Why is AVG suddenly freaking out?

October 24, 2010 7:23 PM

Is my AVG Resident Shield warning me of something important, or is AVG itself the problem? I've been running AVG on my computer since I bought it (in August). In the last two hours, every time I open a new program, Resident Shield pops up and tells me "the file could not be scanned, probably due to invalid file structure". The programs I'm opening are not new (games I've downloaded weeks ago, Google Chrome) and my computer is otherwise not acting wonky. What's going on?
posted by epj to computers & internet (9 answers total)

What file is it complaining about?
posted by Old'n'Busted at 8:27 PM on October 24, 2010

Before doing anything else, reboot your computer. Something may be wedged, and a reboot would fix that.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 8:55 PM on October 24, 2010

Reboot then run one or two of the free online virus/malware scanners. If they show up clean then contact AVG about being wacky.
posted by Ookseer at 9:08 PM on October 24, 2010

Might be helpful to check for filesystem errors as well. Right click on your system drive and select properties. Select the tools tab and then check for filesystem errors. Check both the check boxes. You'll have to reboot.

My opinion is that the last couple versions of AVG (prior to 2011 release) have been buggy and have caused lots of problems in the computers I've been exposed to. Don't have much experience with the latest release though. Might be an idea to uninstall and upgrade to the most recent version if you haven't already.
posted by sockpup at 9:42 PM on October 24, 2010

You didn't say, but I'm assuming you're running Windows. If so, an even better plan is to uninstall AVG and install Microsoft Security Essentials.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 11:06 PM on October 24, 2010

And when you find out just how squirrelly Microsoft Security Essentials can be, it might be time to try out Panda Cloud Antivirus. Relatively small download for an AV at 33MB, lightweight engine (I've seen it turn an XP box with 256MB RAM back into a usable computer), and free for both personal use and on any number of computers in a nonprofit org. I've had it installed on 120 school workstations for the last six months and so far it's been just fine.
posted by flabdablet at 12:42 AM on October 25, 2010 [1 favorite]

Are the games in any archive format? (e.g. rar, zip) AVG may not be able to unpack them to scan because the compression format might be unknown to it.
posted by Obscure Reference at 5:08 AM on October 25, 2010

Thank you all for your very helpful answers. You are all welcome to hit me with the Roy stick now--I restarted and have had no further problems. FWIW, all the files it was complaining about were .dll files.
posted by epj at 1:32 PM on October 25, 2010

Naturally, no sooner have I given Panda Cloud Antivirus a glowing recommendation than I turn up to the school and find it falling over on all my XP boxes. I can of course work around this, but GRAR!
posted by flabdablet at 2:39 AM on October 26, 2010