You do know that Avast is set to do a Rootkit Scan on startup … Maybe try turning that option OFF and see how it does. I run Avast Free 18.5.2342 on a Dell Dimension 8200 with a P4 @ 1.8Ghz and 2GB RAM and do not see that issue.
Thanks for the reply.
I tried that first up, but it did not solve the problem. I also disabled the “Raw Disc Access” as well, but again every 10 to 15 boots, the screen freezes just before the icons are shown. I have even replaced the Explorer executable in case it was corrupted. I feel some Avast Thread / driver is getting in the way just before the desktop loads. Because it is random and takes so long to re appear, uninstalling Avast or disabling all 4 modules I use will take too long to test.
I only use File, Web & Behavior Shields in Avast Free … Try just using those 3 and see what happens.
I am using that 3 plus the email shield which is still a very “lean” Avast AV setup. I also use a lot of “exceptions” to again lighten the load of Avast on the system. Up until now, Avast has been the best AV for XP in my experience. I tried most of the others
( on a separate XP build ).
This is going back a long way, but at that point the ant-rootkit was run 8 minutes after boot, so that shouldn’t impact on boot.
@ pjkilmister
Two things you could try:
-
AvastUI > Settings > Troubleshooting - Enable the Load Avast services only after loading other System services. Whilst this really shouldn’t impact that much on boot, some have found a benefit.
-
Delay the avast update so it happens a reasonable time after boot.
For this you need to edit the Avast5.ini file using notepad (no other text editor) and you need to disable the Self-Defence-Module first.
There should already be an [InetWD] section in the avast5.ini file, some of the fields may already be present, but the one you need is the AlwaysConnectedWaitSeconds=300 one, this delays the auto update check for 5 minutes and should make a difference.
[InetWD]
AlwaysConnectedWaitSeconds=300
AssumeAlwaysConnected=1
RASWaitSeconds=300
UpdatePeriod=240
UseRAS=0
All of these line entries are in my avast5.ini [InetWD] section on this XP Pro SP3 system.
Thank you for these ideas.
I did as you suggest. The entry “AlwaysConnectedWaitSeconds=300” in the avast5.ini file was not there, so I included it.
This now my section of the avast5.ini file
[InetWD]
UpdatePeriod=240
UseRAS=0
AlwaysConnectedWaitSeconds=300
Your avast5.ini file has a few extra entries.
AlwaysConnectedWaitSeconds=300
AssumeAlwaysConnected=1
RASWaitSeconds=300
UpdatePeriod=240
UseRAS=0
Do you think I should ad the extra items, line 2 & 3 ?
As a side note, since doing these mods, I enabled the “bootlog” in XP. The fist two boots looked good. There was no multiple loading of Windows drivers as has been the recent case, and the two boots have the same number of entries. Before the number varied.
I will run this for a few days and post a progress report.
Again, thanks for these tips.
Regards
Peter
@ pjkilmister
You’re welcome.
Do you think I should ad the extra items, line 2 & 3 ?You should be OK without them, the important one (AlwaysConnectedWaitSeconds=300) to delay the update check you now have.
Just monitor as you have said, if required you can push the delay back further to 400, 500 or 600 (10 minutes) if required, but that probably won’t be necessary.
I have noticed one thing that bothers me.
With the mods I have done, the Avast Update services load as soon as I get the desktop when I check with Task Manager / processes.
Actually two services load, avlaunch.exe and avemupdate.exe, they stay resident for 30 odd seconds then drop out of the task list.
One of two scenarios, if these are loaded as the process runs, it does just that, and the mod on time delay did not work.
Or that they load at boot as before and the Avast5.ini mod prevents the update process from running for 300 seconds ?
Still no hang at the end of the boot.
Appreciate your thoughts on this.
The mod on the time delay is completely different, that is the regular VPS updates.
The Avast Emergency Update (avemupdate.exe) check it to check if there has been any emergency update issued. This is done outside of the regular update, if there was a problem with the regular update that required fixing/it was broken, then that couldn’t be done. Ordinarily there wouldn’t be an emergency update waiting, so it would not be doing much other than checking.
The avlaunch.exe is a new function, so I’m not completely familiar with what it does exactly. My thoughts are that it is an Avast component check to ensure they are running/launched correctly.
I don’t sit at my system with a stopwatch or task manager, etc. loaded looking for trouble. Unless something is a problem and it is recurring then I go looking.
I do not sit at my PC on a Forum giving expert ( Uberguru ) advice with or without a stopwatch as a reason for being.
I would have thought you would know exactly what “avlaunch.exe” does, its been in the Avast software for years.
Perhaps Avast should give you some proper training, including basic knowledge of their software ( and what each major file does )
For others watching, the update still happens within a minute of the desktop loading. I looked at the time of the update and the time on the PC. I did not need a stop watch for this !
It seems clear to me that avlaunch.exe starts the update process.
Perhaps Avast should give you some proper training
Like almost everyone on this forum, DavidR is an Avast user who gives his time freely to try to help other users like yourself.
He is not an Avast employee, just a helpful soul. It might be polite to remember that, rather than rant.
"Appreciate your thoughts on this".
If you got an answer you thought somewhat frivolous, maybe it would help to specify what thoughts you want to hear.
DavidR was just being honest (a somewhat rare quality these days) about what he knows and doesn’t know. He likely knows more about computer science than most ever will.
Perhaps an Avast Team Member could address your issues better? I can report this to a team member if you like.
Firstly, yes I would like to correspond with an Avast support officer who knows his product.
Secondly, If DavidR can be honest about his silly post regarding stop watches, I would like to be just as honest in my reply. ( not a rare quality with me )
Finally, as for frivolity, all I can say is “If you live in a glass house, don’t throw stones”
Amazing. Certainly not a good way to reply to someone who actually took the time to reply to your question. 
+1 :o >:(
If you didn’t want to get a reply from users, why did you ask in the forum in the first place?
There’s the Avast Support for that: https://www.avast.com/en-gb/contacts
When you contact the support via telephone or Internet, you are gonna talk with an Avast employee.
The Avast staff also takes a look at the forum, but the forum itself is mainly about users who spend their free time trying to help each other just because they either like the product or the community.
Old topic. Posting in it only brings to back to the top of the heap.
The question has already been answered. 
I’ve used all the newer releases including XP Vista 7 8 8.1 and 10 which are all the same apart from features, We dont need newer because we’re told that higher numbers are better than lower numbers , i don’t know how much Microsoft have been in touch with Avast, but their tactics to get people to upgrade for security reasons! i’m not a fan now with their auto upgrades, they have full control over what comes in and goes even with what they “fixed” around that, and its accross the rest of their stuff, its bad enough with the internet that can be more and more invasive and forceful but nobody expects that from within their own desktop operating system.
I"m having to sort out a family members netbook that runs windows 10 home edition, but its only got 32 gb storage for the ssd, so i formatted it did a reinstall and ever since thats happened upon the first boot after restarting , it gets stuck on the windows logo. Now one would think switch to something else, but you can’t do that anymore, not by CHOICE.
I did manage to install windows 8.1, i may even try attempting to install 7 as that is less bloated again, drivers provided by third parties, if hardware manufacturers are going to sleep with Microsoft then they must understand there’s a cost, and Avast must understand that they are not the only ones along with AVG etc, people are not aware of open source, and if that becomes a bigger thing thats going to become a problem.
voluntary will always be better than business, they treat people as people. i’ve been turned down by local colleges because i dont have something in particular that looks good on their statistics or its because THEY don’t think it would be best,yet the voluntary places i’ve worked for are very nice, more relaxed.
Try the info here: https://www.easeus.com/partition-manager-software/windows-stuck-on-startup-boot-loading-screen.html to help fix your boot issue. As to installing any other OS you can do it, but first you need to Disable Secure Boot (another they thought it would be a great idea and it is more trouble than it is worth)
Interesting. In June, statistics showed that XP is actually INCREASING in usage. It’s share is now GREATER than MAC OS’. Win 10 is a disaster and XP has long been recognized as Microsoft’s finest moment but…it was getting harder for them to make money on it. So, they put out crap to keep the money flowing. In fact, MS has decided that it isn’t worth their time to create new and better OS’ and will stay with Win 10 forever. Too bad they are going out on a low, instead of a high.