Avast updates keep freezing my PC

[Iggy Wolf]

Twice now when Avast needed to update drivers or program, it would start to freeze the entire PC, causing Windows Explorer to hang, the desktop itself to refresh, and basically prevent anything from working while causing 100% Disk Usage.

Is this a bug or problem in the installation and do I have to repair Avast? Cause a restart usually fixes the problem but I don't see why my Avast can't update properly like before without causing the hangups. I should mention I'm on Windows 10 2004. And that the problem only started after I bought their subscription for full protection. The Free Version rarely gave me issues.

[JayKaye]

Anti-viruses are outdated resource hogs. Get rid of it. Windows Defender is as good or better than most commercial anti-viruses, especially free ones like Avast that get their money by being spyware themselves.

Antiviruses used to be required by any sane person on the internet 10-15 years ago, but when MS started including their own with the OS they had to expand their scope to stay relevant. Feature creep also means resource creep. In the case of Avast they started selling your data to marketing agencies without telling you, that got them in trouble some years back. As it is right now unless you are running an enterprise network in your home, you don't need a commercial security product.

[Iggy Wolf]

Yeah, I figured as much. With regards to me running on an HDD though, I bought the computer back in 2015. It already came with the OS on the HDD. It wasn't my choice to have it on an HDD or SSD. I'll definitely get my next computer with an SSD for OS and HDD for Apps and Games.

[JayKaye]

Iggy Wolf a écrit :

Yeah, I figured as much. With regards to me running on an HDD though, I bought the computer back in 2015. It already came with the OS on the HDD. It wasn't my choice to have it on an HDD or SSD. I'll definitely get my next computer with an SSD for OS and HDD for Apps and Games.

If you still have the sticker that came with your license key you can just drop in an SSD and install Windows 10 fresh (which is definitely a good idea given the amount of pointless crapware pre-builts ship with), then move all your stuff over. I would also not recommend using an HDD for games anymore. 250 GB OS SSD, 500-1000GB games SSD, 1+TB data HDD for miscellaneous storage should get most people by.

[Iggy Wolf]

Kaye a écrit :

Iggy Wolf a écrit :

Yeah, I figured as much. With regards to me running on an HDD though, I bought the computer back in 2015. It already came with the OS on the HDD. It wasn't my choice to have it on an HDD or SSD. I'll definitely get my next computer with an SSD for OS and HDD for Apps and Games.

If you still have the sticker that came with your license key you can just drop in an SSD and install Windows 10 fresh (which is definitely a good idea given the amount of pointless crapware pre-builts ship with), then move all your stuff over. I would also not recommend using an HDD for games anymore. 250 GB OS SSD, 500-1000GB games SSD, 1+TB data HDD for miscellaneous storage should get most people by.

That's all well and good, but it's a personal choice for me. I don't mind an HDD. Everyone can tout the benefits of faster read/write times and use but I'm not suddenly shelling out more money just because SSDs are the "be all, end all" of hard drives. Even if they are slightly cheaper these days. The faster boot times with the OS would be enough for me.

[[☥] - CJ -]

HDDs/SSHDs are generally still fine, as long as they are 7200RPM and decent models.

[76561198343548661]

I used Avast . My opinion is positive . Troubleshooting an issue led to uninstall it . Issue fixed but i stayed on Defender .

So , cant you disable the option to update the drivers ? It should be possible..You always can do this manually .

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Iggy Wolf a écrit :

Yeah, I figured as much. With regards to me running on an HDD though, I bought the computer back in 2015. It already came with the OS on the HDD. It wasn't my choice to have it on an HDD or SSD. I'll definitely get my next computer with an SSD for OS and HDD for Apps and Games.

You would just buy an ssd and perform an entire disk to disk clone. Then boot off the ssd and wipe the hdd clean and use that for general storage, gamea, etc. Win10 runs like dog crap if not on an ssd and that's just a simple fact. Back in 2011-2015 I often would buy laptops that come with either 1tb or 2tb hdd, then once I get the machine, buy my own ssd, as the oem brand charged a hefty premium for that and still do for the most part.

AV suites like Avast, AVG... are basically malware all by themselves. No reason to use them, install them or trust them. They rarely catch stuff even. MS Defender on Win10, Hitman Pro, Bitdefender and MalwareBytes get Zero Day updates, which helps actually catch bad stuff. Many of those other AV suites out there are very system resource hogging and often throw up false detection flags too often. MalwareBytes Premium is very effective and also can protect all browsers in real time without any need for browser extension based installs.

One way to help lower the resources used when it's running in real time is to configure the exclusion section (yes even in Defender) and add exclusions such as where your game clients and game libraries are housed, to avoid needlessly scanning of those areas of your drive/files.

But OS on a HDD = The PC will always be dirt slow, regardless of specs.

They will be coming out with NVME HDDs very soon though.

[76561198343548661]

my PC has a hdd . Windows 10 is installed on it and runs fine . boot time -20s . For instance my laptop with Windows 10 on a hdd has a boot time around 1 min . Of course , ssd are better but not a must have .

[GOD RAYS ON ULTRA™]

littlecat20160 a écrit :

my PC has a hdd . Windows 10 is installed on it and runs fine . boot time -20s . For instance my laptop with Windows 10 on a hdd has a boot time around 1 min . Of course , ssd are better but not a must have .

Of course it does. The other people are exaggerating that's why. Nothing wrong with HDD as long as it's healthy. They are slower but they never make your PC unusable that's just silly-talk.

[[☥] - CJ -]

crappy low RPM drives can tbh
but yeah, usually theyre fine.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

☥ - CJ - a écrit :

crappy low RPM drives can tbh
but yeah, usually theyre fine.

I even tried to use WD Blue 1TB 7200rpm and WD Black 2TB 7200rpm as OS drives; still way too slow. Makes even a $3000 PC seem like its stuck in 1995.

Much of the reason is all the junk Win10 runs by default. Adding junk anti-virus to the mix like AVG, Avira, Avast; surely does not help one bit. And what's more, people actually pay for them.

I can't stress enough how users need to learn more about the OS they choose to use, and what is deemed junk they don't need and is safe to disable. Please give ShutUp10 a try if you use Win10. It's very helpful. If you don't understand something in the list of things to Enable/Disable; Google it for more info.

[itsTyrion]

Pinky a écrit :

Uninstall Avast. It's rubbish.

Windows Defender provides decent enough protection.

HAHAHAHA. Reading this after seeing a virus start, disable UserAccountControl, Inject into processes and DISABLE DEFENDER WHILE IT'S RUNNING before I could click remove.
All toggles on. Yeah, great tamper protection really.

[[☥] - CJ -]

itsTyrion a écrit :

Pinky a écrit :

Uninstall Avast. It's rubbish.

Windows Defender provides decent enough protection.

HAHAHAHA. Reading this after seeing a virus start, disable UserAccountControl, Inject into processes and DISABLE DEFENDER WHILE IT'S RUNNING before I could click remove.
All toggles on. Yeah, great tamper protection really.

Almost as funny as replying to a YEAR OLD thread

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Avast has been total junk ever since Win8 came out.

Ditch it. Try...

Kaspersky
Webroot
BitDefender
ESET

And on top of any of those, using MalwareBytes also helps. This should be on every Windows PC, period.

Add game libraries like Steam and others to the exclusion listing of whatever scanner apps you use.

[Iggy Wolf]

Bad 💀 Motha a écrit :

Avast has been total junk ever since Win8 came out.

Ditch it. Try...

Kaspersky
Webroot
BitDefender
ESET

And on top of any of those, using MalwareBytes also helps. This should be on every Windows PC, period.

Add game libraries like Steam and others to the exclusion listing of whatever scanner apps you use.

This is an old thread. I don't know why people keep bumping it. I don't have the problem I do anymore. So no point in answering it.