my friends computer has 128 mb of ram and having avast runing in the background is using to much memory. how do i turn it off other then using a start up editing program
Ryan,
Turning Avast off “in the background” (running resident) is not really a good thing to do.
It is what it was designed to do.
However, you may want to shut down the modules that you do not need:
There can be 4 to 6 modules running.
To shut ALL down, right click on the A ball in the tray and select “Stop On Access Protection”.
If you want to see what modules are running to decide which you need and which you don’t…
again right click on the A ball in the tray but this time mouse over “Stop Provider”. You will see the list:
P2P
Internet Mail
Instant Messaging
Web Shield
Network Shield
Outlook/Exchange (This is for MS Outlook, not Outlook Express!)
Click on Terminate to shut them down. However, they will restart by default on the next boot.
If you decide you do not need them at all, go into Control Panel…Add/Remove and click on Avast.
Choose Change, then uncheck the modules that you want to uninstall. They will not be there on boot again. (you can reinstall them easily by reversing the process)
Good luck
I don’t find your answer satisfactory. I have a very resource intensive video editing application that will not install properly with the anti-virus running in the background. Wether or not the designers intended to always have the processes running in the background is immaterial. Some applications will not install and other high load applications will not run with the active antivirus processes in the back ground. I have a 3.4 GHz computer with a Gig of RAM, and I still have problems with this. Virtually every application you install warns you about having those processes running in the background, and asks you to shut them down. After experiencing several bluescreens I feel that the developers of Avast should modify their approach so that all users can make use of the product with out the associated technical headaches. An off switch perhaps… (an off switch really turns it off!!!)
I know, it’s a crazy dream. 
It was explained several times by Alwil team here that closing an antivirus (running processes and services) it’s not a child work. Even Microsoft thighed the Windows shutdown for both antivirus and firewall (under XP SP2). I think the behavior of disabling avast! won’t change that much because of this.
I have 1Gb of RAM and I do not find that much applications that requires antivirus disabling… In fact, very few are directly affected in my opinion.
If you’re using a (non-archaic) version of Windows, you can use MSConfig (you’ll have to download it for Win2k, but that’s easy to find through a google search) to alter your startup so that the Avast modules are not loaded (at all, not just “terminated”). Restart your machine and run your installs. Use MSConfig again to set the Avast processes to load up and restart.
If you’re not on Windows, hopefully your OS has a similar utility that lets you modify what gets loaded at startup. Find it and use that.
As always, run your machine without your virus scanner(s) during this period at your own risk. If you can do your installs without one, make sure your computer will start back up without an internet connection. It feels inelegant, but this is the only way I have found to do anything without those processes in the background (which is sometimes necessary, such as when troubleshooting particularly troublesome errors and conflict problems).
If it’s really the case, then there’s something bad about your computer. Installation of any application is certainly not any intensive task - so if your system cannot stand it, how could you expect it to function properly during a real work?
Sorry, but it’s not true. If you really have such problems, you should start looking for a problem in your system. Millions of other users don’t have such issues.
You mean the “default” installer warning? Yes, many installers really say that - but the message is simply wrong and stupid, nothing else.
Turning off antivirus to install an application is, of course, a bad idea - you may be actually installing some kind of malware (adware, spyware, …).
If you experience bluescreens, you are welcome to send us the corresponding (mini)dumps so that we can investigate the problem.
tez,
I am sorry that you are having difficulty with Avast. My advice to you was sound as it has been for many others. The majority of Avast users DO NOT have trouble. Any associated problems usually result from interaction with other software that can “most of the time” be worked out. Conflicts do arise at times when a new software installaton takes place which cannot be anticipated in the design of the AV.
We are here to help you if you wish. As Igor suggested…Send a mini dump to Avast Support or to Igor and let them peruse it.
You did not mention if you had any other AV installed with Avast or prior to its’ installation. Norton especially has created similar woes to users who attempted to install Avast.
If you wish help, ask and one of us will do our best.
Best wishes
Techie
I don’t have the resident scanner enabled, because I want Avast to scan on demand and on demand only, but the two processes ashserv.exe and aswupdsv.exe keep running in the background when I boot. How come? How can I avoid this?
If you remove the startup items and disable avast! services, nothing should be running…