We have switched over to the Cloud Based Avast! Business this summer. Before we had the EA Console managed Avast! Many of our computers are still on the older version of Avast.
After the updated Avast is installed on the computers, we are now getting random lockups when trying to log into them. We either get the blank Windows 7 blue screen after pressing Control-Alt-Delete or we get stuck on a locked up Welcome screen after typing in our credentials to log in.
If we uninstall Avast, the issue goes away.
Nothing in the Event logs are showing any errors or issues. When the computers lock up, we have to power them off and then they are usually fine for a day or so.
Could be driver related. Can you post some examples of PC make/model and driver versions for network and (if installed) Intel RST? Pick one PC causing problems and update drivers and work from there (at least if the symptoms change it could give more info). Double check the old avast is completely gone and that Windows Defender is off too.
I can see though that the Optiplex 755 is not supported by Dell for Windows 7, so you wouldn’t be able to use Dell’s drivers to update.
If you have Intel Matrix Storage Manager installed, I would suggest backing up a machine and upgrading to Intel Rapid Storage Technology (Intel RST) from the Intel website. I think v11.7.0.1013 is the last to support your chipset.
Test the results and if no improvement do the same for network drivers. Even though Microsoft might have installed it’s own driver, it may not have been updated via Windows Update or other means. You’ll need to figure out which controller you have and visit Intel/Broadcom to get the appropriate driver to check if there is a newer one.
Are you logging onto a domain? What happens if you log on with a local account?
I’m surprised 11.7 doesn’t work, but I don’t know how accurate the info I have on Dell’s motherboard is. If you aren’t using RAID, you’re probably better off uninstalling it anyway due to RST’s flaky history. Some forum members have had results this way.
If you have the time, grab a spare machine and wipe it and install Windows 7 fresh (with nothing but a vanilla install) and test again. This could at least prove/disprove hardware or driver (or even 3rd party application) issue.
Did you use aswclear to remove avast ?
If not I suggest you do so on some of the problematic systems and than install the cloud version on them.
Worth giving a try in my opinion.
We just did the Avast uninstall using the Avast uninstall utility on four systems. We were unable to re-install it three of the four systems. We had various errors and issues when trying to reinsatall.
I have lost faith in this product and we are now in the process of switching to one of the other major AV companies, even if the cost is more. I guess the old saying of “you get what you pay for” is in full effect here.
We had very few, if any, issues with the AES version of Avast, but since Avast decided the cloud version would be better(?) for their customers, that version is no longer produced.
Although the problem is not solved, at least avast could (should) now know that a “clean” install isn’t solving it.
Ofcourse it is up to avast to have a look and come up with a solution, but we as users should provide them with information (and we did).
I do wonder if it is only with certain CPU’s/chipsets though as I do not see many people with this problem.
Many may not be having these issues because they can afford to keep their hardware up to date. Being a school district, we have to stretch what little money we get for computer systems. We are using systems that are going on six and seven years old, and even have systems that are 10 years old still operating.
I wish we did have the luxury to keep our hardware up to date. We know Windows 7 is going out the door in a few years for support from Microsoft and at that time, we will probably have to start spending money to upgrade our hardware. In the mean time, we need this to work as we don’t want to get caught with a locker type virus. At this point, we have several systems running Windows defender, but I know that product has some serious issues and is not able to catch certain types of malwares.
Age isn’t so much a problem, it’s usually combinations of things that cause glitches and are almost always impossible for vendors to thoroughly test for.
I understand your position though. I look after about about 15 PCs for a non-profit organization. Only ever had a problem with 2 PCs of the same make and model which happened to be Core i3-based and newer than most of the Core 2 Duo machines in the building, so you can’t always blame older hardware The solution to my specific issue was to update the network driver (and not from the motherboard vendor either).
Glad you are able to identify only machines that are migrated from AES as being a problem. That’s useful info and would be worth dropping a line to Tech Support should you choose to proceed with Avast. Trying avastclear would be their first recommendation to I am sure. Personally I had MORE tech problems with other AV products than I ever did with Avast, so go with what works for you. If you are going to change, I’d still recommend running https://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility just to be sure the problematic machines are really clean because adding another vendor’s product on top of an already existing issue could give you just as much grief.
Where people normally get into trouble for any kind of software deployment is trying to do too many too quickly. A long testing phase on a select group and staged deployment is always best if you have limited resources.
We have already been through the uninstall, re-install, fresh install of Windows and all software, and making sure we have all the updated drivers for these older machines. The latest drivers for these machines is from 2010/2011.
The final support message is that since these older machines are not supported by Dell to use Windows 7, Avast can no longer help us.
I understand about keeping hardware and software refreshed, but, like I said above, we are a school district with over 1800 of these computers. We put these computers in place 4 years ago to replace computers that were over 10 years old. We don’t have the luxury or money of large companies to go replacing computers every three to five years.
I don’t know where you are getting your info from. The Intel 82566DM, which according to CNet is used in the Dell 755, has a driver from Intel dated May 2016. You seem to suggest you have not swayed from the Dell-provided drivers based on the date you’ve given. My advice was to use the latest available. In some cases, the Windows native driver if detected will be newer than Dell’s.
Avast still support back to Windows XP for Business Cloud and are vendor agnostic when it comes to the OS. So … yeah, not sure why you were told you can’t get help.
I’m kinda at a loss to understand your testing methodologies. However if you have the same issue on a clean Windows install that never had AES, then it can’t be that. If you could post more detailed and specific info it could be of some help. Are you using roaming profiles for example?
Do you use Roaming Profiles, Folder Redirection or Offline Files?
If yes, try adding an exception for network shares, as Avast scans these by default: \*
Do you have any 3rd party authentication system at logon?
I’d still like to see screenshot or driver version info of the network driver before I end this line of enquiry. Windows 7 will say it’s driver is the latest if that’s what the Windows update catalog has, but that is different to Intel’s driver availability…
