhaps my paid version of Avast will not let go. When I wait many, many hours and then just pull the USB plug out the drive is corrupted, and the O/S wants to format / allocate it.
What a dilemma!

16

What if you had to wait many, many hours and had no guidance on how many hours?

This appears to be a dilemma that has NEVER been solved.