Problems with Avast! Anti-Virus

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larsson719

larsson719

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Jan 25, 2010
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Hello all. I have recently installed an Avast! as an extra security measure aside from my firewall. I had no problems with my pc without an anti-virus. Recently, however, my computer has been acting up. Sometimes my computer hangs and the motherboard starts a solid beep. I have to leave the computer alone in order for it to come back. Also, after the pc has been on for at least a couple of hours when launching firefox the computer lags really bad. All of this has started after I installed Avast. I have come to the possible conclusion that it is Avast because yesterday when it started lagging after launching firefox I temporarily disabled Avast and the problem stopped (along with the pc freezing and the mobo beeping). I would like to know if anyone else has experienced this with the latest version of Avast (5.0.377) and if there is any solution? I really like Avast I feel they give out a lot protection even with the free registration version. If it helps my specs are:

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 5200+ Dual Core Processor (2.6GHz)
Motherboard: Asus M2N68-LA
Graphics Card NVIDIA Geforce 8600GT 256MB
PSU: Antec 550W
Memory: 3GB DDR2
Hard Drive: 500GB 7200rpm SATA

It is a manufacterer's pc (HP Pavilion m8000n) you can google the specifications if you want on the main website for further information. I have added on RAM, PSU, and Graphics Card. Everything else remains as it came.
 
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Still no replies but I will update this with my most recent discovery. I was typing out an e-mail to a friend today and the mobo started beeping and my keyboard and mouse stopped working altogether. Usually after waiting out the beeps the mouse/keyboard work again but this time it was different. I then took out my mouse (PS/2) and put it into a USB jack and it worked fine.

Once again I'd like you to keep in mind that this all started after installing Avast. However, I'm starting to think maybe it isn't Avast and the timing was just a coincidence. Could it be that I somehow fried my PS/2 ports on my mobo?
 
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A motherboard beeping is an indication of some kind of hardware failure.

Because software and hardware are so intricately interwoven it could just be that by installing a piece of software the hardware failure became evident.

The when the motherboard beeps it usually has a pattern to it like Morse code. These are called beep codes.

I'm going to have a quick look online to see what your motherboard manufacturers beep codes are.
 
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OK... A bit of research points to an ASUS motherboard with an Award BIOS.

If this is the case the endless beep indicates memory error (RAM):

http://www.bioscentral.com/beepcodes/awardbeep.htm

As you have already upgraded your RAM you will be familiar with how it seats into the motherboard. I would try reseating it first and maybe running memtest.

http://www.memtest.org/

There is a chance that I might be wrong with the motherboard and BIOS manufacturer. One way to be certain is to download and run SIW. The freeware standalone version will be ideal as it doesn't need to be installed and is free.

http://www.gtopala.com/siw-download.html

Let it ID the motherboard and / or BIOS details so you can research the beep codes.
 
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Okay thank you. I will look into this first thing tomorrow.

I tried running memtest86+ earlier but I didn't get the expected blue screen. I burned the ISO file correctly onto the disk using Astroburn Lite(comes with DAEMON tools) and when I booted up from cd I just got a black screen with a bunch of text.. I'll try it again tomorrow.

I did reseat the RAM sticks and also saw that the PSUs main plug(named p1) that connects to the mobo was a little bit loose. I don't know if that will help but it surely won't do anymore harm.

EDIT: Turns out it was just the loading screen. I didn't see the "Loading..." part when it first started up. I waited for a good hour and a half for it to finish loading but nothing happened so I canceled it. How long does it usually take for the memtest to load?
 
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It doesn't take long to load Memtest. It should almost be immediate. I wouldn't wait longer than.... 2 minutes.

If you don't have any luck with Memtest you can try the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool instead.

Another thing you can also try is swapping out RAM (if you have more than one module installed) to see if there is any difference when you run the system with just one stick.

Have you confirmed the motherboard / BIOS manufacturer?

Different BIOS manufacturers use different beep codes. I would hate to think I had you barking up the wrong tree.
 
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I'll try out the Windows Diagnostics memory test and find out the manufacturer for the mobo/bios when I get home.

Thanks again for helping me out. I'll try and get that information later today.
 
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Here's my Motherboard information after running that System's Information tool:

Manufacturer: ASUSTek Computer INC.
Model: NARRA
Version: 1.01
Serial Number: MS1C73S22101493

North Bridge: NVIDIA MCP61 Revision A3
South Bridge: NVIDIA MCP61 Revision A3

CPU: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5200+
Cpu Socket: Socket AM2 (940)

System Slots: 4 PCI

And also my BIOS information as well:

BIOS Vendor: Phoenix Technologies, LTD
BIOS Version: 5.01
BIOS Date: 02/02/2007
BIOS Size: 512 KB
BIOS Starting Segment: E000h
DMI Version: 2.4

Are there any websites that specialize in giving meanings to the beep codes? The motherboard didn't come with a manual because it came from a manufacturer.
 
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I usually just google the beep codes. You will find after looking at a few they mirror what each other says.

The BIOS will be an Award one as Award belongs to Phoenix Technologies and is distributed to various PC manufacturers.

 
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Yes, I know this is 4 months past but I would like to add that I too recently experienced serious issues with Avast! antivirus program. Oh yes,, the dreaded blue screen of death presented itself (suggesting a recent hardware or software change) and the problems multiplied from there. Just to be safe (the 2 times I had my PC up and running after this presented itself) I attempted to run Avast! to check for viruses or and malware infections and BOTH times it locked up. I managed to boot into safe mode and remove Avast to see if it was the culprit for the crashes and auto-reboots and failed boots and.. voila! my PC has been up and running smoothly for almost 11 hours now without a hitch. Coincidence? I think not! It truly is a shame because I was really starting to like and trust Avast for my protection needs. Oh well.. time to try something new... again.
 
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Concerning the long beep code.
Be sure to go into the BIOS and check your voltages and fan speeds.

I can pretty well guarentee that Avast is not the problem.
I have run every version since somewhere around 1995 on every configuration that you can think of and have never had a issue.

Regarding the slow downs
What antivirus was installed prior to Avast?
There is a vey good chance that it did not uninstall itself correctly and there is a conflict.
 
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Actually depending on your internet speed avast could easily be the problem. It is super secure when you're browsing using that but that's because it literally downloads the entire page, checks it, then gives the ok to the browser to load the page.

But that would only have to do with the surfing part nothing else.
 
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I have no slow downs with Avast.
I can load this site in 2-3 seconds.
Pretty quuick considering it is Toms and always pretty slow to load.

Generally it is the number of tool bars that people think that they need that causes all of the link caching.
 
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I don't know but I doubt seriously it is Avast!. I am running it on three computers ( 1 running XP MCE 2005 and 2 running Vista Home premium on of which is 64 bit) and have not had a problem. As has been previously mentioned I suspect a hardware problem. Also make sure you are only running 1 anti virus program actively.
 
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