Wasn’t sure if this was the place for this post or not because I honestly don’t know if it is a virus causing this or something else, but the last couple of updates for Avast I get a pop-up saying they have been unsuccessful. I open Avast to manually try and update only to get the same problem.
There may be more than just this going on however. I have both Spybot S&D and Malwarebytes on my computer and just deleted a few items that Spybot found, then ran a full scan on Avast which showed nothing, and finally a full scan on Malwarebytes. When I run a full scan on Malwarebytes my computer will automatically restart in the middle of the scan or when it is complete.
I’m assuming these are symptoms of a bigger problem. One other thing that happens on a semi-regular basis is that when my computer is restarted I get a pop-up saying that “Microsoft Windows is being closed…” or when I have IE open that “Internet explorer is being closed…” All of these problems have been going on for atleast a couple of months now and I have just been too busy or too lazy to really take the time to get to the bottom of it.
I’m running Windows XP and have only basic knowledge of how this stuff works so if anyone has a possible solution to one or any of the above problems please be as specific as possible.
Thanks in advance.
EDIT: The last time I was successfully able to get Malwarebytes to run a full scan I got these results (now attached).
I have both Spybot S&D and Malwarebytes on my computer and just deleted a few items that Spybot found, then ran a full scan on Avast which showed nothing, and finally a full scan on Malwarebytes.
what did S&D find....tracking cookies?
you dont need it when you have Malwarebytes
have you run malwarebytes quick scan?..if not try and remeber to update the program first
I can’t remember exactly what S&D found, I was checking through all the quarantined stuff to see if I could remember and I believe it was just some random toolbar crap. I’m not sure how to check specific logs in S&D like with MB, or if it is even possible.
As far as running a Malwarebytes scan, that was the problem originally. When I posted this it wasn’t letting me complete a scan without my PC crashing mid-scan, or directly after the scan (not sure which, wasn’t exactly watching it as it scanned). I was finally able to get it to finish a quick scan just a moment ago and it didn’t find anything this time around.
I was looking through some of my old posts (I seem to get problems similar to this once a year or so) and someone had recommended I make more room on my harddrive, which has VERY limited room and I must admit I have been getting cautions that I am running out of memory. I don’t understand how having limited harddrive space creates these weird problems, but clearing out space worked last time apparently so I’m giving that another shot.
I tried deleting a few GB worth of stuff and so far so good, but then again it’s only been a few hours since I posted originally. I’ll see if it acts up anymore within the next 24 hours, if not I’ll make sure this thread is marked as closed/solved.
EDIT: As far as the problems with updating Avast go, I’m not sure if that is fixed or not. It says that I am currently up to date “current version120618-2.” however it has said that it was up to date in the past and then a couple hours later it gives me a message saying it was unable to update again…
Well, it just happened again. I got the little red-boxed Avast pop-up saying that “The last attempt to update your virus definitions was unsuccessful…”
Any ideas why this would keep happening? Should I try to un-install/re-install?
Yes, I changed my original post so that the Malwarebytes log is now attached rather than copied and pasted. I had never heard of OTL till now, but I downloaded it and followed the instructions on the link you posted. My PC crashed about halfway through the OTL scan just like it had been doing during Malwarebyte scans. I’m trying it again, eventually it will let me get all the way through.
Something I didn’t notice before, when my PC was restarting and the desktop was loading I got a number of messages. One said “RBA has encountered a problem and needs to close…” (no idea what RBA is), and another was the same error message but for Microsoft Windows.
hey do you have spybot protection on? it could be that couse avast to no be able to update. I would suggest you uninstall spybot sens it can not kep up with the malware out there. beside you have malwarebytes for that, witch works really well with avast.
Ok, so Pondus – I was able to get OTL to finally run a scan without crashing my computer. Check my original post for Malwarebytes log from last time it found anything (5/21 I believe) and I’ll attach the OTL logs to this post.
In response to mikaelrask, I just have the default settings for Spybot on. The same they have been for years, and it has never affected Avast updates so I don’t see why it would now.
Hi - this is part of the problem…Drive C: | 55.89 Gb Total Space | 2.78 Gb Free Space | 4.97% Space Free | Partition Type: NTFS
You are running out of drive space
Warning This fix is only relevant for this system and no other, using on another computer may cause problems
Be advised that when the fix commences it will shut down all running processes and you may lose the desktop and icons, they will return on reboot
If you have Malwarebytes 1.6 or better installed please disable it for the duration of this run
To disable MBAM
Open the scanner and select the protection tab
Remove the tick from “Start with Windows”
Reboot and then run OTL
[*]Then click the Run Fix button at the top
[*]Let the program run unhindered, reboot the PC when it is done
[*]Open OTL again and click the Quick Scan button. Post the log it produces in your next reply.
essexboy – I followed your instructions exactly. The resulting log is attached. I assume atleast part of that was to try and make a little more space, which it did make… a little, haha. I use CCleaner and delete my temp folders on a regular basis I just have very limited harddrive space so it’s a pain trying to decide what programs/files I can live without and those I can’t. I believe the log says I’m somewhere around 5.72% free space, which I know can’t be good.
Could that be the problem behind all the issues I’m having? Lack of space?
Very probably as Avast needs space to unpack the definitions as well as when it scans files…
A good rule of thumb is to have at leat 10% of your disc space free to allow for this
I could use OTL to clear all but the last restore point for you which may free some more space if you wish, or you could do that manually by turning of system restore and then turning it back on
Sure, it’s worth a shot I guess. I’ve been deleting stuff for the last hour and I’m still nowhere near 10%. I have a question about some things I found in my add/remove programs area in control panel. Can I delete any of the following without causing problems? :
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 Service Pack 2 - 208MB
Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2 - 184MB
@ Aphex23
System restore is a large consumer of hard disk space, if you don’t keep it in check.
You can restrict the size, Microsoft usually allocates something like 12% of the available hard drive/partition to it (System Volume Information folder/s). You can reduce this size to something more reasonable.
That said when you get to the point with less than 15% free space windows defrag won’t run either, so defragmentation can also add to your woes. So as essexboy mentions a hard drive upgrade really is something that you should look at.