im using the free version of avast. ive been using it for 3 or 4 months now. not problems, until now.
i just completed a full system scan and it found nothing. then it asked to do a auto-start scan, and it would require the computer to reboot and it would do another full scan durring the bootup process. it took forever, and it found a few things. at every instance, i told it to move the suspisious item in the virus chest, or ignore the item alltogether, if it couldnt be moved.
after it finally rebooted, i have a message in the lower right corner of my desktop that says that my copy of windows is not genuine!!! i know this to be completely wrong! i bought this laptop new and have never had any problems with it, certainly not requiring a new install of the operating system! its all original from the factory. what just happened?!! what did Avast do to my laptop??!! and how do i get it back!??!
having a “not genuine” copy of windows suddenly means i dont get any new updates! this is CRAP!
my operating system is windows vista.
I guess it’s possible that the boot scan may have removed a valid file.
Have a look in the chest, and please post the original file name and path of each detection for the boot scan, and the malware name Avast assigned to it.
Had you modified any of the behaviour or other settings?
Tip: In a hurry? Type system in the search box after clicking Start. Choose System from the list of results and then skip to Step 4.
Click on the System and Maintenance link.
Note: If you’re viewing the Classic View of Control Panel, you won’t see this link. Simply double-click on the System icon and proceed to Step 4.
Click on the System link.
In the Windows activation area of the View basic information about your computer window, you’ll see the status of your Windows Vista activation and your Product ID number.
Next to this information, you should see a Change product key link. Click on this link to start the process of changing your Windows Vista product key.
When the Windows Activation window appears, enter your new product key in the Product Key: text box.
Click Next to continue.
Wait on the Activating Windows… message until the progress bar is complete. Windows Vista is communicating with Microsoft to ensure that your product key is valid and to reactivate your Windows Vista installation.
The Activation was successful message will appear after your product key has been validated and your copy of Windows Vista has been activated.
That’s it! Your Windows Vista product key has been changed!
Click Close to close this window. You can now also close the System window.
You can find the key on the sticker on your system.
If you require further help, please mention the version of avast as wel as the vps version.
thanks for the tip on how to re-register / re-validate my copy of vista. BUT, what i did was a system restore from a day or so earlier, and its been fine ever since.
i would like to post what it found, and what i moved to my virus chest, but frankly, its ALOT of typing… if i could highlight and copy/paste, id do it, so maybe i could learn something (and other folks too).
im very suspicious of Avast after this. im not sure i trust a full system scan. and i especially hate the boot scan. you have to baby-sit it. for HOURS. if it finds something, it stops and waits for you to respond, rather than just piling them all up at the end of the scan. i started it, went to work, and when i got back home, it had only completed 55%, and was asking me what to do next! i figgured it’d be long finished!! im not doing any more boot scans…
You don’t have to babysit it.
You can tell avast what action to take if it find something during a bootscan.
Do nothing, move to chest, delete, ask, repair
You can also decrease the time it will need by removing temporary files before scanning.
I suggest CCleaner and CleanUp
Defragging your HD before scanning may also decrease the scan time a bit.
A good tool is Defragler, works much faster/better than the build in Windows one.
It is on the same website as CCleaner.
Copy/paste is not needed. You can simply attach the log to a post here.