Avast killed Opera

[REDACTED]

So I've only started using the Opera browser for a little bit, so I'm still fairly new to it...

I ran an Avast quick scan, and since then, my Opera Preference Files could not be read. All of my bookmarks are gone, my theme, extensions, everything is just gone. Chrome crashes my computer, I don't like Firefox, and IE is, in my opinion, outdated and slow. I want some help with this since Opera is really the only browser that I really, really like so far...

If it keeps deleting preference files, I guess I'll HAVE to go back to chrome. Also, restarting doesn't help; and to fix it, I'll probably need to reinstall Opera which means losing everything. At that point, I guess I'll just go back to Chrome... :/

EDIT: Uninstalled Opera for the time being, as it was pretty much in OPERAble... Back to being serious, it doesn't happen with Chrome it seems. All of my stuff is still in tact after running another Quick Scan as a test to see if it happened to Chrome. Seems to be an Opera exclusive thing. Also, I could not access my Preferences file, with the "error" if you'd like to call it that of: "Access is Denied." It was installed to my AppData/Roaming, so I don't get why access was denied. xP

[REDACTED]

I guess I'll just have to go back to chrome. 

[essexboy]

Did the quick scan move anything to the chest ?

[REDACTED]

Not according to Avast. The Virus Chest is empty.


This is off topic, but I saw a different post saying that you should uninstall Java.
Is it really safe to? I mean, do enough sites not use Java to be able to safely uninstall it?

[Para-Noid]

Unless you absolutely need java (Java Runtime Environment) then yes uninstall it.
See http://www.forbes.com/sites/eliseackerman/2013/01/11/us-department-of-homeland-security-calls-on-computer-users-to-disable-java/
And http://www.geekstogo.com/2600/how-to-disable-java-in-your-web-browser/

Keep in mind there is a difference between JRE (java) and javascript.
This laptop has never seen JRE nor will it ever see JRE.

[essexboy]

If nothing was moved to the chest then maybe it is not Avast at fault

[REDACTED]

I really doubt it was anything else. I ran a scan, closed Opera after it finished to do something. I come back, turn Opera on and I got that warning.

It literally couldn't have been anything else. The only extensions I had were Adblock and Avast's reputation add on.

[REDACTED]

Unless you absolutely need java (Java Runtime Environment) then yes uninstall it.
See http://www.forbes.com/sites/eliseackerman/2013/01/11/us-department-of-homeland-security-calls-on-computer-users-to-disable-java/
And http://www.geekstogo.com/2600/how-to-disable-java-in-your-web-browser/

Keep in mind there is a difference between JRE (java) and javascript.
This laptop has never seen JRE nor will it ever see JRE.

In my computer's "Add or Change a Program" list, Java's update is in there. Should I uninstall that, or should I just leave it installed and disable it on all of my browsers?

[DavidR]

Unless you absolutely need java (Java Runtime Environment) then yes uninstall it.
See http://www.forbes.com/sites/eliseackerman/2013/01/11/us-department-of-homeland-security-calls-on-computer-users-to-disable-java/
And http://www.geekstogo.com/2600/how-to-disable-java-in-your-web-browser/

Keep in mind there is a difference between JRE (java) and javascript.
This laptop has never seen JRE nor will it ever see JRE.

In my computer's "Add or Change a Program" list, Java's update is in there. Should I uninstall that, or should I just leave it installed and disable it on all of my browsers?

First if you don't have a website or a program that absolutely requires JAVA (note capitals) then you should remove it (it is a massive target for exploit). But your wording I rather doubt that you are using a website or a program that absolutely requires JAVA or you would know.

JAVA and javascript are totally different and for the most part you don't require JAVA.

[REDACTED]

Unless you absolutely need java (Java Runtime Environment) then yes uninstall it.
See http://www.forbes.com/sites/eliseackerman/2013/01/11/us-department-of-homeland-security-calls-on-computer-users-to-disable-java/
And http://www.geekstogo.com/2600/how-to-disable-java-in-your-web-browser/

Keep in mind there is a difference between JRE (java) and javascript.
This laptop has never seen JRE nor will it ever see JRE.

In my computer's "Add or Change a Program" list, Java's update is in there. Should I uninstall that, or should I just leave it installed and disable it on all of my browsers?

First if you don't have a website or a program that absolutely requires JAVA (note capitals) then you should remove it (it is a massive target for exploit). But your wording I rather doubt that you are using a website or a program that absolutely requires JAVA or you would know.

JAVA and javascript are totally different and for the most part you don't require JAVA.

I understand Java and Javascript are different, I'm just making sure for things such as Chrome or Opera that they do not need Java. I'll uninstall it now, I guess I can just reinstall if anything goes wrong.

Thank you for the assistance.

[DavidR]

You're welcome.

[REDACTED]

If nothing was moved to the chest then maybe it is not Avast at fault

I really can't pinpoint any other problems. It's not like a browser to just. Corrupt itself. It really confused me, honestly... I might download Opera again after deleting Chrome completely, and using IE... Maybe that'll work.

Any advice perhaps?

[mchain]

Here are a couple of links that may help you get started:
XP:  http://ichbinhuatoh.blogspot.com/2011/03/fixed-error-your-preferences-cannot-be.html
http://superuser.com/questions/420174/google-chrome-pops-up-your-preferences-can-not-be-read-upon-startup
http://blogs.opera.com/desktop/2015/03/opera-developer-moves-version-30/

Use a general search as here to pinpoint exact issues with your browsers:  https://duckduckgo.com/?q=my+Opera+Preference+Files+could+not+be+read

Also, if you could put info such as operating system, avast version, etc., in your user forum profile signature, we can tailor advice to be specific to the system you are running.  Would help.

[REDACTED]

Here are a couple of links that may help you get started:
XP:  http://ichbinhuatoh.blogspot.com/2011/03/fixed-error-your-preferences-cannot-be.html
http://superuser.com/questions/420174/google-chrome-pops-up-your-preferences-can-not-be-read-upon-startup
http://blogs.opera.com/desktop/2015/03/opera-developer-moves-version-30/

Use a general search as here to pinpoint exact issues with your browsers:  https://duckduckgo.com/?q=my+Opera+Preference+Files+could+not+be+read

Also, if you could put info such as operating system, avast version, etc., in your user forum profile signature, we can tailor advice to be specific to the system you are running.  Would help.

I'll do that, thank you; but before I do, would I put Avast! Free or do I put the exact version. I let avast Auto Update because, well, it's Avast. I've been thinking of disabling it but I don't think it's a huge issue. All other auto-update features are disabled, such as Windows Update which is set to download the updates, but tell me before installing them. So would I put something like "Avast! Free (Latest)" or "Avast! Free". Just want to make sure I get it right.

I'm on Windows Vista 64-Bit with Avast! Free. I think it's just an Opera bug, but I can't find anything about it on the Opera Forums or about it unless it's because of CCleaner.  I found it really peculiar that I couldn't even delete the preferences file yet it was downloaded to AppData/Roaming. I got the "access is denied" error. So far, Avast is telling me it's an Opera issue (From my understanding), and Opera Forums are telling me it's a computer issue. I'm pretty sure, about 99% sure, that it's not a computer issue.

All of the things that I've read from those links are to delete the preferences file, but like I said, I couldn't even access my preferences file. Then again, I guess I could've tried to wipe Opera clean before I just deleted it...

I'd be happy even if we had a slight clue, or maybe just an idea of a reason why it'd corrupt. That's all I'm looking for. It's really uncommon for me to see preferences files corrupt, and it seems more common in Chrome than Opera... Though I appreciate your help, I unfortunately don't think I'll get that far.

[mchain]

I've just changed my forum profile signature to include Windows version and avast version as a guide for you.