If you are running Windows 8.1 and the latest Avast antivirus, you may have noticed problems with your computer this week after installing the latest Windows Updates.
I was running the Avast 2015 Free at the latest version, 10.0.2208, on Windows 8.1. After installing Windows Updates KB3014442 and KB3000850, my computer was slow and unresponsive for certain tasks:
- Restarting or shutting down would never complete
- Uninstalling a program would hang
- Certain startup programs would never launch
- Opening computer properties (Right-click on This PC, select Properties) would never open
Since Wednesday, 13 pages of others suffering were posted to a thread on Avast’s support forums. Avast posted a response saying that they have reproduced the issue and a patch is coming.
We have been able to simulate the problem in our lab and I think we fixed this issue. This Windows updates calls new memory related functions which are not fully compatible with avast. We’ll prepare EmUpdate with the patched driver tomorrow morning (it means, all & new avast installations should be patched immediately, that’s how it works).
The patch was not available earlier while I was working through the problem, so I uninstalled it. Due to the complications of this problem, I had to use the avastclear.exe uninstaller to remove the program. As soon as I rebooted, my computer was back to working normally. I switched on Windows Defender and will use it until Avast can get caught up on their security software being compatible with the operating system.
Others reported having to return to a system restore point prior to installing the update or having to boot into Safe Mode in order to remove or attempt updating Avast.