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Problem with AVAST 5 (free)


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I had to uninstall Avast. It thought my HP printer software was a virus and took several files. I tried to restore them, but my printer doesn't work now. It says it needs software to run and that I don't have it. I'm at this moment downloading all new drivers and software. It will probably be really cool when they get it all straightened out. I liked the features.

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I used Avira several months ago, and I don't recall having the option to select a level of heuristic sensitivity, so maybe it was an old version? I guess I was partly influenced by what was posted about it on AV-comparatives in re FPs. Also, a visit to a colleague's website got Avira all excited about the doom that would befall me on that site, i.e., trojan. I think it was a false positive, but I was afraid to visit her site anymore. I asked her about it in a nice way (privately, not publicly), but she stopped talking to me. :lol:

I think I have to try Avira again, though. It sounds like a revamped engine. It was the most effortless AV I've ever used and did not drain system resources. Avast 5 may be good later on, but right now it is causing regular system freezes. I don't know if incompatibility with MBAM is causing it, though. I disabled MBAM live protection when I installed Avast 5, and it froze up. I uninstalled and reinstalled. Same deal. If it doesn't play nice with MBAM, I think another AV is best.

Hi Beatrix,

If you want to adjust the heuristics level in Avira, you need to select expert mode from the configuration dialog. Otherwise you won't see an option to adjust it. My experience over the course of about a year and a half with a setting of medium for the heuristics is that it often finds false positives in commercial non-pirated game files. I have not investigated, but suspect that it is due to packers used to compile the programs. Other than games, I have seen very few FP's. Occasionally it will flag some type of specialized security tool used in the removal of malware, but that's very common with every A-V I've ever used doing the same thing. Normally, most people would not likely have those files on their system anyway.

This is not very apparent, but if you get a pop up notification that a file is infected and you tell it to ignore and remember behavior, it only ignores that file until you reboot. To ignore it permanently, you actually need to add it as an exclusion, which is another process entirely.

All in all, I love Avira. I know - we all have our own favorites and I'm not about to belittle anyone else's. :)

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I probably did not remember the heuristics settings from when I first installed Avira. (Actually I probably didn't know what it was, and I wouldn't doubt if I set it to "high" thinking more is better. :lol:) I have to agree with you about Avira, though. I reinstalled it and I'm liking it again. This time I did see the expert mode you're talking about because of the settings issue brought up here.

The FP on the HP printer software was Avast. Not that Avira isn't capable of doing something similar. It's just that I was aggravated with Avast not only because of the system freezes, but the printer software thing set me back. It was an easy fix. HP's download was smooth, but I'm supposed to get some contracts signed and scanned over for a new job I'm doing and I'm late with it. I have to get this computer in top shape for work next week, so it's been hectic. Thanks for the feedback. I'll start noticing things Avira flags and put in under exceptions. :)

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The problem is on XP as MBAM resident protection uses a lot of memory on my XP Pro system.

Currently MsMpEng.exe (Windows Defender) is taking 91,236 K and mbamservice.exe is taking 75,328 K but the Peak Mem Usage of them is near double that.

I have WinPatrol delay mbamgui.exe by 30 Sec.

I'm not sure if it is necessary but I also added delay to MBAM that I have had to have since MBAM V1.41:

http://forums.malwarebytes.org/index.php?showtopic=24046&st=0

Note: This topic is only visible to Honorary Members

I had to add delayservicestart and delayipblocking DWORD values both set to 30 due to system hangs back then.

I guess with avast! V5's AvastSvc.exe taking more memory than V4.8 it causes system hangs for some people's systems.

@ Beatrix

All anti virus and anti malware applications suffer false positives and I have learned to not panic and remove the application that causes the false positive until I have followed the application's forum as the many users of the applications will invarably start posting complaints and offer solutions quickly.

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@ Beatrix

All anti virus and anti malware applications suffer false positives and I have learned to not panic and remove the application that causes the false positive until I have followed the application's forum as the many users of the applications will invarably start posting complaints and offer solutions quickly.

You're right, YoKenny. My problem with Avast ultimately isn't FPs anyway; it is the freezing up. The issues will be worked out, I'm sure. They do appear to be working hard on it. As to FPs, when you're not that savvy about technical stuff, it's hard to discern what is FP and what is real, especially when it comes to visiting websites. :lol: It is something that we all have to live with, though, with any security product.

Thanks. :)

Charlotte

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@ Newbi3

What are your system specifications as to CPU type and speed and amount of RAM plus operating system and Service Pack level.

If you go to My Controls then > Edit Signature then add this information like I have so that helpers can offer applicable sugestions.

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I am having the exact same issue on 4 computers running Avast free 5 and now Malwarebytes antimalware. They ran fine until I installed Malwarebytes realtime protection. They all freeze now.

Even after disabling the realtime protection they freeze at different times. Mostly during Avast scans but other time also.

I just removed Malwarebytes and Avast from 2 of them. Even though I paid for Malwarebytes I cannot run it yet. I install AVG and Avira as a test on these two and have not had a lockup yet. I may try and reinstall MBAM.exe if they are OK

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I just removed Malwarebytes and Avast from 2 of them. Even though I paid for Malwarebytes I cannot run it yet. I install AVG and Avira as a test on these two and have not had a lockup yet. I may try and reinstall MBAM.exe if they are OK

MBAM runs perfectly well with Avira on my machine.

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Avast! also happens to clash with superantispyware pro. I happened to reinstall that and it locked up. Also I had avast installed for a few days and it seemed to work with malwarebytes'.

I have been running my Win XP SP3 machine for more than three months with early betas, pre-releases and release avast5 free versions along side SAS (real time protection) without a single problem and have not read anything like your problem not in the avast forum neither on the SAS one, so maybe it is something particular to your PC

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Interestingly, on my Windows 7 netbook, I didn't run into conflicts between Avast and MBAM, but when I upgraded from Avast 4.8 to 5, I ran into a major problem between Avast and my Outpost Pro firewall. With both of them running, I could no longer access the Internet. When I turned off Outpost and turned on the built-in Windows firewall, I no longer had the Internet problem, but trying to type became painfully slow. There were other problems as well, and I finally decided to get rid of Avast, at least for now. I replaced it with Microsoft Security Essentials. So far, I've had no problems between MSE and any other software. So now I have MBAM Pro, Outpost Pro, and MSE as my primary security software programs. I hope eventually to go back to Avast, but at the moment Avast 5 still seems unready for prime time. I don't want to spend all my time diagnosing problems.

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I have been running my Win XP SP3 machine for more than three months with early betas, pre-releases and release avast5 free versions along side SAS (real time protection) without a single problem and have not read anything like your problem not in the avast forum neither on the SAS one, so maybe it is something particular to your PC

More then likely. It seemed to happen right after SAS was installed. Haven't used SAS in a few months due to registration probelms(now fixed :) ) which I figured it was the problem. I don't have any sure answers only speculations.

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  • 6 months later...

Having boot lockup day after I installed and ran MBAM. Avast AV 4.8 was running when I installed MBAM--no problem, but next boot froze with both Avast and MBAM running in real-time protection mode. Could not even turn off computer at on/off button, but had to use power switch on surge protector and start in safe mode with F8, then Restore to a point before MBAM was installed.

I may uninstall Avast and try one of the programs that seem to be compatible, then install MBAM again. If I have any more trouble then, well, I guess I have just had a $25 lesson.

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Hi -

First please update to Avast Version 5 , which I understand is current - Then try these steps (select your operating system) -

Several members here do use Avast and have never had any problems with the 2 operating perfectly together -

Please exclude the following files from your antivirus:

Note: If using a software firewall besides the built in Windows Firewall you'll need to exclude them from it as well

For Windows XP:

  • C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbam.exe
  • C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamgui.exe
  • C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamservice.exe
  • C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\zlib.dll
  • C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbam.dll
  • C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamext.dll
  • C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Malwarebytes\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\rules.ref
  • C:\Windows\System32\drivers\mbam.sys
  • C:\Windows\System32\drivers\mbamswissarmy.sys

For Windows Vista or Windows 7

  • C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbam.exe
  • C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamgui.exe
  • C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamservice.exe
  • C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\zlib.dll
  • C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbam.dll
  • C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamext.dll
  • C:\ProgramData\Malwarebytes\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\rules.ref
  • C:\Windows\System32\drivers\mbam.sys
  • C:\Windows\System32\drivers\mbamswissarmy.sys

For 64 bit versions of Windows Vista or Windows 7:

  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbam.exe
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamgui.exe
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamservice.exe
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\zlib.dll
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbam.dll
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbamext.dll
  • C:\ProgramData\Malwarebytes\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\rules.ref
  • C:\Windows\System32\drivers\mbam.sys
  • C:\Windows\SysWoW64\drivers\mbamswissarmy.sys

Note: If using a software firewall besides the built in Windows Firewall you'll need to exclude MBAM.EXE from it as well

Note: Once that's done, please make sure that if either of those programs has any sort of web filter, that you add the following as a trusted site:

data-cdn.mbamupdates.com

The FAQ contains examples of setting file exclusions for some known AV products

Please post back and let us know how it went - Thank You -

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