Before I start disabling aspects of and temporarily uninstalling my AV/AS/FW programs I’d like to ask if there are any known conflicts between Avast!# and the download processes, the download file itself or the installation of Windows XP Mode or if anyone else has experienced problems while attempting to download or install XP Mode on their virtualisation compatible and capable W7 system?
I would like to use XP Mode instead of having a duel boot system, but this is just not working out for some reason that I don’t know at this stage! >:(
So far I’ve just been attempting to put XP Mode on with the Virtual PC machine program that Microsoft has at the download site for XP Mode, but it is widely recommended to use other alternative virtualisation programs such as VMware or Virtualbox (my preferred ATM) but even if I wanted to choose another the issue is that for the most part I can’t seem to successfully download the XP Mode Installer, since it is either cut off, or causes crashes during the long on-line download period or more usually right at the end of the 469Mb transfer or if it does actually appear to have downloaded (saved) the resulting file is corrupted and won’t install. (I have used different browsers to download XP Mode with differing results, only some save the file.)
The saved file itself seems to cause problems itself - I had checked the box for Scan all files>Scan when Writing>File System Shield Settings which seemed to be involved in causing system freezes & crashes when I merely opened the “Downloads” folder! There would be a slow green bar running across the address bar at the top of the “Downloads” folder screen which would get roughly half way before the system totally seized up. It failed to finish dating the files in the “Downloads” folder - so I unchecked this box in Avast! and then most of the folders would date except the actual XP Mode file but at least there weren’t any more crashes from just opening the “Downloads” folder. However if I clicked on the XP Mode Installer file in normal W7 there would be a guaranteed crash, although not in Safe Mode inwhich it would start to run the wizard but would close due to an error, often indicating it’s a corrupted file.
So even if I could download the XP Mode Installer it seems to cause system freezes just be being on the system (may be due to Avast!) and either crashes the system when I touch it or is corrupted through the hazardous download process (may be due to some security setting or program) and wont work to install XP Mode even if I chose to use a different virtualisation machine than MS VPC.
I’ll try a few more things and then perform some life threatening surgery upon my system settings and to my installed programs to try and get this XP Mode download to work. I have W7 Ultimate (32bit) an Intel E8500 on an Asus Maximus Extreme (X38) Mobo for which virtualisation is supposedly assured, unless I’m behind on the BIOS, plus I have enough RAM. So hardware should be OK AFAIK, but software includes AVs: Avast!6, resident, with AVG & Avira as on demand; ASs: MBAM & SAS both on demand only; & FW: Comodo with Defence+ plus also one extra unusual program I have is Panda USB Vaccine.
I’m now pretty sure that both Avast! 6 & 7 are somehow conflicting with the normal XP Mode download process and that actual download file of it if you save it from MS. I have successfully managed to both download and install XP Mode on my W7 32-bit system and use it a few time since, however this was only after pausing (stopping) Avast! shields from running for an hour to finish both the download and install of XP Mode. I did this and moved the saved file from the downloads folder to my storage D drive before the hour was up.
I believe the File System Shield of Avast! will cause a crash when it interacts with the saved file when you open the folder it is under even more quickly if you attempt to open and run the XP Mode installer file. I also think either or both the Web Shield or Behaviour Shield prevents the download to properly finish too. Also I’ve just run several Boot Scans in Avast! 7 after upgrading the program and it was crashing at 99% while finishing the scan of the D drive, where the file is exorcised to until I only had it look at the System drive, which finally it successfully completed.
I should explain that I remove Avira from my W7 system and have installed that onto XP Mode because it needs an AV and it was my third wheel in the mix with Avast! running resident and AVG as the second opinion back up AV scanner and also I ought to say I did the XP Mode download & install while I had turned off Panda USB Vaccine from protecting for the hour duration of the time it took, just in case that helped too. OTOH Avast! has continued to conflict with this both with and without that Vaccination running, so my main culprit seems to be Avast!.
Does anyone else have similar problems with trying to put XP Mode onto Windows 7 because of Avast! or have any alternative explanations regarding this?
Um, because they don’t duh! No I don’t think they do conflict over this with the way that I have AVG not running resident and only being used for manual system scans occasionally as a second opinion AV.
Could be a conflict between Avast! and AVG and Comodo FW & Defence+ but really why would this just be the case for this one direct MS provided XP Mode program?
I’ve downloaded, saved and install numerous programs on both XP and W7 and most of the time with more than those two AVs on, but always with only one of the two actually running resident, Avast! since 5.
I’ve had up to five free AV on both XP and W7, with the golden rule of one resident but I’ve now culled to these two with a third party free FW and both MBAM and SAS.
Also I was able to get XP Mode on and working fine with both still on the system, without AVG running and while Avast! shields were all turned off for the hour it took, plus why would the boot scan of the ‘D’ drive crash twice where I have saved the file for storage (it’s almost half a gig) which would be before AVG could even activate AFAIK.
I realise there can be conflicts with multiple security programs and different activities on my system, but I’m a big believer in utilising multiple angles for protection, that hopefully run stable.
I have a one month fresh clean system now so there are no remnants of any of those old programs remaining on my system other than just what’s installed that could conflict.
Plenty of people use a resident AV, a back up second opinion manual scan AV, a couple of reputable manual scanning Anti-Spyware/Anti-Malware programs especially those two and a third party firewall all free.
As best I’ve explained this seems to be due to the File Shield or Web Shield in Avast! from my experiences particularly because the boot time scan crashed looking at the file on the ‘D’ drive.
