Hi John,
We're glad to look into this & help you.
Please clarify whether you've used the removal tool to uninstall Avast & then installed AVG.
Also, let us know the version of AVG that is installed on your computer (Open AVG Free - Menu - About).
Meanwhile, please check & remove if there are any other antivirus installed on your computer. Reason being, they would compete for resources, conflict with each other & none would work effectively.
I promised to report back after a couple of more weeks and additional scans. Looks like the problem is under control and case closed.
I should add that, sometimes, it looks more worrisome than in healthier times. That is, on coming back to Windows (and from sleep) after a completed scan, I once saw a screen at 25% with file name being scanned not changing, much as the screen during the issue was freezing at 26% or 27%. However, after several worrisome seconds it leapt ahead to the "done" screen, with no virus found. So fine with me for now.
Every time I try a deep scan, it freezes at 26%. Each time, though, it freezes while scanning a different file. Smart cans go ok.
In more detail, I was running AVG free version for some time with no problems. Because of an unrelated Windows issue, I tried switching two weeks ago to Avast free version just in case there was a clash with AVG. Again, full scans went fine until today. Today I came back home to find that a scan had frozen. I rebooted and tried again, same thing.
I hadn't changed anything since things were going great, but just in case I uninstalled it and installed AVG again. I thought surely that would remedy the problem. But now AVG froze, too. Again I tried again, same thing.
The Windows problem had been that sometime, but not always, coming back from sleep mode gave me the blue screen of death (while Windows "gathered information" and rebooted). This was different, since my frozen scans leave a frozen antivirus screen, and while the stop scan button doesn't work, I can close the anti-virus app. Just in case Windows sleep was the source of the Avast and then AVG problem, though, I tried disabling sleep (although only for power, not the monitor) and started a fifth deep scan. But again, frozen screen. I just don't know what else to try.
Hello John,
Thank you for sharing your feedback and appreciate the efforts taken in resolving this issue.
We look forward to your answers after doing a couple of deep scans in the coming week and hopefully, it does not freeze and works fine.
Thank you.
It went much better than I'd feared, so I must thank you, although I also did more than you asked. I downloaded and ran Avast Clear from safe mode, then uninstalled AVG in stages. First I used Windows Settings, Apps, which I assume you know relies on AVG's uninstall (as it had Avast's on Sunday). I could tell because of the distinctive interface and because it asked why I was doing this. Then I rebooted, deleted any related files or folders I could find, and rebooted again. I verified that there were no antivirus services on my computer and no processes running in Task Manager. Then I downloaded AVG clear and ran it, too, from safe mode.
Figuring the most likely glitch was with last week large Window's update (the only recent change I'm aware of to my system), I decided to clean house as best I could, although I didn't wish to try to roll back, as dangerous in itself. I cleared caches and temp folders manually, ran the Windows Cleaner first alone and then with its option to tackle system files such as Windows Update back-ups (which took a long time). Then I ran CCleaner, both its regular analysis and its option to scan the registry, where it found half a dozen suspect antivirus entries that AVG and Avast Clear had missed.
Finally, I felt this was as clean a system as I was going to get and installed AVG Free again. As usual, that went fine, as did a smart scan. Then I started a deep scan. When I returned home two hours later, it had run! (And found no problems.) We won't know for sure that the problem is fixed, rather than that a scan just got lucky, until my next planned deep scan this coming weekend, but it's promising! I'll let you, and thanks again.
Hello John.
We would once again like to appreciate your thorough procedure to perform a clean installation of AVG as requested. I am glad that the deep scan had run fine. Please monitor the issue and let us know if it reccurs.
I promised to report back after a couple of more weeks and additional scans. Looks like the problem is under control and case closed.
I should add that, sometimes, it looks more worrisome than in healthier times. That is, on coming back to Windows (and from sleep) after a completed scan, I once saw a screen at 25% with file name being scanned not changing, much as the screen during the issue was freezing at 26% or 27%. However, after several worrisome seconds it leapt ahead to the "done" screen, with no virus found. So fine with me for now.
Hi John,
We're glad to look into this & help you.
Please clarify whether you've used the removal tool to uninstall Avast & then installed AVG.
Also, let us know the version of AVG that is installed on your computer (Open AVG Free - Menu - About).
Meanwhile, please check & remove if there are any other antivirus installed on your computer. Reason being, they would compete for resources, conflict with each other & none would work effectively.
Well, I think you're truly grasping at straws, as the installation is fresh and my deinstallations were thorough. But I can always try later. Waste of time, but I can try.