I setup a brand new Dell Dimension E520 for one of my clients a few months ago.  It was running Windows Vista Ultimate Edition.  I got everything setup without a hitch until I tried to install AVG Free.  After I installed AVG I kept getting the following error when the computer started up as well as when I tried to double-click on the desktop icon to start AVG:

avgwb.dat - Application Error
The application failed to initialize properly (0xc0000022). Click OK to terminate the application.

I tried all kinds of things to try to troubleshoot the issue.  I uninstalled AVG and reinstalled it.  I right-clicked on the AVG icon and selected “Run as administrator” which prevented the error from coming up but wasn’t a permanent solution.  I contacted Dell technical support because it was a brand new computer and I figured the problem was caused by something Dell did when they configured UAC in Vista.  I even purchased AVG Anti-Malware Edition and contacted Grisoft’s technical support team (the free version doesn’t come with technical support).  However, nothing I tried seem to help.  I finally decided that I needed to find a temporary solution and revisit the problem after Grisoft’s technical support team had more time to analyze the problem.  Since the problem seemed to be a security related issue caused by UAC in Windows Vista I temporarily disabled the UAC.  That temporarily “fixed” the problem and got AVG working until I could find the cause of the problem and fix it.

The Grisoft technical support team never did find a solution for me and Dell wasn’t much help at all.  Apparently they were all as baffled as I was.  When I was looking at the computer again today I noticed that the AVG error was coming up again.  It looked like someone had enabled UAC since the last time I looked at the computer so I decided to take another crack at the issue.  When I figured out the solution I decided to post it on my blog to help other people troubleshoot similar problems and hopefully save them some of the frustration I experienced.

The Solution:

I already knew the problem had something to with the avgcc.exe program not being granted the proper security permissions to run.  I did a little more research on the Internet and decided to use Dependency Walker to try to figure out what files avgcc.exe was having trouble accessing.

1. I downloaded Dependency Walker and extracted it.
2. I ran Dependency Walker and opened the “C:\program files\Grisoft\AVG7\avgcc.exe” file with it.
3. At the bottom of the screen it told me there was an access denied error when trying to load the “C:\windows\system32\mfc71.dll” file it was dependant on.
4. I opened Windows Explorer and browsed to the MFC71.DLL file, right-clicked on it, and selected properties.
5. Then I clicked on the Security tab.  It gave me a UAC security warning about changing the permissions of system files and I clicked Continue.
6. I added the Everyone group and gave it Read/Execute access to the file.
7. I tested AVG and it was working just fine after that.
8. I went back in to check the settings of some similar files and it looked like the previous permissions had been correct.
9. I removed the Everyone group and tested AVG.  It still seemed to be working ok so I rebooted to double-check and everything came up just fine.

Conclusion:

It looks like the permissions for the MFC71.DLL file got corrupted somehow.  I don’t know if it was something wrong with Dell’s original setup or what caused the problem.  I haven’t ran into this problem on any other Dell computers running Vista yet.  If you have ran into the same problem before please post a comment and let me know.  I’d really appreciate the feedback.  Thanks!

I received this interesting tidbit of information in my e-mail today:

Grisoft has launched a “Become Legal” campaign this week.  AVG users using their license against the End-User License Agreement are notified and a purchase of AVG license offered.  This campaign is focused on AVG Free users and users of illegal AVG License Numbers spread over the Internet.  This is a great opportunity for you to offer a full AVG license to such users!

You definitely have an illegal copy of AVG if you are using AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition against the terms of the EULA (End-User License Agreement) or are using a license number that has been spread over the Internet.  Here is a brief list of the licensing terms from the AVG Free download page on the Grisoft website:

* AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is for private, non-commercial, single computer use only. The use of AVG Free within any organization or for commercial purposes is strictly prohibited.
* AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is not for use with any type of OEM bundling with software, hardware components, or any other services.
* Your use of AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition shall be in accordance with and is subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition License Agreement that accompanies AVG Free.

We are an AVG Authorized Reseller and can help you make the switch from an illegal copy of AVG to a properly licensed copy.  We can help you with every step of the process, from determining what Grisoft product best meets your needs to the purchase and installation of it.  Please give us a call and we’ll be more than happy to help you.