OA Free / Avast! Free Problem?

[JackHughs 0]

This question arises from the use of OA Free and Avast! Free on a new XP SP3 build.

For several days, OA and Avast! were happily humming along, doing their respective jobs and not bothering each other.

Then, yesterday evening, Avast! popped up a message stating that a new version of Avast! was available for download.

I downloaded and installed the Avast! update with no problem. Avast! then asked that I shut down the computer to complete the install.

That's when things went horribly wrong.

On reboot, neither Avast! nor OA actually started. After a few minutes of waiting, I decided to reboot and try again. XP was exceptionally slow in shutting down. I had to wait about 10 minutes while XP did "end unresponsive program" on OA and two other startup processes.

I went through this reboot process twice, with the same result each time. I then started XP in Safe Mode and used System Restore to roll back XP to a good configuration.

I then made sure that OA would not start on the next boot and redid the Avast! update.

This time everything went fine.

OA is currently turned off pending some better understanding of what happened.

Thank you.

JackHughs

[sded 0]

This question arises from the use of OA Free and Avast! Free on a new XP SP3 build.

For several days, OA and Avast! were happily humming along, doing their respective jobs and not bothering each other.

Then, yesterday evening, Avast! popped up a message stating that a new version of Avast! was available for download.

I downloaded and installed the Avast! update with no problem. Avast! then asked that I shut down the computer to complete the install.

That's when things went horribly wrong.

On reboot, neither Avast! nor OA actually started. After a few minutes of waiting, I decided to reboot and try again. XP was exceptionally slow in shutting down. I had to wait about 10 minutes while XP did "end unresponsive program" on OA and two other startup processes.

I went through this reboot process twice, with the same result each time. I then started XP in Safe Mode and used System Restore to roll back XP to a good configuration.

I then made sure that OA would not start on the next boot and redid the Avast! update.

This time everything went fine.

OA is currently turned off pending some better understanding of what happened.

Thank you.

JackHughs

Do you have the avast5 folder excluded under options/exclusions? There have been some problems there in the past. I see there is also a newer .874 version of Avast! out to fix a number of the problems found in the release version-probably worth a try also.

EDIT: Initial reports on Avast! site is that .874 is a very good build and fixes many issues from the .864 release build if you are having problems.

[Diazruanova 0]

Do you have the avast5 folder excluded under options/exclusions? There have been some problems there in the past. I see there is also a newer .874 version of Avast! out to fix a number of the problems found in the release version-probably worth a try also.

Hi,

The new "stable" avast ver.(not beta anymore) is .864 not .874, and it is NOT Stable at all, mainly when you update on top of any previous version, so the best thing to do IMHO is to UN-Install avast completely with it´s own un-installer, re-boot as needed and later on, turn on OA and put it on "learning Mode" during avast new "fresh" installation and this way you have a much better chance that everything goes right.

I ran into some similar problems and fixed them by doing installation the way I am describing.

Note: I apologize for the mistake Sded, you are right!!! there is a new pre-release ver. .874 and hopefully this have fixed installation problems.

[JackHughs 0]

That's interesting info on the Avast! build.

Build 864 was the version installed last night.

JackHughs

[stapp 130]

I believe this new Avast build also solved the conflict with Dell laptops that 864 had.

[JackHughs 0]

I've read the comments on the Avast! forum.

This pre-release build sounds promising but I think I'll wait on the next release until updating again.

JackHughs

[Oxa 1]

Jack- I had exactly the same problems and took exactly the same steps as you. FWIW, I'm back to using Avast 5.0.677.

[Wilpower2k3 0]

I can only speak from my experiences, but I have had OA++ and Avast side by side for a long time and have not had any problems at all with either software.

Of course as any programer will tell you, the smooth installation of any security software program is directly related to the OS and its configuration with existing software installed at the time and just as important are all the security programs installed in the past and specifically; how they were removed. Just removing software via it's own uninstaller of via Add and Remove Programs often times (in most cases) leaves remnants behind that invariably conflict with other security program installations.

The fact is, very often it is not the program one is attempting to install, but problems caused by poor computing maintainance practices. Not completely deleting inconspicuous Registry entries, left over data in the Local Settings/Temp file or Application Data and Windows Temp Folder.

Proper Disk cleaning and management, Registry Cleaning and Defraging are all essential in the continued practice trouble free OS's.

I am presently using Avast Pro v.5.1.884(Prerelease) and it is in everyway very stable. IMHO

Release candidate is expected within a day or so.

[Oxa 1]

I've also had Avast and OA peacefully co-existing on my computer for a long time. As both the OP and I stated, this was not an installation, but an automatic update. It had nothing to do with removing any software. Blaming "poor computing maintainance [sic] practices" is a red herring. I am vigilant about all the practices you mentioned. Even so, they are rarely the cause of they type of problem described above that occurred independently on two different computers.

IMHO, those who blame the victim do so because they have no idea what the problem is. Such posts are not helpful in the least.

[Nick 10]

Hi Oxa,

There's also another recent thread about OA/Avast! on this forum, perhaps you may want to take a look:

http://support.emsisoft.com/topic/3305-oa-and-avast-again/

[sded 0]

Avast! build 889 has been released as a final, so give it a try.

[Oxa 1]

Thanks! I think I'll wait and see what other users' experiences are before I upgrade.

[Wilpower2k3 0]

Avast! build 889 has been released as a final, so give it a try.

Excellent build,smooth update....! not a problem here

[JackHughs 0]

Thanks! I think I'll wait and see what other users' experiences are before I upgrade.

Hi Oxa.

I just upgraded Avast! to build 889. This is on the new XP Pro SP3 machine only.

The procedure was:

Make sure that OA is set to not start on boot

Turn off OA

Upgrade through the Avast! UI

Allow Avast! to retart the computer

Check all the Avast! seetings and Exclusions to assure that OA is still excluded

Start OA manually

Check to see that Outlook Express and Internet Explrer work properly

Set OA to start on boot

Reboot

So far, so good.

Hopefully, the dificulties were caused by Avast! build 864 and are now behind us.

The lesson I learned from this unpleasent experience is to no longer take Avast! upgrades for granted. From now on, I'm checking the Avast! Forum prior to upgrading.

JackHughs

[Nick 10]

Make sure that OA is set to not start on boot

Turn off OA

You might consider to just enter OA into learning mode before running Avast! updating process. Once the process is completed, reboot twice and then exit learning mode.

[Wilpower2k3 0]

Hi Oxa.

I just upgraded Avast! to build 889. This is on the new XP Pro SP3 machine only.

The procedure was:

Make sure that OA is set to not start on boot

Turn off OA

Upgrade through the Avast! UI

Allow Avast! to retart the computer

Check all the Avast! seetings and Exclusions to assure that OA is still excluded

Start OA manually

Check to see that Outlook Express and Internet Explrer work properly

Set OA to start on boot

Reboot

So far, so good.

Hopefully, the dificulties were caused by Avast! build 864 and are now behind us.

The lesson I learned from this unpleasent experience is to no longer take Avast! upgrades for granted. From now on, I'm checking the Avast! Forum prior to upgrading.

JackHughs

From my experience, setting OA up in the Avast "exclusions" is definitely a key element

[JackHughs 0]

You might consider to just enter OA into learning mode before running Avast! updating process. Once the process is completed, reboot twice and then exit learning mode.

Thanks Nick.

I tried that approach on another machine. This one is a 2005 vintage, off-lease IBM 2.4 GHz P4 XP Pro SP3 machine that has had Avast! installed for approximately two years but developed startup problems as soon as I first installed OA last month.

The upgrade went fine and the machine booted successfully three times; twice with OA in Learning Mode and once in Standard Mode.

JackHughs

[Nick 10]

glad to hear that everything went just fine