WinXP - Updated Avast, had it reboot, now stuck in an endless reboot loop

The Subject line pretty much says it all. I didn’t use the computer yesterday. Today I booted up and had a warning on the Avast icon in the tray. I clicked it and got a notification that there was a new version of Avast. I downloaded the upgrade, chose not to install Chrome, and was prompted to restart my computer – which I did.

The computer appears to boot up normally, goes from the start-up screen to my desktop background, populates the screen with icons for my applications … then the screen flashes a very, very brief (too brief to read) dialog window of some sort, the screen goes black, and it reboots again, to the same point, and keeps doing this until I turn it off ny holding in the power switch.

Turning it on again sets the same endless loop in motion again.

I have not tried going to any advanced boot options yet.

Anyone have any similar experiences?

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Boot in Safe Mode, and uninstall Avast.

Thanks.

Do you believe that the current version of Avast is incompatible w/ my Windows XP system?

Can it be installed from scratch (rather than “updated”) once I’m running again?

I’ve used Avast for several years and have been very happy with it.

I have Avast free AV (only) installed on my WinXP SP3 system, with no issues.

It can be installed from scratch.

Download the Uninstaller Utility and follow the instructions. Then download a fresh copy of Avast and re-install.

http://www.avast.com/en-us/uninstall-utility

Hi,

I had the same problem. I have uninstalled Avast with the Avast tool and then re-installed it from scratch but I still have the reboot problem.

Have you succeeded in installing Avast 2014.9.0.2011 ?

I have got the same problem.

I did 3 things yesterday.

  1. Changed old Kerio Firewall to Zone Alarm (reboot without problems).
  2. Updated some programs (PotPlayer, uTorrent, Adobe Air)
  3. Updated Avast to newest version.

It ended in endless loop of reboots.
Removing Avast (safe mode) cured system,
Fresh install and I got BSOD when avast wanted to do quick scan after installation.
After that the same loop of reboots.

Print screen from BlueScreenView:
http://i.imgur.com/OKjkfYJ.jpg

BlueScreenView most of the times ID the ntoskrnl.exe as culprit, with fltmgr.sys ; aswSnx.sys ; aswMonFlt.sys as the rest of files “in the stack of the crash”.
One time (while trying to scan after new installation) the suspected culprit was aswSnx.sys .

That is the second big problem I had with Avast in couple of months (Avast deleted important file and my father lost keyboard in Windows, I failed to restore it and had to reinstall windows), now I will probably try to look for a different Antivir solution.

PS. I am using Windows XP SP3

I have the same problems with the most recent version of Avast, 9.0.2011.263, but this time on Windows XP x64.
After installation the login screen does not show any more, and the computer hangs.
After removal in safe mode I installed the previous version, 9.0.2008.177, and this works without problems.

Have had the same problem on a clean install (new laptop) and on an upgrade from a previous version.

Can go to filehippo.com and re download old version of avast. Was there any other antivirus installed before avast on your machines as i have no issues on my systems v9 is on test rig and v8 is on my main laptop. NO ISSUES

I have installed 9.0.2008.177 from filehippo and it works.
System has frozen just after installation and didn’t manage to do scan (no reaction from keyboard and mouse), but after forced hard reset everything seems to be working fine.

Actually, I am embarrassed to report that I did fix it. I tried the Windows Recovery Console, booting from the Last Known Good configuration, etc.

Finally, before doing anything more extreme, I booted in Safe Mode and did a System Restore, picking a point from last week. A classic “Doh!” moment, but it worked.

Still the same problems with the 9.0.2013.292 version, the removal via safe mode is still needed.

I see above some mention Zone Alarm…not sure if everyone is same…
Another thread on the subject: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=143107.msg1037766#msg1037766
An old thread…perhaps still not relevant but more FYI: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=11486.msg97309#msg97309
Also, a suggestion may be if you are on other firewalls go ahead and change back to Windows FW and disable other to just test to see if helps.
…at least you can isolate issue.

Here is a full thread How-To on clean install: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=143284.0
I mention/provide only because it is very critical to get rid of any other A/V remnants.
Perhaps V8 ran OK…but V9 may not…anyway, just a suggestion.
You may want to do a search in Program folder on HDD to see if there are other old A/V folders to isolate which cleaner you need to get.