Windows 7 Warning for all AVG User's Using windows 7

[VsUK]

Recently I have been getting reports of problems on my company's systems of becoming unstable & locking up. Then more of the same on my home systems, my friends & families system's of whom all use AVG as recommended by me.

If you are experiencing any of the following..

1. PC Loads up & all appear's fine until you try to run programs in which case they the mouse courser shows something loading & then nothing.
2. Unable to Install/Uninstall anything as initiating those process's just does exactly the same thing as mentioned above.
3. increased hard drive activity for example, nothing happening but the hard drive activity light or sound indicates extensive activity.
4. Boot failure into windows with persistent sticking at log in screen.
5. Booting into safe mode everything loads perfectly fine, just not in normal mode.

You need to Uninstall AVG & I suggest installing another Anti-Virus like Avast which is free to use & works great!

Windows 7 wont let you uninstall anything in safe mode, so you need to do the following. Once booted into safe mode, click start & in the search box type CMD & hit enter. A Black box will load up. Now select, copy & past the following into the box.

"HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot\Network\MSIServer" /VE /T REG_SZ /F /D "Service"

Dont use CTRL + V, right click on your mouse & click past, then hit enter.

Now copy & past the following & hit enter

net start msiserver"

Now, go to control panel, uninstall AVG, reboot your computer & you will notice everything is working great, may be a little slow at first, thats due to the lock-ups & problems caused by AVG. Then fine a new Anti-Virus & your sorted.

This problem was discovered by myself & AVG appear's to uncontrollably quarantining your entire HD & any attempt to use your OS/Files is prevented once AVG has loaded up & its services, which is why it loads up fine, but then nothing happens then on.

We contacted AVG regarding this problem & they are investigating but they have let me know this is a solely a windows 7 problem & no reports have been found on any other OS.

Enjoy!

 

[Joe S]

Check on AVG site they will have a cleanup/uninstall tool you can run after uninstalling, you run that in safe mode. Most AV programs have cleanup tools.
Joe

 

[catilley1092]

Not good to hear, as AVG had been enjoying a better reputation with the 2012/2013 versions. The issue may not be limited to Windows 7, as I have a Vista Ultimate VM (a test bed) that after upgrading from 2013 to 2014 began acting up (running dirt slow, freezing), once forced me to turn it off rather than normal shutdown. That prompted the immediate removal of AVG.

Removing AVG 2014 & installing Avast was a great improvement.

Oh well, the 2 year run was good while it lasted.

Cat

 

[VsUK]

Check on AVG site they will have a cleanup/uninstall tool you can run after uninstalling, you run that in safe mode. Most AV programs have cleanup tools.
Joe

AVG's clean up tool requires windows installer service to be running. Safe mode disables that. Worth a try but I have my doubts it will work but I would say try that first if my method is a bit complicated for some.

 

[catilley1092]

I should have known better than to trust AVG again, this event isn't going to help their cause, the years of work to correct the BSOD's when installed on Windows 7 back in 2009/2010. AVG earned a bad name where Windows 7 users were concerned. Many never looked back to give a 2nd chance. And now many who did give AVG a 2nd chance won't give a 3rd, with the 1st ones (the ones burned in 2009/2010) saying "I told you so". This recent event clearly places AVG on the same reputation level as Norton.

It was during the early Windows 8 Release Preview days when I tried AVG 2012, the free version, at the time, it was better than Avast, where some functions didn't work with the preview OS. Notably, the Firewall, as I had a 3 user subscription that I had won at the time, somehow or the other, the drivers wouldn't properly install. At the same time, others were looking for something free to replace Windows Defender & a couple of members reported great success with AVG 2012 Free version.

So I installed it & ran it on Windows 8 until the previews were over w/out any negative issues.

However I doubt I'll fool with AVG anymore. It's getting rather heavy again also, that I have noticed.

Cat

 

[Joe S]

I quit using it years ago for the most part. I did put it on my nephews old Compaq XP because Avast kept finding false posatives in the preinstalled crapware.
Joe

 

[catilley1092]

I believe that the only OS AVG ever did run good on for a long period was XP. Unfortunately, that group of Windows users will likely drop off fast come April. Many are holding on, believing there will be a last minute reprieve. Whether anyone wants to hear it or not, it's not going to happen.

Fact is, MS as a corporation has to move forward, for itself & it's customers/partners. There comes a time to draw a line & April 8 is the line.

AVG can choose to continue to support the remaining users, but if they plan to stay in business, it's time to move on. Make a security app that's compatible with today's OS's. Security is supposed to protect the user, yet not be so heavy handed to the point of overloading the machine. Today's computers & OS's are designed to be lightweight & quick, even middle of the road ones.

It's highly likely that some of backwards compatibility of AVG is what's holding it back from being more of a success on Windows 7 & above. Hopefully for it's loyal users & for the future of the corporation, they'll get this fixed ASAP with a patched release. Keeping in mind that loyalty is quickly becoming a concept of the past. Most of us wants apps that works today, as in right now, one's successes of 2000-2008 means nothing today.

Cat

 

[helpifIcan]

Hard to belive I have been using it forever and never had any issues, other then a few versions with bloat, I have it runing on 2 XP laptops a Vista desktop, and a WIN7 desktop.

 

[catilley1092]

Hard to belive I have been using it forever and never had any issues, other then a few versions with bloat, I have it runing on 2 XP laptops a Vista desktop, and a WIN7 desktop.

Good to hear a vote of confidence from someone!

That last version, or the initial 2014 release if a later has been released to address issues, was the one that slowed Vista Ultimate SP2. I know of at least one other user who swears by AVG, has also ran it for years w/out incident.

The 2014 version did indeed have bloat, noticeably so over the 2012/2013 versions. Hopefully it will soon get better. We need all of the choices possible on today's net.

Speaking of bloat, many also states that McAfee IS has it, but even running full scans & browsing too, I've not seen it push my CPU past the 40% usage mark. The only time I've seen it go further was when running the WEI.

Cat

 

[sammytruck]

I too used to be an AVG fan. Then a friend brought a computer that was down, and wouldn't perform.

I finally got a desktop. Installed Avast, and rebooted. Avast found 13 bugs that AVG hadn't caught.

Long story, short. I now have Avast Pro on my computer. Ok, so it cost me some bucks.... BUT I love my system to run free from crap.....

 

[catilley1092]

The one thing that I do like about AVG, this is included even with the Free version, is the one time system optimizer (non-verifiable email registration required).

Every time that I've installed AVG & ran this tool, even on new installs that's been updated & Disk Cleanup or CCleaner has been ran, this tool purges the OS of an average of 2GB of useless junk. Mostly no longer needed Windows Update installer files & other junk. For those with SSD's who needs the space, this can be very helpful.

There has been times that I installed AVG Free for this purpose alone, then used AVG's removal tool to get rid of the AV.

sammytruck, yes Avast is really good security. I once had the 3 user IS suite, really liked the sandbox browser that it offers, plus the boot time scan, which is included in the Free version. This scans the computer w/out Windows running & can find things that it may not during a normal scan. I have attached drives (both SSD's & HDD's) from other computers via docking station to scan them, with success (objects found & quarantined).

The other good thing about Avast is that if one installs the 20 day IS suite trial & waits until the last day or so to decide, it can be bought at a huge discount, something like 3 PC's/$29.99. $10 per year per PC is a good price.

Speaking of which, AVG is kind of pricey as well as bloat filled. Most security apps has advanced to the point of not being so heavy, yet still maintain high quality protection. This is one factor to take in consideration when choosing protection.

Cat

 

[VsUK]

AVAST Free Version offers a software version checker & notifies you if it detects any software you have is out of date. I find this handy for the odd little tool's I use as new versions do improve the ability to do things.

27 Systems with AVG locked up & become unresponsive when loaded into desktop. 27 systems had basically no ability to function at all outside of safe mode. So AVG was removed from all 27 systems & even from the systems reboot after uninstall they was back to normal.

We was using AVG 2014, 2013 does not appear to have this problem but with the annoying pop ups to update all the time, why bother running 2013 as it just minimizes whatever your doing every 15-20 minutes.

I did use AVAST about 4 yrs ago until we had a problem just like this with it locking up our systems however not as severe as what AVG is doing at the moment & went to AVG. I guess we should expect to switch every few years with the way the trend is going!

 

[Joe S]

Sometimes I wonder if the software makers are doing anything really important or just sprucing things up to sell a new version
Joe.

 

[catilley1092]

Sometimes I wonder if the software makers are doing anything really important or just sprucing things up to sell a new version
Joe.

In today's highly competitive market, every little bit helps a product move. I had noticed that software updater myself, had forgot about it being there. Actually it's good to have, as keeping apps up to date is just as important as updating Windows on the 2nd Tuesday of the month.

Some of which are releases w/no new visible functions, but do contain security fixes or patches bugs.

For that, I have Secunia PSI installed, between my manual checks for updated apps/browsers, it'll let me know if anything needs updating.

This type of deal with AVG is why I keep more than one brand of security, though not on the same OS. Most of my computers are dual boot, most has Bitdefender Total Security 2014 (unlimited PC's/1 year) installed on one OS, while ESET NOD32 are on the other. Also have Kaspersky IS 2013 (free gift from Costco for purchasing Dell) on another computer. And Emsisoft Anti Malware (AV/AM in one) on another.

The only non-dual boot computer that I have is the Dell, it shipped with 1 year subscription of McAfee IS.

Normally, I only install free security apps in virtual machines, as well as beta test for a couple of security providers (F-Secure & Emsisoft). Was testing for AVG IS until a year ago, it gets to be too burdensome to keep up with all of these. Glad that I did drop them now.

Cat