Video Games freezing

AVG TuneUp
1

Lately, I’ve been experiencing freezes in the games GTA Online and State of Decay 2 while playing. My only lead for the root cause of the issue has been checking the system logs, in which the only thing I have found is a notification that AVGtools updates the power schema every 2 or 3 minutes, and I have found that changing the power schema resets some variables that force the game to stop functioning.
Since I am using the free version, I do not have access to the interface that disables this feature.

Is there a way to disable this feature other than uninstalling AVG to confirm if this is the root cause of the games freezing?

2

Hi AVG Team & Community,

I’d like to report a repeatable performance issue that I traced back to AVG’s Do Not Disturb Mode, specifically how it handles Windows Power Schemes when switching between fullscreen games and other apps (like browsers).

:brain: Environment & Scenario

  • OS: Windows 10 / 11 (Desktop)

  • GPU / CPU: Mid–high performance gaming PC

  • Security: AVG Antivirus (with Do Not Disturb enabled by default)

  • Typical behavior: Play GTA V in fullscreen → Alt+Tab to Firefox (YouTube) → Alt+Tab back to game, repeatedly.

:warning: Problem

During gameplay, especially in GTA V, I experienced sudden FPS drops, GPU clock downshifts to 300 MHz, and temporary freezes whenever I switched between the game and the browser.

After deep investigation (telemetry overlay + Event Viewer), I discovered that avgToolsSvc.exe repeatedly switches the active Windows Power Plan between “High Performance” and “Balanced” every time the focus changes between fullscreen apps.

This happens because Do Not Disturb Mode:

  • Automatically adds fullscreen apps (e.g., GTA5.exe) to its list

  • Forces “High Performance” while the game is focused

  • Reverts to “Balanced” when the game loses focus (Alt+Tab)

This constant toggling caused the GPU to rapidly change power states, leading to visible stalls and FPS dips — even without any overheating, driver errors, or resource bottlenecks.

Verification

  • Disabled Do Not Disturb Mode → Power scheme stabilized → No more GPU clock drops → Freezes gone.

  • Played over an hour with telemetry running — only minimal, normal frametime spikes.

  • Event logs confirmed avgToolsSvc.exe stopped power scheme manipulation after uninstalling Do Not Disturb.

:white_check_mark: Workaround

  • Go to Apps > AVG > Modify and uninstall Do Not Disturb Mode.

  • Alternatively, disable the “Automatically add new apps” toggle and manually clear the DND list (e.g., from games.json).

  • Lock your Windows power plan to High Performance manually.

:loudspeaker: Request to AVG

Please review how Do Not Disturb Mode handles power scheme switching.

  • Many gamers frequently Alt+Tab between games and browsers/music players — the current implementation causes real-world performance degradation.

  • Ideally, there should be:

    • A toggle to disable power scheme changes entirely,

    • Or smarter behavior that doesn’t flip plans on every focus change.

:speech_balloon: Closing

This took quite a bit of deep troubleshooting to find — I’m posting it here to help anyone else who might be facing unexplained freezes while gaming. Hopefully, it also helps AVG devs refine this otherwise useful feature.

Thanks for your time!