I did a search, but I didn’t find anyone else having this problem.
With a repeat of this issue:
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=6958.0
However the VDD reg_multi_sz keys are listed in the proper locations per the install, but NTVDM will still not load so to run a program like edit.com I needed to rem the device driver from the config.nt
This would appear to be a 16bit problem and I’m unsure if Vista supports 16bit processes.
http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary/ntvdm/
Do you have any 16bit programs or processes you are trying to run ?
As far as I’m aware the ntvdm.exe has nothing to do with avast. The other hits on google that I have check refer to this being a win2k or winXP process I didn’t see anything related to Vista.
Of coarse I’m trying to run a 16-bit process which vista supports, I already mentioned programs like the dos legacy editor edit.com are triggering this, which is still included in Vista. Edit.com can edit files containing extended ASCII characters without making them corrupt, unlike notepad.exe which is unicode based, and actually corrupts these files. Edit.com can also be a very basic binary editor. Don’t try to suggest other software when the root of the problem is somewhere between the Avast software, and the operating system. I have already provided how to quick fix the problem by disabling part of Avast.
I already stated this is related to a previous problem which I linked to, and showing that what fixed the issue last time is not an issue in this case.
So nothing you have typed is useful at all…
At least the Vista x32 (not the x64) has the 16bits applications support… they’re working on my Vista too…
Well, when I have this problem in the past, the problem was a second antivirus presento on the VDD registry keys, the mortal Symantec drivers 
Did you have any other antivirus in this computer (Vista) before?
Mine just have V:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\aswMonVd.dll 8)
This is turning out to be a repeat of the thread I linked to… No other antivirus has touched this install of the operating system, it was a clean install. ;D
I have already confirmed that the vdd keys are there, and correct so there is nothing obvious why the 16-bit avast driver is having problems.
I’ve been trying to read through the event viewer for any valid information, but I can’t find any entries that relate to this problem. There is also hundreds of logged events just from everything else considering its a beta os so its hard to look through them all.
Do you mean into Windows Events or into avast Log Viewer?
Can’t you filter them?
Sorry to ask ‘repeated’ questions… just trying to help and to understand Vista behavior :-\ 
This is indeed a bug in avast (incompatibility between avast and the vista 16-bit subsystem). We’re investigating this issue with the help of MS staff.
The only workaround at this moment is to remove the reference to the avast driver from \windows\system\config.nt.
Thanks
Vlk
Thanks for confirming the problem, I’m not aware of any malware writers depending on ntvdm these days so I don’t think it will be a huge problem. 8)