I had this problem at the end of January - before there were many posts on the topic. Win 7 Avast Free 2015.
After using uninstall tool(s) a number of time and having to restore Windows to previous state a number of times, just gave up. Updating Avast shouldn't be so hard. Have installed alternative.
I've also, since then, manually deleted all Avast references in the Registry, but can't be sure that all Avast-related files on my computer have been deleted.
If I could find a tool that would guarantee to clean every such file, or a list so I can delete manually, I'd be tempted, when time permits, to re-install Avast, which I've enjoyed for years.
The instructions I've seen via this forum fall short of this, so, for now, good-bye Avast.