"Unauthorized changes made to Windows" startup problem with Avast! + Vista

Seems like Vista users are most susceptible. Just wanted to give Avast! a heads up before I move on because I’m no longer going to use their software. I was getting this error on boot (“unauthorized changes made to windows”) on and off and could only operate in safe mode for the last couple weeks. Only option would be to shut system down; only way to get anything to run would be to start in safe mode. No viruses or malware were causing any issue. Turns out it was apparently Avast! I uninstalled Avast! and the error went away. Seems to have only become an issue with recent editions – up until a month ago or so it was never an issue.

Time to find a different virus solution, at least for the Vista system, was a good run Avast.

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good luck :wink:

I had this exact same issue! Mine, thankfully seems to have gone away, but I had been concerned that I was the only one! It’s nice to know I wasn’t crazy. :slight_smile:

I can only say that I use Vista myself, and that I have installed Avast! on several other peoples Vista systems withought any problems. Btw I agree with Logos : Why bother to make an account here if you already decided that you want to move on, and don’t want any help with your problem :-\

Greetz, Red.

I use Avast on a Vista machine without problems, and many other users do too. It sounds like you may have other issues going on. Perhaps the new version 6.0.1125 may help you or we can help you figure our what the problem is if you give us a chance. :slight_smile:

Dozens of people have had the same problem on vista, and all had avast running.
http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/genuinevista/threads

http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/genuinevista/thread/5e6d2437-2427-4c8b-a7cb-622bbe028ca4

The users having the problems are using Vista SP1. Those that upgraded to Vista SP2 with Avast had the problem disappear:

Post by Losererr on May 9, 2011 at 6:20 AM
http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/genuinevista/thread/5e6d2437-2427-4c8b-a7cb-622bbe028ca4

I’d also suggest that you upgrade to the current version of Avast (6.0.1125) http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=77801.msg643525#msg643525, which fixed the bug for crashes and conflicts.

Although the problem seemed to disappear on surface, running microsoft’s diagnostic tools still shows some “mod-auth tampers” even in vista sp2.

You can check the first link you posted to find out more.

Have you upgraded to Avast 6.0.1125 yet?

I am also having this problem and I’m running Vista Sp1 ,will the update to 6.0.1125 fix it?Thanks!

Upgrade to Vista SP2 first, then reboot. Then upgrade Avast to the current version as stated in my previous post. If you are still having problems, I will have you perform a dump file for Avast to analyze. Let me know how this goes. Thank you.

I have, and the “TTS error” line in microsofts diagnostic reports is still being updated.
You can check that same thread again to see more.

@ losererr,

I’m going to have you submit a dump file for Avast to analyze so that we can figure out what is causing the problem:

Here is additional information on how to invoke a memory dump file: http://support.avast.com/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=71.

Please, zip and upload the C:\Windows\Memory.dmp file to this anonymous ftp server and name it uniquely: ftp.avast.com/incoming. Avast will analyze it and respond back to you in this thread or to your email.

SafeSurf,
Thanks for the reply,I can’t update to Vista Sp2 without a complete new install,and that’s a major hassle pertaining to Vista but mainly Dell, their worthless Media Direct and Partitioning along with Dell’s lack of any help or common courtesy(long,maddening story)!
I did update to 6.0.1125 and have not had the problem on restart,I will wait and see if this was a random occurrence as others have said?
One other question though, What unauthorized changes would be made by Avast to Windows to cause this error- (0XC0094D401)[The security processor reported a system file mismatch error]- this only started after the last Avast Program update?
Any help is greatly appreciated,
Thanks again,
Steven

@ urlnts / Steven,

I’m glad the Avast upgrade helped. Keep monitoring and let us know if there are any problems.

I don’t know the answer to this question. That is why I wanted you and others to submit a mini-dump file to Avast since they actually analyze the problem and can identify the issues. So this would be the best way to get the answer to your question. Thank you.

Hi All. I am having this problem with vista too… I have 2 vista computers. one running avast and one running avg… Both have the same error… I have found that if I boot in safe mode
and click on repair the problem goes away for a while and i boot normally…
I think the problem is that I don’t have SP2 on either machine…
Thoughts?
jeff

Install SP2…! :wink:

I’ve been having this problem for a month or two. The first time it happened, I suspected Avast and was able to roll back the most recent Avast update - and bingo, my PC worked again.

Since then it’s been happening occasionally. I can fix the problem by switching the PC off at the wall, which gets me the “Windows shut down unexpectedly” screen and I can “start Windows normally” from there. It’s bloody annoying though.

I suggest people check to make sure they’ve installed Service Pack 2. I install updates regularly so assumed everything was up to date - but when I checked my history, I found that SP2 had failed to install. I’ve fixed that now so let’s hope it works.

i hope avast will do something now, many people does have this problem i gess…

no more problem with the beta version