Graphics Problem Preventing Licensing

I tried to register from within the Avast! console but, the popup graphic is not rendered properly. The only thing that I can do that has any useful affect is to hit the esc key to get rid of the popup. Moving my mouse pointer across the popup makes it redraw the console under the popup.

(continued in next post for reasons of attachment limits)

…cont

I then registered online and tried inserting the license without any better results as seen in the attachments…
I tried pasting the license in the defunct window and hitting enter key since mouse clicks aren’t registered but that was a dead end as well.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

and you don’t get any graphic corruption with any other application?

correct.

Most of Avast! seems intact besides some of the popups.

I could go through and see which popups do for sure.

Is it a java thing? would updating java help?

(EDIT: I foolishly neglected to post my setup)

Avast! Free Antivirus 5.0.545 on W2K SP4

I meant other apps but never mind…well if your java isn’t up to date it wouldn’t hurt to update it, for security concerns. But this can’t be the issue with Avast UI, as I don’t think it uses Java at all (I may be wrong, a dev could confirm or not)…it uses FlashPlayer in some parts, not the one to register.
What’s your operating system…you’re saying java is outdated, how about the rest, your graphics drivers, Windows etc…

sorry, I should have separated my thoughts better. I did mean correct for other apps besides Avast! (my brain is out to destroy me).

I have been meaning to update java and will do so just in case.

Maybe I’ll check if I have up to date flash if that’s what runs in Avast!

I edited my previous post with some system info (which should have been in my first post). Realistically my whole system is out of date however, my graphics drivers are up to date although it wouldn’t hurt to check again. I’m running windows 2000 with SP4 and Avast! Free Antivirus 5.0.545. I have seen rendering issues when a program freezes and takes all of my resources but this isn’t like that. My computer is still responsive during the graphics issue, in fact, I made the previous attachments in Corel PhotoPaint 10 while the glitch was up in the Avast! console.

I hesitate to give all of my system info because of all the ROFL that will ensue but here goes…

Dell Dimension XPS B733r (approx. 10 years old) Pentium III 733 Coppermine
ASUS AGP-V6800 DDR SGRAM w/ ASUStek Driver v6.49 (have to be picky with these drivers, latest isn’t always greatest)
Various other odds and ends that should be inconsequential. It is old but it out performs newer PCs in my house. (I have half of my parts for a new one)

I will update everything that I can and see if that does anything.

Thanks for your replies.

hi,

could you try to open the settings window?
probably we have a problem with windows that have transparancy under win2K

thanks,
Yonatan

Check out these as I don’t know if either might have an impact.

  • Win2k and avast 5.0 see:

Yes, I am able to open the settings window. In fact the first thing I did was check every available setting in Avast!. I think you’re right about it being the transparent windows that cause the problem. Thanks Yonatan.

[list]Areas in Avast! that manifest the graphics glitch

  • Password Protect Window - I can see it clearly but not interact with the mouse. I can use the keyboard.
  • Game Mode Button - “turn on” on the current status page. After pressing it the popup is unreadable.
  • Register Now - anywhere it says “register now” the first window is completely intact and any after are unreadable and unusable
  • Insert the license key - on the registration page. Ensuing popup is mostly unreadable and unusable.
  • Stop Button - all of the realtime shield pages the stop button popup is unreadable and unusable.
  • Virus Chest - page shows no entries although several pups were sent to the chest. (Perhaps Unrelated to this issue)

I believe that I checked every possibility.

I updated java with no change manifested.

Apparently Avast! thinks that I don’t have adobe flash installed at all. Checking on adobe’s website using FireFox it shows that I have
flash version “WIN 10,0,32,18”.

Thank you DavidR. I will check those. It’s amazing that I can spend hours searching and miss relevant information. My search terms must suck!

I read those articles and downloaded and installed the ms rollup update 1 for sp4. I am pretty sure I already had it, especially since it didn’t take as long to install as one might think, because I have automatic updates notify me when there are available updates.

I double checked that MSVCR90.dll was indeed in my system32 folder and it is.

After restarting my computer and opening the Avast! console nothing was different. Still the exact same graphics glitch. Worth a shot though. Thanks.

It looks like I have up to date flash in firefox but none in ie. Perhaps installing flash for ie would let me view the statistics in Avast! and possibly fix the graphics glitch.

You’re welcome, sorry it didn’t work.

Yes it would be worth while trying to install flash for IE and see if that works. Though I’m not to hopeful as the images that you posted I don’t believe use Flash, only the animates Statistical graphs in the Summary section and the Real-Time Shields use flash. See image, can you see those ?

b3285.gif - No (statistics)
b3286.gif - Yes (realtime graphs)

All of the realtime graphs work perfectly but all the statistics like b3285.gif show a message that flash must be installed.

I installed the most recent flash for ie and rebooted. Now I can see the statistics graphs o’–O_O–'o
but it didn’t change anything with my graphics glitch, you were right.

I noticed (not surprisingly) that the popup notifications in the system tray are also glitchy.

I’m out of options again…

p.s. As you can see in my screen capture, hxxp does not break the links in those posts. It should probably be wxw instead for those with browsers that linkify text addresses.

did you try double-clicking the license file? it also works that way.

I’m trying to register the free version. According to the email I received I’m supposed to copy/paste the text license key into Avast! I thought that the files you’re talking about were for the paid subscriptions. I appreciate the idea though.

Try unchecking the Use special graphics effects in the avast Settings, Basic section, if enabled (I believe they aren’t by default).

Going over the topic again, your registration attempts seem to revolve around inserting the registration/license key. Now your second image shows the standard avast pop-up register notification (with the why not upgrade whilst your at it). Presumably this happen when you clicked the Register Now button ?

  • Have (or did) you another Anti-Virus installed including avast 4.8 in this system, if so what was it and how did you get rid of it ?

Personally I would suggest a clean reinstall (especially if 4.8 was installed), now you have Flash, etc. and see if that makes any difference.

  • Download the latest version of avast, 5.0.545 http://files.avast.com/iavs5x/setup_av_free.exe and save it to your HDD, somewhere you can find it again (if you didn’t save your last download). Use that when you reinstall.

  • Download the avast! Uninstall Utility, aswClear5.exe find it here and save it to your HDD (it has uninstall tools for both 4.8 and 5.0).

    1. Now uninstall (using add remove programs, if you can’t do that start from the next step), reboot.- 2. run the avast! Uninstall Utility from safe mode, first for 4.8 if previously installed and then for 5.0, once complete reboot into normal mode.- 3. install the latest version, reboot.

oh, my bad. I didn’t know you were taking about the free license

I actually got the exact same problem, but on a Vista system.
Already tryed everything you guys recommendet, even the fresh clean install of avast.
I still didn’t find a fix for it, but a workaround.

Copy the license key.
Klick the button to enter the key, now you have that grafical issue, but the form itself still works (you just can’t see it)

Try pressing TAB and after that CTRL+V, then press Enter.
Or it was pressing CTRL+V and then TAB and then Enter? I forgot wich way it was sorry, but should be easy to figure out for you :slight_smile:

Worked for me that way. But still, a real fix would be better.

I would say Tab first or the ctrl+v (paste) wouldn’t be pasted into the inactive window/field.

It was enabled by default but disabling that was the first attempt I made to fix the issue.

Going over the topic again, your registration attempts seem to revolve around inserting the registration/license key. Now your second image shows the standard avast pop-up register notification (with the why not upgrade whilst your at it). Presumably this happen when you clicked the Register Now button ?
I believe you might mean the first image I posted, "RegisterNow.gif", but yes I clicked the register now button when I took that series of screenshots. (or maybe you are saying the second frame of the first image?)
- Have (or did) you another Anti-Virus installed including avast 4.8 in this system, if so what was it and how did you get rid of it ?
I had a comcast version of mcafee installed but comcast switched to norton so I signed up for the mcafee beta program which removes the previous mcafee using a complete removal tool and requires reboot to remove everything and the installs the beta version. It does this all remotely. I had issues with the beta, it would not install any components- just the console. After several clean and reinstall and techwizard runs the mcafee tech was still stumped and not much help. I figured out that the beta had most likely dropped w2k support completely and so I researched for a better av option which led me here. The last action I took was using a complete removal tool and rebooting several times before installing Avast!. Avast! installed perfectly with no errors just the graphics issue.
Personally I would suggest a clean reinstall (especially if 4.8 was installed), now you have Flash, etc. and see if that makes any difference.
It was a clean install with the latest Avast! Free AntiVirus version available. (5.0.545) Perhaps it would make a difference to fresh install now that flash is in place.
- Download the latest version of avast, 5.0.545 http://files.avast.com/iavs5x/setup_av_free.exe and save it to your HDD, somewhere you can find it again (if you didn't save your last download). Use that when you reinstall.
  • Download the avast! Uninstall Utility, aswClear5.exe find it here and save it to your HDD (it has uninstall tools for both 4.8 and 5.0).
    1. Now uninstall (using add remove programs, if you can’t do that start from the next step), reboot.- 2. run the avast! Uninstall Utility from safe mode, first for 4.8 if previously installed and then for 5.0, once complete reboot into normal mode.- 3. install the latest version, reboot.

out of morbid curiosity, will Avast! remember my settings after removal and reinstall?

It’s cool. I’m open to any ideas. :slight_smile:

I believe that is the case. I cannot read it and the mouse will not interact with it but it should accept keyboard input like the password popup does. (I can see the password popup I believe because the background goes grey)

Try pressing TAB and after that CTRL+V, then press Enter. Or it was pressing CTRL+V and then TAB and then Enter? I forgot wich way it was sorry, but should be easy to figure out for you :)
thanks. That sounds like it would work with a few tries.

should I bother trying to register the program before un-re-installing Avast!? I should probably wait, right?