Sorry for my poor English.
My system destroyed(can’t boot) after install Free avast! 4 Home Edition.
I used software to check my HD
and it report my HD has some “Bad Sector”.
So I installed “Free avast! 4 Home Edition” at another HD and try to debug(use “Filemon” software).
I found “AshServ.exe” access “DATA\avast4.mdb” and “DATA\avast4.ini” every second.
Maybe it caused “Bad Sector” at my HD.
OS: Win XP sp1 (Big5 version, MutilByte)
HD: WD2000JB (WD 200GB)
Bad sectors are physical damage to your HD.
If you got a lot of them it is time to backup the data en get a new HD.
This is not caused by Avast.
I bought this HD at 2004-09-28.
It work fine before installed “Free avast! 4 Home Edition”
And only system disk appear “Bad Sector”.
Date of purchase doesn’t mean a thing. I run my own computer repair store and have seen drives with bad sectors that came straight from the factory.
I would think you probably stand a fair chance of getting your hard drive replaced under warranty if you only got it 5 months ago. Check your documentation/packing slip/manufacturer’s website etc. Many are warrantied for 1 year or 3 years.
Back up your data and contact the manufacturer for support.
I agree with Eddy & garyb, HD’s can fail at any time just like everything else and doesn’t matter how old.
Avast didn’t cause this. 
Hi so8so,
Welcome to Avast! Forums
so8so pls scan all ur Harddisk partition.i will guide u…how to do that.pls follow the attachment which i proivided…Uninstall avast 1st from add/remove program…then scan the Disk…pls and see what is the result of H.D.D.it may be temp prob or ur H.d.D need to be replaced soon!
Sorry guys…if i have used this big Pic shot’s here :-[ i need to help this guy…
Just friendly advise. If you will buy new HD, try Seagate. On my old pc i had prehistoric 2.4 gb hd and it’s still working with no bad sectors as i know. On my new pc i have seagate baracuda and it’s working perfectly. I bought it on 2004-08 ;D
A bad sector means your HD is dieing! I had it once after i just bought my “new” (now old) computer back in 1999. 1 month later I had a bad sector and 1 day later I got many more! 
At one point I got 5 GB of bad sectors! 
A virus or AV can’t damage hardware,…only software!
The fact with hardware is,…if it has to break,…it will,…today or tomorrow
When I bought my new computer in november 2004 the firs day i got it, my graphical card started smoking! Off course at first you blame the game you where playing at the time. And then I got a replacement graphical card and I played the game again,…a bit uncertain,…and nothing happened! ;D
So,…I think you may safely install Avast! on your new system,…you will be more then satisfied,…especially with v4.6 coming up!
Well… a virus/software CAN damage hardware… Just not in ways that one would think. So that statement isn’t totally correct.
Thanks for your advice.
But i known how to check the HD.
For this post,
my point is “AshServ.exe” access “DATA\avast4.mdb” and “DATA\avast4.ini” every second.
Why ??
Monitor by “Filemon”.
http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/utilities.shtml
Does somebady confirm ?? thanks
OS: Win XP sp1 (Big5 version, MutilByte)
HD: WD2000JB (WD 200GB)
To check your drive, use the util from the drive manufacturer for it.
For this post,.....This has already been explained in another thread.
Negeltu,
Well... a virus/software CAN damage hardware... Just not in ways that one would think
What exactly do you have in mind, if I may ask…?
my point is "AshServ.exe" access "DATA\avast4.mdb" and "DATA\avast4.ini" every second. Why ??
The MDB file - because MS designed its Jet (database) drivers this way
The INI file - this has been greatly reduced in avast 4.6 - but anyway, it’s because avast wants to reread its INI file config from time to time… there’s no performance penalty of doing so (the file is in the cache anyway so the disk is not hit at all)…
BTW this thread is becoming way off-topic. If you have additional questions, please create a new thread and ask separately (and use a descriptive thread name).
Thanks
Vlk