Strange problem with avast UI text elements

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
21

I’m basically out of ideas. I might have mentioned this before, but anyway…

Using the Clean Uninstall Utility for Avast under Windows Safe Mode DIRECTLY might help, if the problem is Avast-dependent.

What I mean is, do NOT UNinstall Avast using “Add/Remove Programs”. Skip that step. Clear your web browser’s cache, download (anew) the latest installer of Avast (currently there is a beta version with several bug fixes) and also the Clean Uninstaller (again, anew), both from Avast website (not some other repository).

So, with Avast still installed, boot into Windows Safe Mode and run from there the Clean Uninstaller Utility for Avast (sorry I repeat myself: NOT using the “Add/Remove Programs” but the utility directly).

Now reboot, close/exit any nonessential programs, and stay DISconnected from the Internet (which includes closing/disabling any type of connection, wired or not, but specially those not wired).

Please be sure to follow ALL those steps. Now install Avast and reboot again. Re-enable all the connections and reboot again.

Let Avast start and work for 10 minutes (as oppose to jump into Avast main GUI right after the reboot). I say 10 minutes not just as a random number.

I know it is a PITA. Just follow ALL steps, including the reboots (those you have been skipping before).

If this procedure fails (lets hope not), then Avast would be only showing you a problem in your system, and Avast is not necessarily the program causing it.

In any case, please report back your results.

22

I’ve never had a problem running sfc /scannow, even with a back leveled xp disk.
When the servicepack(s) are installed, the i386 folder relating to the sp level
is usually kept on the HDD and it’s accessed when checking the files,
along with the dllcache folder.

It may not relate to the OP’s problem at all, but I thought it worth a mention,
due to the strangeness of the symptoms.

23

Your comment is appropriate, and a system files check may have place here. The only problem with that is, as I said, system files that were updated by some SP (for example) while checking against an older XP CD. The older checksum has no method to verify that the current installed system files came from a valid MS update, and in some cases it might consider them as wrong / invalid and replace them with the older version from the XP CD.

That’s why I said that the check should be made with a CD of the same EXACT version currently installed. With so many “little” differences between x32 / x64, Windows built-in encryption / regular (normal), languages (and MUIs), SPs and other automatic MS updates, distribution types and Windows editions, the system files checks are being much less “reliable” using an old CD, and the consequences (changes) are usually not revised be the final user.

24

I’ll follow your new steps exactly, although I feel the need to iterate that this is the 2nd or 3rd time you have implied (or in fact directly stated) that I have been trying to fix things without rebooting. With only a very few exceptions, I’ve been rebooting very, very frequently throughout many steps trying to solve this (and other) issues. In one case, I mentioned that my computer almost seemed to be degrading in performance after so many reboots, to which you implied that my lack of rebooting after making “deep” changes could cause trouble. I am rebooting. A lot.

Anyway, I’ll try those steps asap.

25

@vertigoelectric,

Please let me be clear. Almost all my comments about reboots are not related to you in particular. You wouldn’t believe how many times users come here asking for “urgent help”, and they actually skipped the needed reboot (which in fact turns to solve their “urgent” problem).

With so many procedures as in your system, it is very common to see users not being patient enough to reboot when they should, even when they are instructed to. When I request to reboot, is because I expect from the user to reboot and I’d rather avoid the assumption that the user will do that “by itself”.

Since we are in a forum with many different types of users, more skilled or not so much, and with different levels of English language domain, I have the tendency of writing the reboot request when it is supposed to be done, most specially when troubleshooting. Some users might misunderstand being specific and writing specific steps one by one as if I (as an example) would have some kind of “attitude”, or condescending.

I can only tell you that this is a misunderstanding from their part. I’d rather write more and be specific, than to assume that other forum member already “knows everything”. All is done with help in mind, and only that.

If I had the impression that you skipped some reboots, it is only because you said so, together with the comment about being tired of so many reboots.

Several comments from you that are related to reboots and/or running the appropriate tools from Safe mode:

Okay, I uninstalled AVG normally (although it wasn't very normal, since the uninstaller wouldn't stop the AVG watchdog service and I had to look up special instructions on how to stop it so that I could uninstall). I [only] then rebooted in safe mode ...
I restored all of the default system fonts from the Windows XP disc. I haven't rebooted yet...

If I got the wrong impression, I apologize. In any case, as I said, almost all my comments are NOT based on impressions, but on actual technical recommendations and experience in computer-related forums.

So, please let’s concentrate on the technical matters so we can solve your problem.

(BTW, replacing “system” fonts needs to be done from an independent OS / boot. There are workarounds to correctly do it directly under Windows).

26

Well, first of all, you say “several” while I only see two, and the second one doesn’t mean that I didn’t reboot. It just means that I didn’t reboot YET. All I was doing was letting you know where I was in the procedure given the time I had to work on it at that particular moment. As for the first one you quoted, all I was doing was following your instructions, but apparently I misunderstood this line:

before trying Avast again, “really” uninstall AVG by first the “Add/Remove programs” and second by the adequate uninstaller under Windows Safe Mode.
. Because of how you said it, I thought you meant to “uninstall AVG by first the Add/Remove programs” and “second by the adequate uninstaller under Windows Safe Mode”. So perhaps I misunderstood, but all I was doing was following your instructions as best as I could.

Although, the method by which I uninstalled AVG shouldn’t have mattered anyway. The problem with avast appeared long before AVG ever even touched my system, so it obviously wasn’t involved with the issue. Granted an incomplete uninstall of AVG could lead to possible other issues with an avast installation afterward, it still would have been unrelated to the problem at hand.

Anyway, just to clear everything up and get back on track, I do reboot after making changes, and even if I don’t have time to reboot right at that moment, I’ll always do it later before even considering process completed.

The point I’m right now is that I uninstalled avast yesterday, although I have not yet rebooted (BUT WILL before trying anything else). As of now I have zero leads.

Anyway, I appreciate your continued support. Misunderstandings happen. We move on.

27

OK. I’ll wait for your next report after performing the rest of the suggested steps. I can assure you, this topic will be revisited in the future, even if we can’t find a solution nor workaround (but let’s hope we do :slight_smile: ).

28

I just remember that you have installed different versions of Avast during your tests. So, when you run the Clean Uninstall Utility for Avast under Windows Safe Mode, please run it twice. First for 6.0, then reboot (necessary before the next run) again into Safe Mode, and run it again for 5.0.

29

I’m honestly probably not going to bother with it any more. I still haven’t come to a decision, but I’m considering just installing Windows 7 Pro and using it as a trial for a while to see if it fixes all of my problems, including the avast one.

I’ll let you know my decision.

30

OK. A clean install of the OS should clear the air (if there are available working drivers and you have enough system resources). An upgrade from a previous version of Windows (as oppose to a clean install of Seven) might not be the best path for a system having problems, specially when the final goal is to have a more stable system.

About your comment in relation to removing any remants of AVG (or any other security tool for that matter), you can always get into Windows Safe Mode and rerun the respective removal tool. Granted, the ideal method should be the “Add/Remove Programs” control panel, but once the normal method is not enough, you can run the specific removal tool from Safe Mode as many times as you need.

To be clear, if “everything” works as expected, use the “Add/Remove programs” method, and only then use the specific removal utility from Windows Safe mode. This minimizes the chances of problems. But once problems are already there, the specific removal utility under Windows Safe Mode is your best bet. If you need/want to run the removal tool again under Safe mode, there are no “cons” for the system from the second run and up.

This is valid for all security tools. So, if you might have any doubts about your previous AVG, or all those versions of Avast, simply select the correct version/release/edition and run the removal tool under Safe Mode.

I still think that something about your system fonts and display driver might be involved. I don’t remember if you already tried with low resolution, default Windows display driver (instead of the specific driver for your video), and default dpi font display.

Effectively replacing the system fonts files is “tricky”, because it may “seem” like a simple replace of font files, and the user might not notice any problems, but this is not always “actually” successful (while the user thinks it was). Some cases are OK, but not all.

31

Update!

I’ve experiencing strange web browsing issues that I think are related to the Avast UI issue I’ve been trying to solve here.

While on one of my threads over at TSF (Tech Support Forums), I noticed a strange glitch. Some elements on the page weren’t displaying properly. Certain containers (divs, tables, etc) were stretched hundreds of thousands of pixels wide (seriously. I used Firebug to get the widths of elements). This gave me a tiny little horizontal scrollbar at the bottom of my browser. Most of the text in affected areas was just gone, however, in some cases, I could still see underline formatted (such as a blue underline for links and red squiggly underlines for spelling errors), even though there were no words there. I could select the invisible text, but all I could see was the highlighting. The next was never visible.

In addition to the stretching of the elements that forced the whole page to widen to the right, certain elements with borders had the borders shifted to the LEFT (just the borders, not the elements themselves).

At first, this only happened on one page of that specific thread on TSF. Then it happened with a specific message within a specific conversation within Gmail. I also noticed it again on another site but I don’t remember what it was. When I returned to TSF, I noticed that it was not consistent there and would usually occur, but not always, and it would occur on any of the 3 pages of that particular thread.

Why do I think it’s related? The last time this glitch happened to me on a website, it left a few letters of text here and there visible, and instantly reminded me of the Avast UI problem. I began to think… if Avast uses a restricted web-browser-like interface for displaying the content in its windows, it could explain why I’m getting the same effect. Explainable differences would include the stretching of elements. Without the presence of scrollbars in the avast UI, stretched elements wouldn’t be noticed at all.

I realize this problem is now not something that belongs in the avast forum. It is a deeper issue. Still, if any of you have any suggestions, please do share. Oh yeah, and while I use Firefox as my browser, I tested this in IE as well as Firefox Safe Mode and it still happens, so that rules out FF addons.

32

Have you tried simply setting a VERY old standard resolution, standard dpi fonts, standard color bits…?

For example:

800x600x (8 or 16 or 24 or 32) colors and standard dpi fonts, with standard Windows default theme, with standard font files (original tahoma…)

All your current configurations and settings can be saved, so you can test and go back to what you are used to and what you like.

Aaah, yes, reboot after the changes, so to eliminate glitches.

33

I mentioned this in another forum and someone else made the same suggestion in fewer words. Check my screen resolution. I’ll go ahead and humor you this time, but for the life of me with all of the experience I’ve had working with computers for years I cannot even begin to imagine why that would have any relevance to this problem in any way, shape or form whatsoever.

Before I go changing my display resolution and settings and take time to reboot (which isn’t fast), would you please explain to my why you think this would solve anything?

34

I didn’t mean for that last post to sound so arrogant. I just honestly don’t get what my display settings have to do with this glitch and I really want an explanation.

35

Sorry for the triple post. Just want to make sure this wasn’t missed.

Well, I changed all of the settings as you suggested and rebooted, and as an added test, I decided to boot into safe mode to test it there. The problem still occurs in safe mode, and I don’t know how to trim settings back any more than that. It happens in both FF and IE. One thing I didn’t mention is that the effects are not exactly the same in FF and IE, but they happen in the same pages/elements.

36

Well, the first thing you need is the correct system fonts, with the corrects fonts dpi (which is not the same as changing your screen and resolution dpi).

The problem with fonts being displayed in strange manners is related to resolutions, colors, contrasts, font dpi and sizes. The font file is not “limitless”. As long as you use standard settings, it is easier for your system (including your display drivers) to display the fonts (and other elements) the way they were supposed to.

The combination of many different settings is not always tolerated by every component (as your fonts, for example).

This is similar as changing font sizes in a document. You can change font sizes to “whatever you need”, but the font file does not include “every size” you need. The system somehow “compensates” this, and tries to show you what you want, not always successfully.

BTW, your printer does something similar.

To be clear, I have no way to assure you that using standard settings is going to “solve” the problem (which can be also related to your display driver too). It may not show you any real difference / consequence. I am only saying that, when troubleshooting, I usually try to start from a “known point”, where the “normal” system/user would expect a “normal” experience. That “normal” point turns into a baseline.

If the baseline also fails, then something deeper is going on. If the baseline works correctly as expected, then I can start from that point to “play” with several combinations of settings and systems to find out what exactly triggers the display problem.

37

What would happen if you use standard default Windows Display Drivers, instead of the current? In theory, Safe Mode uses that, but who knows?

In addition, you might want to try uninstalling other web browsers, reboot, and installing them anew (including IE).

I’ll ask again, is there any possibility your system font files are somehow changed or corrupted?

38

It is a font problem after all. I’m not sure why I didn’t think of testing it this way before…

I opened up the faulty email. I selected all so that I could see the highlighting. I noticed that part of the highlighting extended to the right by hundreds of thousands of pixels.

I used the Stylish addon to change the fonts of the page, and as soon as I set it, everything went back to normal (aside from the fonts being changed to what I set them to).

Okay, so now we know it is a font issue. There are still some mysteries unsolved, but this is a good lead.

Do you know what font Avast uses in its UI?

EDIT: I’ve got a hunch. I’m gonna try something…

I found the culprit. It’s the Calibri.ttf font. For some reason, when I view certain pages, my system is using that font instead of Arial. To test this, I used Stylish to force other pages to use Calibri and in doing so they immediately showed the same glitchy effects.

I’m trying to delete Calibri now.

I had MS Office installed, and I bet that’s what did it. I uninstalled it and I will reboot soon, but first I want to see if I can remove Calibri manually, or create a script that will delete it upon boot.

Actually I’ll just reboot without deleting it yet… maybe… let’s see…

39

Why delete Calibri?

There are several “places” where you can set that change (by mistake or on purpose).

IE options, office options, printer software…

40

Well, then… what do you suggest I do?