Avast! AV Not Being Recognised in Win 7 Action Centre

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I have just installed Avast! Free (custom install) on my Win 7 x64 PC. Although I've ran Avast! Free before on a different machine this is the first time I have run Avast! on this particular machine.



As you can see, it doesn't seem to be able to detect any AV on my computer. I've actually turned off the messages about virus protection in the centre itself.

Avast!, on the other hand, is working fine.



Is this just a bug?

[Pondus]

try reboot 2-3 times?

any change?

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I've rebooted twice, I'll try a third time.

EDIT: No, it still isn't registering in the Action Centre. Avast! seems to be working fine though. Maybe because I installed it with a custom minimal amount of services?

[Pondus]

if you google it you will see it is not only avast ....

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After doing some research this problem with the Action Centre isn't unknown with Avast! or other AV's. I don't need the Action Centre to tell me if Avast! isn't working as it appears capable of doing that itself anyway. Avast! seems to be running and updating fine.

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if you google it you will see it is not only avast ....

Yeah, thanks, I've discovered it's a known MS bug. Avast! is working fine anyway. 

[DavidR]

As has been said this is a common issue with the WAC (and previously the WSC) and relates to issues with the WMI.

See http://windowsxp.mvps.org/repairwmi.htm, this also mentions Vista, so that may be valid for win7.
For Windows 7 also see Win7 WMI Repair

[REDACTED]

OK thanks. AFAIK I'm not getting any other system information errors, it is just with Avast!. Avira users have reported the same thing. I think I can live with Avast! not being recognised in the Action Centre. Avast! itself doesn't seem to mind as it is working perfectly as far as I can tell.

[CraigB]

You should be able to get it recognised simply by disabling the Avast shields then re-enable via right clicking the Avast taskbar icon.

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You should be able to get it recognised simply by disabling the Avast shields then re-enable via right clicking the Avast taskbar icon.

OK thanks. As I already have browser hardening and anti-malware installed I only needed a minimal install of Avast! so I didn't include the shields in the custom install I made.



So, this may explain why this is happening. At the end of the day, I can live with the Action Centre not recognising Avast!.

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Problem resolved!

I activated the file shield and now Action Centre recognises Avast!

[bob3160]

It wasn't an Action Center error after all.

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It wasn't an Action Center error after all.

Well, it depends on how you look at it I suppose. The Action Centre didn't recognise Avast! as a minimal install which had had no shields added during the install itself. I actually went into Programs and Features to change this and checked the box to install the File Shield. Avast! ran perfectly well without the shields at all and scanned on-demand, updated and was fine. It's just that Win 7 x64's Action Centre didn't recognise any AV until I added the File Shield later. Either way, an anti-virus program had been installed on my computer but MS couldn't recognise it without an active file shield. Which is a bit weird if you ask me.

[bob3160]

It wasn't an Action Center error after all.

Well, it depends on how you look at it I suppose. The Action Centre didn't recognise Avast! as a minimal install which had had no shields added during the install itself. I actually went into Programs and Features to change this and checked the box to install the File Shield. Avast! ran perfectly well without the shields at all and scanned on-demand, updated and was fine. It's just that Win 7 x64's Action Centre didn't recognise any AV until I added the File Shield later. Either way, an anti-virus program had been installed on my computer but MS couldn't recognise it without an active file shield. Which is a bit weird if you ask me.

In your case, the Action Center simply informed you that you were not fully protected.
By not having all of the shield active, that was definitely correct.

[REDACTED]

It wasn't an Action Center error after all.

Well, it depends on how you look at it I suppose. The Action Centre didn't recognise Avast! as a minimal install which had had no shields added during the install itself. I actually went into Programs and Features to change this and checked the box to install the File Shield. Avast! ran perfectly well without the shields at all and scanned on-demand, updated and was fine. It's just that Win 7 x64's Action Centre didn't recognise any AV until I added the File Shield later. Either way, an anti-virus program had been installed on my computer but MS couldn't recognise it without an active file shield. Which is a bit weird if you ask me.

In your case, the Action Center simply informed you that you were not fully protected.
By not having all of the shield active, that was definitely correct.

It informed me that it could not detect any anti-virus program on my computer whatsoever. That's not quite the same as informing me I was not fully protected.

The fact that I can choose to install Avast! without any real-time shields doesn't render it inoperable or completely ineffective as an anti-virus program.

There is a distinct difference.