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Consumer Products => Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security (legacy Pro Antivirus, Internet Security, Premier) => Topic started by: KingWeb on December 10, 2011, 09:27:20 PM

Title: Completely Disable Avast?
Post by: KingWeb on December 10, 2011, 09:27:20 PM
Even though I have turned off all Avast permanently I find AvastSvc.exe is still running?
I even disabled it on start up and it still runs?
When I try to End Process on this file AvastSvc.exe it automatically restarts.


How do I turn Avast OFF COMPLETELY so that nothing that is associated with Avast is running?
Do I have to completely uninstall it for this to stop, I hope not because if I do I won't reinstall it again...

I don't like programs that need to run in the background regardless of whether you are running the program or not.

I should have a choice whether I want to run a program on my computer or not.

Thank you.
Title: Re: Completely Disable Avast?
Post by: Pondus on December 10, 2011, 09:36:58 PM
antivirus programs are made to run in the bacground at all time....they are also made to not be dissabled by malware

If it is only a on demand scanner you want ? i can recomend another program
Title: Re: Completely Disable Avast?
Post by: Gargamel360 on December 10, 2011, 09:38:46 PM
I don't like programs that need to run in the background regardless of whether you are running the program or not.
Then say goodbye to the modern AV market, and move to Linux or Apple which are (for the time being) safer platforms that don't need such protection.  This how things are now, and it will probably be this way going forward.

Not saying I like it either, but the AV vendors position is purely reactionary.  Threats come, and they devise ways to stop them.  Including threats that turn off your AV.  

Title: Re: Completely Disable Avast?
Post by: Asyn on December 10, 2011, 09:39:00 PM
I don't like programs that need to run in the background regardless of whether you are running the program or not.

Well, resident AVs tend to do this. ;D
Title: Re: Completely Disable Avast?
Post by: ady4um on December 10, 2011, 09:44:49 PM
The whole point of a resident AV is to protect you. If some malware were capable of disabling your resident AV in such simple manner (as you want, but manually), then you wouldn't be protected.

As mentioned, there are non-resident security tools too.

As for a more technical answer, for you to disable avast, you would need to disable the defense module, the driver, the service and the shields of avast. I can't see the point of doing it, but that's up to you.

Alternatively, you could do whatever you want under Windows Safe Mode, without touching avast. Then avast would work again in Windows Normal Mode.
Title: Re: Completely Disable Avast?
Post by: igor on December 10, 2011, 09:52:40 PM
If you were able to kill the process, you have most likely already disabled the product's self-defense features. But you shouldn't simply kill the service, but rather use the correct method - stopping it from Administrative tools / Services, then it wouldn't restart.

But since you won't be able to even run an on-demand scan without the service running, yes, you can just as well uninstall it.
Title: Re: Completely Disable Avast?
Post by: norel on December 10, 2011, 10:01:49 PM
KingWeb, you need to go to Settings>Troubleshooting and untick "Enable self-defense module." When it asks if you're sure click "Yes." Then from the Windows start menu, run services.msc. Find Avast Antivirus in the list, double click it, and from the dialog select "Disable," then "Apply," then "Stop." This should kill it.

If you know what you're doing, there's no reason not to shut it down if you want to. There will be times when you'll need to for troubleshooting purposes. That's why the there's an option to temporarily disable the self-defense module in the settings.
Title: Re: Completely Disable Avast?
Post by: KingWeb on December 11, 2011, 01:57:45 AM
Wow, didn't think I would get any responses, proved me wrong...

Anyway, I'm not a common computer user, I actually know what I'm doing and have reasons for wanting to have complete control over all programs that I install and run.

I also understand the reason for not being able to shut it down, especially for the common computer user who doesn't know what they're doing and doesn't want to know.

I just think it would be nice if we (geeks) weren't included in the same scenario as the commoner. And methods were in place to give us "Advanced Control".

@ norel...I appreciate the answer and was able to completely shut it down according to your instructions...(I had missed the "Enable self-defense module")

Thanks.
Title: Re: Completely Disable Avast?
Post by: mikaelrask on December 11, 2011, 09:24:42 AM
why would you want do disable avast from the first place?. its uses very little ram. high scanning speed. high detection of malware and very low on false threat.