musec03
Many Thanks to you all for these comments... Avast ran fine before I paid for it.

 
The "paid for it" version is bloatware and will really slow a pc down - the internet security (oxymoron) will virtually kill your machine.
 
Just run the good old free one, generally behave yourself in the interplayground and you should be "back to normal"

bitman
Nothing on my DAW. I suspect oddities I will take it offline and give it a good cleaning.
This keeps it lean and mean.

This.  You can go to websites that do online scanning.  Then run Malwarebytes Anti-Malware at least once a week.

musec03
Today ...Cakewalk tech support walked me through a problem...
SONAR would attempt to launch ...then freeze until task was ended.
deleted Avast antivirus ...problem went away too
Avast Antivirus seems to be a problem with ASIO in general...

What antivirus do you use?
 
 

I used to love Avast - used it for 10 years.  But it has become bloated lately, and they are becoming very agressive with marketing.  Someone recommended ESET NOD32, and I'm very happy with it.  You have to pay for it, but it is slim, with a light footprint, and very configurable.  The price isn't too bad - $60 for 2 years.  I have been very happy with it.  Give it a try,
 
http://www.eset.com/us/products/nod32-antivirus/

musec03
Today ...Cakewalk tech support walked me through a problem...
SONAR would attempt to launch ...then freeze until task was ended.
deleted Avast antivirus ...problem went away too
Avast Antivirus seems to be a problem with ASIO in general...

What antivirus do you use?
 
 

 Avast's problem these days is that they are offering this to try to get you to buy their product:
 

 
 
When what I'm willing to pay for is this:
 

 
To be fair, it's not just Avast.  Most of the major AV companies are taking the same approach.  That's why I went with ESET.  They got it right!
 
 

I use ESET Smart Security never have had an issue with Sonar.
My 2nd choice would be Kasperky.
If my PC was never (even for email)/ or rarely on the Internet I might use AVG free version.
I don't trust Avast - too many of my customers have had issues with AVAST.
 

If you have more than two computers on your network, you may want to use an external security appliance.
I use a Sonicwall firewall with a subscription to Anti-Virus, Malware, and intrusion protection installed on the device.
No need to run ANY protection software on any of the machines on my network (6 including DAW).
A little pricey up front (used TZ-205 $200-$300), and the annual subscription runs $170. But, it is protecting every device on the network, so 170/6 isn't that bad. Been using Sonicwalls for about 15 years, NEVER been infected.
 
 

As a software developer, I've been battling "security" software for many years. It's not that the stuff doesn't work (sometimes it does), it's that the default settings are too aggressive, too intrusive. The vendor would rather have it interfere with legitimate processes than to miss an evil one.
 
They key is turning off "real time protection" or whatever your antivirus vendor calls its TSR component, and whitelisting every folder and executable that you know will never be infected. Some of these products actually want to scan wave files! Why? Because the file extension may have been intentionally changed to disguise the true nature of some malware. Any file can carry a rootkit. But the likelihood of your Kontakt libraries being infected is slim to none.

bitflipper
As a software developer, I've been battling "security" software for many years. It's not that the stuff doesn't work (sometimes it does), it's that the default settings are too aggressive, too intrusive. The vendor would rather have it interfere with legitimate processes than to miss an evil one.
 
They key is turning off "real time protection" or whatever your antivirus vendor calls its TSR component, and whitelisting every folder and executable that you know will never be infected. Some of these products actually want to scan wave files! Why? Because the file extension may have been intentionally changed to disguise the true nature of some malware. Any file can carry a rootkit. But the likelihood of your Kontakt libraries being infected is slim to none.

That's one of the nice things about ESET.  I have .wav, .m4a, .mp3, and .nk(everything by NI here) excluded.

I use Norton 360 Premier.  Works Great and No Problems at all...

I use Avast,i just make sure Avast Sheilds are turned off for an hour or until I restart my computer and no problems at all.