SOLVED:windows10 hanging intermittently on new PC after avast antivirus install

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

Hi

I have been struggling to stabilize my new Shuttle DS10U5 on windows10 2004.
I made clean install of windows10 2004 16.6.2020 and added a few basic programs (esp. avast, firefox, office).
Observations:

  1. start up hanging intermittently
  2. shutdown/restart/alt ctrl del hanging intermittently – power reset only option
  3. boot in safe mode OK
  4. boot without network mostly OK, problem comes after connecting ethernet cable (no wifi on this PC).
  5. I have tried to postpone/deinstall MS updates, uninstalling hanging programs etc.
  6. Virus check programs don’t find anything

Finally I uninstalled avast 22.06.2020 and PC became stable.

Hence below questions:

  1. What is causing this?
  2. Any known fix other than uninstalling avast?
  3. Is avast not needed at all on latest windows10 2004?

Solution 27.06.2020:

Issue was that malwarebytes real time protection was turned on, since Malwarebytes by default gives you 14 days trial after installation.
When I switched back to Malwarebytes free (which does not have real time protection) it was interworking fine with Avast free antivirus.

So conclusion is that Avast free antivirus is working fine with windows10 incl. defender as long as you ensure that you only have ONE 3. party real item protection turned on :slight_smile:

br
Peter Lauritzen

2

When you start avast, can you load the main avast UI to the fullest?

3

yes, avast starts fine, but then PC freezes later on - until I repower and uninstall avast

4
  • Which Avast…? (Free/Pro/IS/Premium)
  • Which version/build of Avast…?
  • Other security related software installed…?
5

latest version oif avast antivirus free
no other security sw except for defender

6
  1. Download Avast Free Antivirus: https://files.avast.com/iavs9x/avast_free_antivirus_setup_offline.exe
  2. Follow instructions: https://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility (Run this tool for all prior installed Avast versions…!!)
  3. Reinstall Avast with the downloaded installer from point 1.
  4. Reboot.
7

already tried this - same issue.
what I need is some way to address the intermittent hanging issue.
until I have that I will keep avast off this new PC.

8

You could try the latest beta: https://forum.avast.com/index.php?board=15

9

Well, I would rather like a systematic approach to troubleshoot this issue.
And of course warn others about this possible issue on new PC.
Also I noted some forum trail from 2017 on similar issue, but no solution found there.
That was the reason to raise this new thread.

10

You can submit a bug report in “About Avast”. (Add a link to this thread)

11

already done 22.6, no response from them so far.
if/when I get response I will update this thread

12

Hi peter.k.lauritzen,
to help you find a reason why your pc become frozen we will need a system memory dump.

  1. Confugure you pc according this article: https://success.trendmicro.com/solution/1096135-generating-a-memory-dump-by-forcing-a-system-crash#:~:text=Press%20the%20right%20"CTRL"%20key,found%20in%20%25SystemRoot%25\MEMORY.
  2. When you encounter the issue and your pc will be frozen use CTRL+2xSCROLL to create memory dump file.
  3. Zip the dump file and upload it as peter_k_lauritzen_bsod_6_2020.zip to avast ftp server (https://support.avast.com/en-eu/article/FTP-file-upload)
    Have a nice day !
13

Thanks, that was exactly what I had in mind.
But to my original questions:

  1. Is this a known issue with new PCs?
  2. If yes what is solution/workaround (other than deinstalling avast)?
  3. Is avast required in windows10 2004, i.e. can defender take care?
    br Peter
14
  1. Great, so please follow instructions from kwiq.
  2. Nope, that’s why I forwarded it to the devs.
15

Hi forum
This problem can not be a new one.
It is well known that in general you should only have one antivirus program.
But I have been using avast with osx and windows for more than 15 years wo issue.
So I really wonder why avast is not working for this new Shuttle PC incl. latest HW.

If you check e.g. topic 212330.0 from 2017 a similar issue is reported as Topic: “Avast causes windows 10 Home edition to freeze until I uninstall avast”. No solution found there though.

Hence before going into extensive debug mode I think to be fair to avast we should give them a chance to respond to the ticket I have raised, esp. I expect them to comment on my 3 questions above.
I was only raising issue here in forum to see if anybody has experienced same issue and found a solution other than uninstalling avast.

If I install e.g malwarebytes on this PC there is no issue, but it seems that I need to keep avast uninstalled.

Br Peter

16

Hello Peter, it is really nice you use our products for such a long time and I will do my best to figure out, where is the problem and to help you stay protected by Avast.

So, in your original report you mentioned these three important points:

[ol]- shutdown/restart/alt ctrl del hanging intermittently – power reset only option

  • boot without network mostly OK, problem comes after connecting ethernet cable (no wifi on this PC)
  • Finally I uninstalled avast 22.06.2020 and PC became stable[/ol]

From this I understand the problem (with restart, shutdown, etc.) happens only with Avast and when the computer is connected to the internet.

First of all I quickly checked Windows 10 Home Edition 64bit with latest Windows updates together with latest Avast Free 20.4 version and there is no issue in this combination in general. The product can be installed, the system is stable, etc.

So I assume there must be something in your environment causing this. Therefore I asked my colleagues from customer care to find out your report (from the application) so we can start by looking at the logs sent with it.

Now, we have basically two options what you can try to A/ stay protected by Avast Antivirus and B/ to help us to find out what component is causing the problem. First option is to disable “permanently” all shileds in Avast via Avast Tray icon menu, restart the computer and see what happens.

If the problem is solved, then you can open the product and start to enable one-by-one component following by restart and see what is causing this.

If the problem is not solved by disabling the components, you can try to uninstall the product and install it in minimal configuration - just use custom installation and choose either minimal configuration or just resident shield component and nothing more. Then, after the installation and restart, you will see. If the problem is solved, you can execute the installer and add one-by-one components until the problem happen again.

I know, seems to be complicated and also will take some time, but still may be helpful in troubleshooting the issue. I am going to look at your report and get back to you asap. Thank you!

17

thanks for response.
As mentioned I will wait for response in the ticket I have raised (case 11040521) before trying out your suggestions.
Br Peter

18

Hi
I found the root cause now:

Issue was that malwarebytes real time protection was turned on, since Malwarebytes by default gives you 14 days trial after installation.
When I switched back to Malwarebytes free (which does not have real time protection) it was interworking fine with Avast free antivirus.

So conclusion is that Avast free antivirus is working fine with windows10 incl. defender as long as you ensure that you only have ONE 3. party real item protection turned on :slight_smile:

br
Peter Lauritzen

19

Thanks for the feedback.

20

Thanks asyn for support.
One last question: How do I mark the solution I found as solution to this thread?
br
Peter