Warning - AVG problem

[P.Pilcher]

Like many others I have been using AVG (free) as my virus protection software for years with absolutely no problems whatsoever - until last Saturday 22/10. Unusually after updating itself with a quite large download, it requested authority to shut down and restart my machine, running XP pro with SP2.
On the reboot, the instant the desktop screen appeared, the system went into emergency shut down mode and started again. As a sudden shutdown had occurred, it decided to run chkdsk as usual before rebooting. A few errors to .tmp files were corrected and when XP tried to load again, it crashed in a similar manner to the first time. Eventually I discovered that occasionally the O.S. would complete its loading sequence and function normally. I have been trying all day to sort out the problem and initially did not blame AVG as it has loaded, updated and successfully run on two other machines running Windows XP in my household. In the end, and in desparation, I deleted AVG and my problem disappeared. Thinking that there may have been a corruption in the update, I tried again with a fresh AVG install - same problem when the update was complete. Now I'm without a virus checker and shall probably have to pay for one!

The computer? - A Maxdata running a P4 at 2.5 Gig
Motherboard: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. GA-8SIMLH 1.x
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: Award Software International, Inc. 6.00 PG 12/12/2002
On board sound and graphics

P.P.

[spekesoftly]

Now I'm without a virus checker and shall probably have to pay for one!

As another AVG user, this caught my attention. I've not noticed any problem so far, with the latest update.

The ever increasing threat to PC vulnerability was mentioned both on CH5's 'The Gatget Show', and BBC's 'Watchdog' tonight - I caught snippets from both. One or other of these TV programmes recommended AVAST (http://www.avast.com/eng/free_virus_protectio.html) (free) home virus protection. Not one I've used, but a possible alternative you could try?

[P.Pilcher]

Thanks, spekesoftly I will give it a try.

P.P.

[Spinflight]

Doh!

I just completed the same download....

Maybe I'm being paranoid but there did seem to be something odd about it as the download was ~3megs whereas the status showed 100% down at 1/10 of that.

I'm running W2k so I'll see whether I suffer the same fate when I reboot in the morning.

[18 foot pek pek]

No problems here love AVG.
Win98SE old PentII.

[The Voice]

me to, use AVG that is, and the download/shutdown went OK .. no problems reported here and use XP Pro + SP 2 ... it's very busily snaffu-ing someones idea of a joke - suppoesedly virii from my isp ...

bit wearisome actually ...

[Gouabafla]

We've had problems with AVG (paid version!) on two of the five machines in our home/office and I've switched both of those to Avast which has done an excellent job.

[Spinflight]

Happened to me too Pilcher. Computer crashed on reboot though I've disabled AVG and it now runs fine.

Just downloading a fresh copy.....

[rotorcraig]

This update worked fine for me, but I did notice that it was a very big download.

I do hope that AVG don't lose it ... used to use ZoneAlarm firewall until they had some significant problems with updates earlier in the year that crashed a number of machines that I support.

RC

[Compass Call]

No problems here. Just downloaded 163Kb tonight because my computer told me that AVG was 10 days old:O

No restart needed and no problems encountered yet. Maybe I've been lucky:E


CC

[Spinflight]

The update which caused the problem on my machine was just shy of 3 megs, a significant size compared to AVG itself...

[P.Pilcher]

I have now followed recommendations here and avast is thus providing my virus protection. I shall miss AVG though - it was an old friend - always clear what it was doing with its updating routine and so on. As us free users are not entitled to their technical support, I e-mailed a copy of my first post here to their U.K. sales office in Ireland. I got a prompt reply suggesting that I should purchase a copy when I would then get full technical support. My intention was that they may like to notify their technical department as my problem may well affect a number of other machines - but they didn't tell me that they had. Anyway, if I get any more meaningful feedback from them I will post again.

P.P.

[exrotarybooty]

I have been using Symantec Norton Anti Virus for years (Paid for!) but updating from 2005 to 2006 produced serious problems with my XP Home System that still haven't been sorted out. Windows Support failed with their first suggestion of a solution, and they now seem to be thinking a lot before trying again!

I can't access Windows Update or System Restore and User Accounts in Control Panel is just a blank window.

Norton refunded the cost of the update, but weren't interested in my problems.

I've switched to AVG Free with no problems with downloads so far.

ERB

[newswatcher]

exrotarybooty, guess this must be variable because I have recently done the same with no problem. Only difference is I did the full Internet Security 2006 upgrade, which contains the anti-virus. I am using XP Pro, with SP2.

[Spinflight]

The way that Windows uses DLLs means that you'll always get different results on different machines. It also means that the software is impossible to test meaningfully....

[mcdhu]

Exrotarybooty - see 2 threads below re 'loss of System Restore' and 'Windows crashing on startup' which may be attributable to a recent Windows patch.

Cheers,
mcdhu