AVG Ate up Hard Drive Memory

[delayjf]

I'm not sure what happened but recently I had a power outage. After power was restored, I booted up my computer and began getting error msg that stated

""AVGMFAPX.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close".

I would get this message over and over again. I attempted to uninstall AVG, but could not as AVG was running my machine at full tilt and nothing could get done. I also started getting disk full messages and when I checked the hard drive I saw that the AVG file had grown to over 50 gigs.

I attempt to reset my system to the day before the power outage, but there were no reset dates in the calander - perhaps the power loss erased the dates, don't know.

Finally, I was able to reboot and down load a program that was supposed to uninstall AVG, it seems it did disable AVG, but when I checked the directory, the AVG program files are still there, all 50 gigs of them.

I have also got simular error msg with Mozy, but those are only ocassional and with AVG disabled, my computer functions at least normally.

Anybody got a clue as to what happened? Or how should I proceed to clean this mess up? Thanks in advance.

[HUSKER55]

something similiar happened to me awhile back. I ended up at the repair shop and out $150.

Neighbor girl said the next time that happened I should buy a new hard drive for $50 and she could get me up and going in short order and she would settle for a bottle of wine.

(...my hard drive is going to fail tonight):rolleyes: :D

[NoDayJob]

Have you tried using REVO? It should do the job.

[Native Texan III]

Windows Task Manager (right click bottom taskbar or press Ctrl-Alt-Del) will tell you which process is consuming resources and in emergency you can turn that particular one off after right clicking it.

The event log in Control Panel/ administrative Tools will give a clue as to what might have happened but if files are half written to the hard disk at power outage then you have some corrupted files and anything might happen without knowing the real reason.

Don't worry.

Delete all the bloated AVG files and reinstall AVG or Comodo.

Iobit System Care and CCleaner are 2 free tools to clean up remaining debris.

Best way to avoid all these and malware problems is use a Disk Imaging program such as Easus (free) to make a daily image of your boot drive to an external hard drive backup. Any problems, reload the image and you are back up running in a few clicks.

[Marshall Bennett]

Everytime I read one of these threads my knees buckle at the thought of how little I really understand about computers. :bang:

[HUSKER55]

ME too. when the neighbor girl graduates I am going to be in more trouble than now.

[DJofSD]

Jeff,

I had a problem recently that I solved over the weekend.

Up front, I'll tell you the culprit was the Window Shadow Volume Copy in conjunction with a feature of the sister product to CCleaner, Defraggler.

Also, I am not suggesting this is your problem. I'm just relating to you a recent experience that helped me get back some HDD free space.

The fix was to run the MS Disk Cleanup routine and to select the option to remove all but the most recently check point and other files. Worked like a charm, getting me back a huge amount of HDD space. And, this was a problem that cropped up on two different laptops.

The details: I had started to notice an ever decreasing amount of free drive space on two laptops. Given that I use them for video based tasks, I was not too concerned b/c I was assuming the video files were big and taking up all the room.

But during a recent effort to transfer some new video, the drive on one of the laptops was very, very full. Deleting files, cleaning up things and doing a defrag did not make a dent.

When the problem showed up on the 2nd laptop is when I started to get serious about finding the source of the problem.

Long story, short version: I had used Defraggler and used an option to selectively place large files at the physical end of the drive. This was some how interacting in a bad way with the SVC.

As soon as I did a disk clean up, as I said above, I got a whole heck of a lot of space back. And, disabling the Defraggler option, I have done mulitple defrags of both laptops since without the the HDD Pacman eating my free space.

So, try running the Disk Clean up routine and choose to remove all but the most recent check point file along with all of the other files the utility will clean up. This might help you get more HDD space back.

[JustRalph]

Windows Task Manager (right click bottom taskbar or press Ctrl-Alt-Del) will tell you which process is consuming resources and in emergency you can turn that particular one off after right clicking it.

The event log in Control Panel/ administrative Tools will give a clue as to what might have happened but if files are half written to the hard disk at power outage then you have some corrupted files and anything might happen without knowing the real reason.

Don't worry.

Delete all the bloated AVG files and reinstall AVG or Comodo.

Iobit System Care and CCleaner are 2 free tools to clean up remaining debris.

Best way to avoid all these and malware problems is use a Disk Imaging program such as Easus (free) to make a daily image of your boot drive to an external hard drive backup. Any problems, reload the image and you are back up running in a few clicks.

I would think twice about deleting anything until he gets everything off to external drive/media etc. I suspect that 50gigs isn't real. I suspect his file allocation table is damaged and misreporting file size etc. If I am wrong, it's a good thing. Easier to fix

He didn't say what version of winders etc........so I can't suggest how to fix it. But there are about five things I would do in the first ten minutes that might fix it or make it worse. Backup what you need first then start playing with it

Before I put anything back from the backup I would scan it and put it back a small portion at a time. Power failures mean corruption. Putting corrupt files back on could set you back to square one if you do it all at once

[DJofSD]

I would think twice about deleting anything until he gets everything off to external drive/media etc. I suspect that 50gigs isn't real. I suspect his file allocation table is damaged and misreporting file size etc. If I am wrong, it's a good thing. Easier to fix

He didn't say what version of winders etc........so I can't suggest how to fix it. But there are about five things I would do in the first ten minutes that might fix it or make it worse. Backup what you need first then start playing with it

Before I put anything back from the backup I would scan it and put it back a small portion at a time. Power failures mean corruption. Putting corrupt files back on could set you back to square one if you do it all at once
Could be.

Run the native DOS command line shell as administrator then run the CHKDSK command.

[JustRalph]

Could be.

Run the native DOS command line shell as administrator then run the CHKDSK command.

That would be my first step after getting my data. Then depending on what chkdsk finds......go from there :ThmbUp:

[delayjf]

I'm running windows XP, I checked the AVG file in my directory and the memory hog is the dump folder in AVG 2010. It contains about 50 gigs worth of avgmfapx files

[delayjf]

Ran the volume error check from the My computer / c drive properties tab. Test came back clean.

[Robert Goren]

Stupid question time. What does AVG do?

[DJofSD]

Internet browsers are a wonderful thing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVG_%28software%29

http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage

[Robert Goren]

Dumb question #2; If AVG is just a security program, why not just delete it and start over?

[DJofSD]

The problem that Jeff was reporting and asking for help was precipitated by a power outage. Rebooting and recovering a PC after a power outage is a dicey proposition. Normally, you are probably OK just to reboot and go on your merry way.

However, there is always the risk of some file not being written correctly by having the power removed at the wrong time. While the operating system is more or less protected, there is no absolute guarentee. Yes, measures are taken in both the design and implementation of the operating system and the management of the data on the hard disk drive, but, again, there are not absolutes here.

Once you can determine the PC is booting OK and there are not any residual problems with file corruption then addressing the problem of the large AVG files can be looked at. If the large AVG files are not a result of the power failure or some other problem related to the power failure then you can look at the problem as only an AVG problem.

Whether or not the large AVG files require an uninstall and reinstall of AVG is not clear to me. What are those files used for, how they are created and whether or not deleting them is safe to do, again, is not clear to me. I've used AVG on one laptop, once, but not any longer, and, I never ran into a problem like what Jeff has reported nor seen any AVG files like what he posted.

So, to answer the question, yes, uninstalling and reinstalling AVG would probably be OK. However, there is always a chance that it will not uninstall and/or reinstall. I've seen this enough times to know better than to just blindly go forth. Usually, the problems encountered are registry related. Finding those and fixing those can be an adventure in itself but usually some one else has trod that path already and the fix is known. Keeping the software up to date usually avoids these and other problems. And then, there is the open question of whether or not an reinstallation would clean up those huge files.

[HUSKER55]

Dumb question, as I stated before I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Since this was caused by a power failure what is the chance that file is an "emergency close" file? Couldn't you just delete it from your system and download another and start again?

like in excel when something unexpected happens.

[DJofSD]

I'm tempted to tell you how to build a watch when all you are asking for is what time it is. It depends.

There are files for end users and then there are operating system files. There are probably some things about NTFS that would come into play but that would start down the road to building a watch.

[delayjf]

I did attempt to uninstall AVG from the control panel, the problem was that it keep running the AVGMFAPX.exe command over and over again which failed each time. That process succeeded in using up some much memory and computing resources that nothing else could get done.

Rebooting allowed enough of a reprive that I was able to download a program that was able to disable or turn off AVG. I guessing that worked because the reboot terminated enough of the AVGFAPx.exe processes which gave me time to use the download.

At this point my computer is running normally, but I would like my disk space back so I'm researching what is the best way to proceed. I've found simular examples of what I'm experiencing online and it would appear that I could just delete what's left of the AVG folder and reinstall. But I will probably attempt to contact AVG who in simular situations as mine wanted one of the AVGMFAPX files forwarded to them to look at.

[Canarsie]

I did attempt to uninstall AVG from the control panel, the problem was that it keep running the AVGMFAPX.exe command over and over again which failed each time. That process succeeded in using up some much memory and computing resources that nothing else could get done.




Try this program to get rid of most files. Hope this info helps.

http://download.cnet.com/Revo-Uninstaller/3000-2096_4-10687648.html?tag=dropDownForm;productListing

[delayjf]

I gave REVO a shot, unfortunately, AVG no longer appears on the program list created from the control panel - but it is still present on the directory.

[DJofSD]

Jeff, the list of programs you see when using the application from the Control Panel is just using the list it finds in the registry. If AVG does not appear in that list but the folder/folders it uses are still on the HDD then try to reinstall AVG.

If there are problems when trying to reinstall, see if there is a program from AVG to do clean up. Sometimes vendors don't quiet get all of the pieces identified when doing an install, update or delete of the product. Bits and pieces like folders, entries in the registry, DLL files in shared folder, etc., get left and then cause problems. Eventually they figure it out but in the meantime, your stuck in the position of not being able to backwards or forwards. If they have a clean up program, it should correct whatever problem they've created and allow you to go forward.

[senortout]

I'd have to reread the whole thread and dam sure don't wanna do that but, has anyone suggested using "safe-mode" and going from there?

Only suggesting this because programs running, preventing deleting of things you really wish to delete, won't be running, and you can proceed.

Elegant,too simple, inviting comments from the rest of you.