Windows 8 + Avast (or third party Anti-Virus) = BSOD?

So, I have a brand new Asus N56JR laptop. Upgraded to 8.1 and due to some graphics driver problems I Reset the PC to factory and so back to Windows 8.
Came preloaded with McAfee, but I like Avast so I uninstalled McAfee. Just when I was about to restart to finish unsinstall -> BSOD, Driver_Power_State_Failure at ntoskrnl.exe.

After BSOD restart I installed Avast. Result = few more BSOD, same error.

Exchanged the laptop since I thought it is a hardware problem.

New laptop -> first thing is to install Avast. Next thing -> BSOD, same error. Then I uninstall Asus Live Update, restart -> again BSOD. Next, I uninstall Avast and -> no more BSOD, or at least so far no bsod.

Need to mention that the computer was on and I was working on it. It was not sleeping/hibernate and I woke it up. And also, every time bsods happened I was using the touchpad (and I mean every single time).
The last thing recorded by Windows Event was almost always this:
Process C:\Program Files (x86)\ASUS\ASUS Smart Gesture\AsTPCenter\x64\AsusTPCenter.exe (process ID:5420) reset policy scheme from {381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e} to {381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e}
And somehow, I see a lot of these in the event viewer!

So, first thing I can think of is that Avast has issues with Win 8. Been reading on forums but didn't find too much info on that. It is known that Avast causes bsod, but haven't seen many users having the same error as mine.

So, is there a general trend for third party Anti-Virus software to cause BSOD with Win 8? Is it hardware-brand related or rather Microsoft related?




WinDbg for one minidump. All BSODs were having the same error with same result from WinDbg:
*******************************************************************************
* *
* Bugcheck Analysis *
* *
*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 9F, {3, fffffa8010318880, fffff88000a9e7e0, fffffa80149b9350}

Unable to load image \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\nvlddmkm.sys, Win32 error 0n2
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for nvlddmkm.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for nvlddmkm.sys
Probably caused by : pci.sys

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

3: kd> !analyze -v
*******************************************************************************
* *
* Bugcheck Analysis *
* *
*******************************************************************************

DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE (9f)
A driver is causing an inconsistent power state.
Arguments:
Arg1: 0000000000000003, A device object has been blocking an Irp for too long a time
Arg2: fffffa8010318880, Physical Device Object of the stack
Arg3: fffff88000a9e7e0, Functional Device Object of the stack
Arg4: fffffa80149b9350, The blocked IRP

Debugging Details:
------------------


OVERLAPPED_MODULE: Address regions for 'nwifi' and 'IntcDAud.sys' overlap

DRVPOWERSTATE_SUBCODE: 3

IMAGE_NAME: pci.sys

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP: 5010ab1f

MODULE_NAME: pci

FAULTING_MODULE: fffff880012b9000 pci

CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT: 1

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID: VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT

BUGCHECK_STR: 0x9F

PROCESS_NAME: System

CURRENT_IRQL: 2

STACK_TEXT:
fffff880`00a9e7a8 fffff800`2b5a8422 : 00000000`0000009f 00000000`00000003 fffffa80`10318880 fffff880`00a9e7e0 : nt!KeBugCheckEx
fffff880`00a9e7b0 fffff800`2b5a8455 : fffffa80`15000250 fffffa80`11e20770 fffff880`00a9e939 fffff800`2b4be7d6 : nt!PopIrpWatchdogBugcheck+0xe2
fffff880`00a9e810 fffff800`2b4bfae4 : fffffa80`11e20770 fffffa80`11e20600 fffff880`00a9eb18 fffff880`00b5b180 : nt!PopIrpWatchdog+0x32
fffff880`00a9e860 00000000`00000000 : 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 00000000`00000000 : nt!KiProcessExpiredTimerList+0x214


STACK_COMMAND: kb

FOLLOWUP_NAME: MachineOwner

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: X64_0x9F_3_nvlddmkm_IMAGE_pci.sys

BUCKET_ID: X64_0x9F_3_nvlddmkm_IMAGE_pci.sys

Followup: MachineOwner
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Hi,

Unlikely to be related to antivirus.

Run the tool here then post the results if you wish, and we will have it all fixed up:

http://www.eightforums.com/bsod-cra...e-screen-death-bsod-posting-instructions.html