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WebRoot Freezing Up During Security Scan - Should I Be Concerned?

  • 10 February 2013
  • 25 replies
  • 696 views

This has happened to me a couple of times in the last week, and I wanted to know if it was something I should be concerned about. When I run the recommended deep scan, WebRoot freezes up when it reaches 81% completion. The system events counter will continue to increase, but the actual progress of the scan appears to halt. If I try to run another scan during this time, it will make it to 100% without any problem. If left alone, the scan will eventually unfreeze (although the total scan time may take 6 or 7 minutes as opposed to under 1 minute under normal cisrcumstances). Even when it doesn't freeze up, there often seems to be a "pause" when it reaches 81%.
 
I also ran a Full Scan to see what would happen. It scanned slowly, as expected, but once it reached about 80% or 81%, it quickly finished and informed me that the scan was finished.
 
I haven't experienced any other problems on my computer, but I wanted to ask about this just to see if it was anything to worry about. The other times I've run the deep scan (or it's run automatically), it has performed fine and told me that everything is in order.
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Best answer by RetiredTripleHelix 8 December 2013, 20:33

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25 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +6
Welcome to the forums, OldManRivers.
 
I have seen this happen on a few computers so it's not unique and I would not be concerned at this point. However, I'd appreciate it if Webroot could chime in with a technical explanation. 
Userlevel 7
Welcome to the Forums OldManRivers!
 
You mention that on a Deep Scan it freezes at around 81%, and around the same on a full scan.. I am not the most knowledgeble person here, so hopefully Webroot will reply soon as well, but I wonder if it might be a file issue on the hard drive.  Possibly something that hard drive utilities such as a defrag or scandisk might help with?
Userlevel 7
It could be the hard drive, as David mentioned, but that's not as likely as because you have a tremendous amount of temp files in your temp directory. System Cleaner could help you with that if you had Complete.
First of all, thanks for the replies. Now that you mention about temporary files, I remember "permanently deleting" a massive number of picture last week using WebRoot, so maybe that had something to do with it. I have went ahead and ran the system cleaner, so maybe that will fix the matter. Thanks again.
Userlevel 7
Be sure to let us know what happens when you run the scan again.

Inquiring minds want to know!
Userlevel 7
Have you tried a new scan after running system cleaner?
 
 
I've run two scans since then and it didn't freeze up, so maybe that was the source of the problem. If it happens again in the near future, I'll let you know. Thanks again to everyone for their help. It's most appreciated.
Userlevel 7
Thank you for letting us know.. It looks like quite a few of us were interested in how you were getting along!
 
Now that the issue is solved, pull up a chair and hang around a while.  This is a good place to learn about a lot of related topics!
Userlevel 2
Hi, everyone.  New here...just got webroot with a new computer.  Liked it so much I've put it on two more.  I hope the culture here is to add to an existing thread rather than start a new one on the same topic.
 
I'm also having trouble with a scan freezing.  It's the initial scan after installation on an XP machine.  It's been at 99% for an hour or so.  It says "Performing Central Analysis..."  There's a green check next to all items in the dialog.
 
Should I kill the scan and look for some of the issues discussed in this thread?  Maybe disconnect an external drive?  Or let it sit longer?
 
Thanks for any help.
 
Ken
 
Userlevel 7
Hello grishnakh and welcome to the Webroot Community!
 
We are not too picky, and we are easy to get along with: it is fine to add to an existing thread with the same problem OR to start a new one of your own!  (The Moderators will sometimes move things around if they think it has nothing to do with the original thread, but don't worry yourself about that!)
 
That scan time would appear to be far far too long: while the first scan does take longer, we are usually looking at times measured in several minutes for that as opposed to the normal scan time of under a minute.  An hour is way too long.
 
If you have an external drive connected, I would go ahead and cancel that scan.  Disconnect the external, maybe reboot, and try the scan again.  If the scan then completes OK, reconnect the external and scan ONLY it.
 
Let us know what that does.. and we will go from there 🙂
Userlevel 7
Badge +56
Hello Ken and  Welcome to the Webroot Community Forums!


 
Since you got the install scan done stop the scan and do a reboot to set the drivers also make sure you got a good internet connection if you still have issues post back for further instructions.
 
Thanks,
 
Daniel 😉
Userlevel 2
Thanks, guys.  That was the problem.  I shut down, unplugged the drive, and restarted.  The scan went to completion.
 
I'm now kind of in a loop as it finds malware, cleans it, then rescans.  Malware has mostly been conduit searchprotect components.  Not exactly the John Dillinger of malware, but I'm very pleased that webroot hates it while my prior virus program let it be.
 
Thanks again
 
Ken
 
Userlevel 7
Badge +56
Did you try to plug your external drive back on and do a and scan again as I don't think it had anything to do with the drive as I always have mine hooked up without issues. I think the Reboot was needed to set the drivers.
 
Daniel
Userlevel 7
Conduit, if I recall correctly, may not be true Malware, but it certainly is a browser hijacker and can be very difficult to remove.  It may be what we refer to as a PUA (Potentially Unwanted Application.)  Here is a past thread related to Conduit specifically.
 
It is a relatively recent addition to Webroots detection engines, as Webroot has historically not acted on this type of annoyware.  I am very glad that the 2014 version of WSA now includes some PUA detection, and more are being added in regularly!
 
Grab a chair and stick around with is.. we don't bite 🙂 and this is a great place to learn more!
Userlevel 2
Definitely a great place.  The warm welcome is very much appreciated.
 
I think my original hangup was the external drive.  Whe I ran a separate scan on it, it went very slowly: 25% done after 6 hours.  I killed it, and will scan it later on a newer machine.  The original scan probably got to 99% when the internal drive finished, then it went to work on the external drive.
 
Last night's final adventure was when my previous virus program, Avast, got in its last licks by not fully uninstalling.  I made the tactical error of calling the phone support listed on the Avast web site.  All is well after I taught the tech/salesman a few new words, hung up, and found their actual cleanup tool.
 
Ken
 
Userlevel 7
Ummm... can you PM the link to the cleanup to me?
🙂 :)

Thanks!
Userlevel 2
It's probably right in front of me, but I don't see how to send a PM.
 
But if you google "avast cleanup tool" the link to it, and to a bunch of sites that talk about it, pop up.
 
It doesn't clean all of the stuff out of the registry, but it gets rid of enough of it and nukes the installation directory so the flotsam has stopped.
 
Ken
 
Userlevel 7
Badge +56
Right here:
 


 
Daniel
 
 
Userlevel 4
Badge +16
Avast's cleanup tool is here .  There is an additional cleaning tool written by a knowledgable user (RejZor) but I am having trouble getting the link for it.  You can find this user at Wilders Security Forum.
 
Also, you may find this interesting: Antivirus Remover. (Information is available here)  Don't let the name scare you; it is just a program that lists all the cleanup / removal tools available for all the common AVs and has the web links for the tools.
dbrisendine wrote: ....
There is an additional cleaning tool written by a knowledgable user (RejZor) but I am having trouble getting the link for it.  ...
On this blog perhaps? > http://rejzor.wordpress.com/avast-cleanup-tool/
Userlevel 4
Badge +16
@ wrote:
dbrisendine wrote: ....
There is an additional cleaning tool written by a knowledgable user (RejZor) but I am having trouble getting the link for it.  ...
On this blog perhaps? > http://rejzor.wordpress.com/avast-cleanup-tool/
That's the one!  Thanks for the link. 😃
Userlevel 2
I found rejzor's cleanup tool.  Unfortunately, it's for Vista onward, not XP.  I'll live with the leftovers in my registry.  Machine is 8 years old, and that's probably the least of its hardening of the arteries.  Avast's tool got rid of the stuff that was plaguing me.
 
A bit more adventure to my interaction with Avast.  Their customer service got back to me after I griped about their tech support guy.  Instead of looking to solve the Avast problem, he found the now-empty conduit directory, claimed it was a sign that my system was badly infested, and offered to clean it for the bargain price of $169. Flat refused to look at the actual problem unless I paid up.  Turns out Avast's phone support number takes you to an outfit called iYogi that has a track record of that kind of thing.
 
Ken
 
Userlevel 7
SCAM!!!
 
At my work place, iYogi is VERY well known as a scam outfit that appears to be the support for quite a few different companies.  Most often people google search looking for a legit phone number for a company like Avast and get sucked in.  I have seen people get them when they were trying to get Webroot, etc etc etc.
 
 
Userlevel 7
@ , PM on the way in a moment
Userlevel 2
Got your PM and replied.  The legit link you sent looks just like the one I hit the other night.  Number looks the same, although I did not write it down or bookmark it.  It's the same page where I clicked on the feedback link to feed back.
 
The e-mail I got was from ccare@avast.com.  There was a link at the bottom
 
https://support.avast.com/index.php?/Default_old
 
which leads to a different page, without a phone number.
 
I replied to her, declining to carry the conversation any further because I didn't lose any money and am not using Avast any more.  But I offered to tell my story formally if they're engaged in any action against iYogi and it would help.
 
Ken

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