Avast Disabled

Repa,
I came back online about an hour ago, and noticed that my orange Avast ball had a red X on it and said it was disabled. When I right clicked it, avast put up a window that said click "Fix It" to secure system. Each time I clicked "Fix It" it opened up a small window wit a "Yes" and a "No". It said click "No" unless you disabled on purpose. Anyway, those things I did did not help. I was gonna try to call Avast, when I happened to think and try a "Restart", and that worked. When it cane back up my system was secured and all Shields were on. I just remembered, when i was trying the fixes above, it said that something was trying to shut Avast down, or something like that. Sorry I could not get screen shots of all the pop up windows for you.

This was a first for me, you ever have that happen to you? What would you have done?

I would tell it to fix it and if that didn't work, look below that to see if there is a message that said the program was stopped and select the button to the right of that message to start the program, and if that didn't work, reboot the computer, and if that didn't work, go back to a restore point just before the problem occurred.

I don't think my computer liked the Wipe and Reload very much. I believe it's having more problems than before, would you agree?

I've had the Avast disabled trouble since Sunday. The computer is very slow. All day yesterday, from when I first turned it on, the process would get to the "Windows is Starting Up" and just freeze there, and after waiting about 15 minutes, I would hold the power button in to turn it off. Then try again after several minutes, it finally came up, but after a long wait.
I came to turn the computer off last nite, but, wanted to check email first. The Avast orange ball was spinning, and as I clicked to go online I noticed the Red X appeared on it again. I tried everything discussed before to get it fixed, nothing worked, so I decided to do a Reboot , since it fixed it before, and would be a faster remedy. Trouble was, it got to "Windows is Starting Up" phase and just sat there. I didn't have time to wait on it, so I held the power button in to shut it down.

Then, same thing today. It got to "Windows is Starting Up". After about 15 minutes I shut it down with the Button. The start up process got to "Windows is Starting Up". After about 15 minutes, nothing had changed, so, I went to do something else. I came back to check to see if anything had changed. This time the start up had completed and it was on the Welcome page. Now, this was after it was sitting there for about 45 minutes, mind you.

1) Do you know why all the Avast Shields are being Disabled?

2) Do you have any idea why the computer is taking so long to "Start Up"?

3) I hope you know how to fix these problems.?

You either have a virus or malware, or your Avast is corrupted. Something similar happened on my wife's computer after an automatic program upgrade to Avast 7 that seemed to go wrong. Restore your computer back to Saturday and then try to manually update the Avast program to version 7 (open Avast, click Maintenance > Update program). If that doesn't work, you'll probably need to uninstall avast and re-install it. You'll also need to run Spybot, Malwarebytes and SuperAntiSpyware to ensure you haven't gotten a bug.

If that doesn't work, you'll probably need to uninstall avast and re-install it. You'll also need to run Spybot, Malwarebytes and SuperAntiSpyware to ensure you haven't gotten a bug.

If I have to do what you said above, I would need to run Malwarebytes and SuperAntiSpyware in a full scan mode, instead of quick scan, right?

BTW, for what it is worth, all my daily Avast Scan Logs, say "No Virus Found", including todays.

you can run a quick scan with malwarebytes and superantispyware, and if either finds anything, then run a full scan. You need to get avast running correctly asap. Going on the internet with your protections disabled is asking for trouble.

1) I just restored back to Sat,2/25/12.

2) I don't go on the internet with protections disabled. Each time avast had the shields disabled, I made sure they were enabled before I attempted going back online.

3) I just looked, I've already got Avast Version 7.0.1407, so I shouldn't need to do that manual update you mentioned? Did you think I had an earlier version of Avast?

4) Since you haven't replied to this post yet, I'll just make this an EDIT. I have now ran quick scans with Malwarebytes and SuperAntiSpyware, in Normal Mode, and nothing was found.
Spybot takes about an 1-1/2 hours, so I'll run it later if you think I need to?. I'll watch for your reply here. And, if you say to run it, Normal or Safe mode?

Is your computer still running slow? Watch the behavior of Avast. If you are still having problems with it being disabled or rebooting slow or the computer running slow, it may be advisable to download the latest avast installation application into your My Downloads folder, uninstall Avast and re-install it from the avast installation application. And yes, go ahead and run spybot when you find a time convenient to do so, just to be on the safe side. Run in normal mode, and if it should find anything, then in safe mode. It's a good sign that malwarebytes and superantispyware didn't find anything.

1) Repa said: Is your computer still running slow?
When logging into Owner account it is faster than before I did the Restore earlier today. When going online from my desktop I click to get to my email log in page, that takes a little time, and when I click on my Bookmarks, now that takes several seconds, but, these 2 tasks have been doing like that since we installed the Drop My Rights thing. Except for that, I believe the speed is about like it was before the Avast Shields disabling problem.

2) I'll know more when I turn the computer off, and then turn it on again, such as when I turn it on for the first time every day. Or, I guess I could try shutting it off tonight and then turning it on again to check the speed.

3) Would you happen to know why it takes so long for the Bookmarks list to drop down?

4) I haven't been able to convince my wife to give up her account yet. I've been trying to get her to use the DMR's some to get her used to it. But, the couple of times she tried it she mentioned the fact that her limited account was a lot faster than the Owner/DMR's account. Would you know why that is?

I don't know WC. Your computer is old, and code has changed as the speed of processors and data exchange rates increased. I'm finding my 2 older computers to be slower than they were a few years ago. The old hardware just doesn't keep up with some of the code changes because as hardware speeds increase, the software developers can afford to be less efficient with their code.

DMR is simply a path to your browser that sets your registry up as a limited user account before opening the browser. I see no difference in the performance of any of my computers because of using that browser setup.

Make sure your Avast works normally over the next few days, and your system remains secured once the Avast icon stops spinning in your system tray. I think the new update to avast 7 occurred on Saturday, and contains more stuff than before. I hope they haven't created a resource hog with those changes that are responsible for your slower performance. I haven't allowed my computers to upgrade to that version yet. Only my wife's, but she says she hasn't noticed any performance change, but then it is a much newer computer than yours and the motherboard was recently replaced when the video chip failed on it.

1) Repa said: Your computer is old, and code has changed
I was afraid you would say that. I wonder how long I'll be able to keep using this old Dinosaur?

2) I guess it was about Saturday that I got the ne Avast update, but, I had forgotten about it. I've still got version 6 in my Download files. I don't guess I should go back to that do you?

Not unless you continue to have problems. See how it goes for a couple of days. What is your advertised download speed from your ISP?

Repa said: What is your advertised download speed from your ISP?

I think this is the answer to your question. I've got AT&T DSL, and I'm thinking it is 6 Megs. I just looked on my phone bill and it lists what I have as FastAccess DSL Xtreme 6.0. If that's not it, I'm not sure, but, I think that's what you want.? If not how do I find out for you?

Yea, that's probably it - wish I had that speed! Chalk the slowness up to your "old" computer. As long as it works and you can be patient with waiting a few seconds, I wouldn't worry. If you want something faster, save for it to pay cash and wait for a sale like at Staples to get a better price. Do some shopping around before making a decision.

wish I had that speed!

I got them to give it to me for 12 months at $19.95 When that price expires I'll probably cancel all my AT&T services. I despise AT&T! They are such liars and with their monopoly on the industry they think they can charge customers whatever they want. I'm gonna tell them that I'll go back to using smoke signals to communicate!

I'm still not real clear on the inter workings of System Restore, and all but, would it be a good idea to set a new restore point every day when I turn on the computer or would that take up too much of the System Restore space?

If you leave your computer on during the day, one will usually get set automatically every 24 hrs. You could check at the end of the day and if it didn't set one, you could. No more storage for restore points is needed, as it is already allocated. If you use it up, the oldest points will be deleted automatically to make room for the new restore point.

We've had storms all day, and they have stopped for now, but, may return later today or tonight. Haven't had the computer on for long, but when I turned it on it got to Windows is starting up and stayed there for about 30 minutes, so i held button in and shut it off. After a while, i returned and tried it again. This time it completed the Start Up in a relatively short time.
I still haven't had a chance to run the Spybot scan yet.

1) How much more life do you think this old machine has left in it?

I'll just edit this since you have not seen it yet. Just finished the Spybot scan, and nothing was found.

2) I know this computer is old, but, I would have thought it had a bug considering it's strange behavior recently. I don't know if it had any effect on the way it has slowed down or not but since the dropmyrights was added it has been running slower. I may have 6 megs of power, but, I'm sure not pegging 6 megs.

WC, your startup problem can be any number of things: power supply going bad, RAM going bad, your CMOS battery going bad, your hard drive going bad, a corrupt Windows file, a corrupt registry, etc., or viruses and malware (not likely since you ran scans without finding any). If the power supply is going bad, you can eventually blow the motherboard if you don't replace it.

It will be difficult for me to help you with hardware since you are unsure of yourself, and may find a check list of steps intimidating, but here's a checklist you can go through to check things you think you might be able to do on your own - comes with detailed instructions for each step:

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/findbysymptom/ht/windows-freezes-reboots-startup.htm

If you find this too intimidating, there are a few things you can probably do yourself, and after that, I'd take it to a shop to get the hardware checked if the problem isn't solved:

1. Replace the CMOS battery unless you know it was done recently. It is a flat round silver battery between the size of a nickel and a quarter. You should be able to see it on the motherboard and get the battery type number to buy a replacement. Unless you know it has been replaced recently, get the new battery, then unplug your computer, ground yourself by touching a metal part of your tower chassis before putting your hands inside the computer, remove the battery and replace it with the new one. If you know the battery was recently replaced, then just remove it for a count of 30 and then put it back in. This will reset the BIOS memory on the motherboard and may fix your problem. If it doesn't:

2. You can check your hard drive using Windows Checkdisk:

Here's How:
a. Open My Computer by double-clicking on the icon on the desktop.

b. Right-click on the C: drive and click on the Properties menu item.

c. Choose the "Tools" tab and click on the Check Now... button under Error-checking.

d. Two options are available in the next window - select them both:

1) Automatically fix file system errors will correct many file system errors detected. This is highly recommended.

2) Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors - will perform a search for areas of the hard drive that may be damaged or unusable. If found, this tool will mark those areas as "bad" and prevent your computer from using them in the future. This is a very useful feature but may extend the scan time as much as a few hours.

e. Click Start.

f. Allow the Error-Checking program to run its course until complete. Restart the PC if prompted to do so. If this doesn't solve your startup problem,

3. You could try restoring your system back to last Friday or whatever date you weren't experiencing this startup problem and see if that fixes it. If it is a corrupted driver or registry or file, you might get lucky. If not....

4. You can run a RAM memory check by downloading one of the tools shown here and following the instructions given:

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/tp/memorytest.htm

Be sure to read everything thoroughly before proceeding. If one of the memory tests fails, you'll need to replace your memory. If the memory check is ok, and

5. If this doesn't solve your startup problem, take it to a shop and have them check it out for what could be causing your problem with startup, or, break down and get yourself a new computer.

1) Repa Said: Replace the CMOS battery. If that is the battery that runs the clock in the task tray, I meant to have the shop that did the Reload, replace it at that time, but I forgot it. That's the same battery that my blood testing meter uses, it's a CR 2032.

2) If that doesn't work I may have to just run this machine til it dies and then try to replace it. Considering the age of this thing, I'm not sure if it is feasible to put any more money into it, your thoughts?

3) And, considering that it has taken me 5 months to get this far with the wipe and reload. Ans, I do not like fooling with this thing as you know. BTW, Tell me what you think about this.
I don't think it would pay me to try to fool with trying to make those "Recovery Disks" that we talked about. I don't feel that another wipe and reload would ever be in the cards for this thing. Do you think it would help things any to just delete the space that the Recovery Partition is utilizing? Or maybe try to make the recovery disks and then delete that partition?

I think the thing for you to do is to go through the steps I gave you one at a time and see what happens. If you can get your courage up, the first website I gave you will tell you how to check your power supply. If you don't want to do that, then do the 4 steps I gave you in my last post and see what happens - they are simple to do, and you might get lucky. The CMOS battery is definitely a problem candidate and very easy to replace to see if that solves your startup problem. Ater that, error-checking your hard drive (step 2) is very easy to run - it takes several hours so be patient; restoring to an earlier time you know how to do but I doubt that will help, and checking RAM with the download app is not hard. If the startup problem persists, you will have to decide if it is worth it to pursue getting the system checked, replacing parts and still have an outdated, slow computer that could still give you problems with other parts or the motherboard, or put your money into a new one. Personally, as cheap as computers are today, I'd start checking the sales at places like Staples, Sams Club, Best Buy, Walmart, etc., make comparisons and get a new computer if you can't resolve the problem yourself. Acer is a good, inexpensive alternative to the better known brands. You might want to consider a refurbished machine, as they are considerably cheaper and come with the same warranty as a new one. Staples and other places carry them. If you do decide to go with a new or refurbished computer, make sure the first thing you do is make the recovery disks before doing anything else.

Repa says: If you can get your courage up
With me, it's not so much a courage thing, it's more like I dislike having to mess around with this type of stuff. Since, I don't like doing it in the first place, and would rather devote my time to something I like doing, you see. I have to give myself a pep talk to get in the mood to start on these things.

It seems to me that Desktop computers are becoming scarce. In most every ad I look at, all you see is laptops. The few laptops of other people that I have seen, the screen and everything seem so small, and the print seems smaller, but, I guess it can be enlarged like desktops, but, I don't really like them at this point. I may change my mind at a later time. Is laptops the way to go now?

Since we got our laptops, that's where we spend most our time. Frances has hers, I have mine. We can use them anywhere in the house we choose. I still use my desktop, but not nearly as much. You can find laptops with 17.3" screens - that's pretty nice. I have a 15.6" widescreen, and no trouble seeing things. Check around, but I think you'll find your best prices at Staples, especially when they are having a sale, which seems like every week. You can also find a few refurbished laptops, but they are not as prevalent as the desktops.

While you're looking, at least do the 4 steps I gave you in my earlier post, and see what happens. Those are simple and easy to do. You may get more life out of that old antique yet!

I'll try those steps as soon as I can.

We've got more bad storms moving in tomorrow, tomorrow nite, and into Sat. we dodged a bullet yesterday, we'll have to keep on the move!

Repa,

I was looking over the about.com site you posted, and it mentions in one step system restore. Since the new 7 ver of avast came out last Sat. 2/25/12, what do you think about me undoing the SR I did the other day, where I restored back to Sat. 2/25/12(Undoing this one).?

And, then restoring back to Friday, 2/24/12. I assume that would put me back to Avast Ver 6, but at least the Avast Sheilds were not turning off. ? And, it would be a lot simpler than trying all those Steps.

What do you think? Would that work?

This is an EDIT at 10:37 PM CST: On the Fri, 2/24/12 day I installed the Java 6Update 31, and Java 6 Update 29 was removed, and Software Distribution Service 3.0 were all don on that day. If I restore back to 2/24/12, all this stuff will remain intact, right?