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Troubleshooting your Integrated Avast Antivirus

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From time to time, like all things in IT, troubleshooting needs to occur with your installation(s) of Avast Antivirus. While the following list is not an exhaustive list, it is some of the most common issues we see in support along with the most common fixes. This article is intended to be an extension of the Installing and Managing Avast AV article, which should be gone over to ensure you have the basics of setting up for Integrated Avast Antivirus covered correctly. If this is for Avast Business Cloudcare support or another deployment of Avast, contact Avast Support directly as this is specifically for Barracuda RMM deployments.

Windows Server crashes, hangs or throws a BSoD when Avast Antivirus is deployed

  T his occurs when Hardware-Assisted Virtualization is enabled on the policy. In order to fix this, do the following:

  1. Disable the Avast Antivirus policy from the device.
  2. Uninstall Avast Antivirus from the server in Safe Mode using this knowledge base article.
  3. Click Configuration.
  4. Select Policies.
  5. From the dropdown, click Avast Antivirus.
  6. Now choose the Antivirus policy that is set up for the devices.
  7. Click on either Workstation Settings or Server Settings.
  8. Now go to Troubleshooting.
  9. Disable Hardware-Assisted Virtualization.
  10. Apply Changes.

Device shows as Reboot Needed, but a Reboot does not clear the status

When looking at the installation status in the Avast Dashboard and a device shows up as Pending Reboot, please Reboot that device. If the status does not clear there likely exists the reboot.txt file that needs to be deleted. It can be somewhat pesky to find at times, however, so please do the following:

  1. Open a Windows Explorer Window.
  2. Navigate to C:\Program Files\AVAST Software.
    • Search for reboot.txt.
    • Delete the reboot.txt file if it exists.
  3. Then navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\AVAST Software.
    • Search for reboot.txt.
    • Delete the reboot.txt file if it exists.
  4. Finally navigate to C:\ProgramData\AVAST Software.
    • Search for reboot.txt.
    • Delete the reboot.txt file if it exists.

Device shows as Pending install of Avast Antivirus after the installation process

Unfortunately, there appears to be an issue with some installations where the AVM policy server and an end device do not successfully communicate. The support and development team for Barracuda RMM has come up with a script to help remedy this.

  1. Before doing any troubleshooting, please make sure you restart the end device.
  2. Download the script called MW-7103.
  3. Import it into Barracuda RMM using this knowledge base article.
  4. Start Service Center.
  5. In the left navigation menu, click Automation.
  6. Select Calendar.
  7. Now click on Run Now.
  8. In the dropdown, select (Item from Library).
  9. Search for MW-7103 and target the Onsite Manager for the site and any impacted Device Managers.
  10. Now run the script.

After the script has run (this can take up to half an hour), go back to your Avast dashboard and the installs will be set as Failed. Now set to install again this should for another data collection for AV and update accordingly.

FAE Registry Key added when a device cannot communicate with Avast policy service

  When the end device with Avast Antivirus fails to communicate with the Avast policy server, it puts in an FAE key in the registry that requires to be cleared before it can reconnect to the server and communicate again. Follow the steps below on how to remove this. There are two methods you can use to accomplish this.

Method 1: Using Automation
  1. In your Service Center go to Update Center.
  2. Click on Get More.
  3. Search for FAE in the top right corner.
  4. Select Delete Avast FAE Registry Key and click Install.
    • If there is no entry found, continue on.
  5. Now go to Automation.
  6. Select Calendar.
  7. Click Run Now.
  8. Select (Item from Library).
  9. In Choose an item by name, search for Delete Avast FAE Registry Key.
  10. In the Target Devices section, click Add and add your devices.
  11. Click Run Now.
Method 2: Manual on end device
  1. Open RegEdit.
  2.   Browse to the following registry entry
    •   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\AVAST Software\Business Agent
  3.   Find the FAE key and delete it
  4.   In a browser enter: http://127.0.0.1:30861/reauth.

If this does not remedy the connection, please move on to the following section.

Standard troubleshooting tips for most other issues

The vast majority of issues with Avast Antivirus can be remedied by the following two methods. The first one is hands-off and requires only a few clicks in Barracuda RMM, while the second one is more hands-on and in-depth.

  1.   Before doing any troubleshooting, please make sure you restart the end device.
  2.   In your Service Center, navigate to the device having issues.
  3.   Scroll down to the Policies.
  4.   Toggle the AV policy off.
  5.   Wait 30 minutes.
  6.   Toggle the AV policy on.
  7.   Go to the Avast Dashboard and the device will show "uninstalled".
  8.   Install the AV.
    •   This will not fully install as the registry key exists for AV and will attempt to collect the assets.
  9.   If this does not work the more hands-on and in-depth will be needed.

  What if all else fails?

At this point, if you have exhausted all other options, reach out to Barracuda RMM Support. We ask that you have logs already from the Onsite Manager or Device Manager and the end device prepared. Please use this knowledge base article on collecting the logs for Avast Antivirus and Barracuda RMM .