I want my system back - aka avast has become a malware

[REDACTED]

Hi!
Some times ago, I had avast intalled on my computer, which was running under windows 8 at the time. When one update silently decided to modify my emails to add a signature which asking me first, I decided that was not the kind of practice I wanted to support, and installed avast from my computer.

A few days ago, I made the upgrade to Windows 10.
And was quite shocked to have a pop-up nagging me about updating Windows 10.
Although that's a bit surprising and disturbing to know that the uninstall did leave something behind, it wouldn't have been a problem if that window actually offered a way to get rid of it permanently. I chose "never", click postpone... only to have the pop-up come back again 10 minutes later.

So, in an attempt to solve the issue, I clicked "update avast antivirus now", waited for the install to finish, and then uninstall avast again.

I thought that was the correct way to get rid of avast on my system for good.
I was wrong.
The following reboot the pop-up was back again, asking to complete a Windows 10 update.

I find it totally UNACCEPTABLE.

I want my system back.

Please give me instructions on how to get a clean operating system again, without any trace left of avast, and without constant pop-ups that behave like a malware would.

[CraigB]

After uninstalling Avast then follow with the avastclean tool, you can of course follow that up with a manual search of the registry for Avast as all programs will leave remnants in the registry.

[Eddy]

As it has been for a long time with many (most?) software, if you want it to be removed completely you will have to do it manually.

[anarkii]

Hi!
Some times ago, I had avast intalled on my computer, which was running under windows 8 at the time. When one update silently decided to modify my emails to add a signature which asking me first, I decided that was not the kind of practice I wanted to support, and installed avast from my computer.

A few days ago, I made the upgrade to Windows 10.
And was quite shocked to have a pop-up nagging me about updating Windows 10.
Although that's a bit surprising and disturbing to know that the uninstall did leave something behind, it wouldn't have been a problem if that window actually offered a way to get rid of it permanently. I chose "never", click postpone... only to have the pop-up come back again 10 minutes later.

So, in an attempt to solve the issue, I clicked "update avast antivirus now", waited for the install to finish, and then uninstall avast again.

I thought that was the correct way to get rid of avast on my system for good.
I was wrong.
The following reboot the pop-up was back again, asking to complete a Windows 10 update.

I find it totally UNACCEPTABLE.

I want my system back.

Please give me instructions on how to get a clean operating system again, without any trace left of avast, and without constant pop-ups that behave like a malware would.

The bugging of the popup asking you to upgrade or update Windows 10 is infact a Windows 10 'feature', and nothing to do with Avast.

[REDACTED]

The bugging of the popup asking you to upgrade or update Windows 10 is infact a Windows 10 'feature', and nothing to do with Avast.

I find that really hard to believe. I seriously doubt Microsoft would bother to create Avast folders on my hard drive.

Regarding other answers: doing it manually only makes me point stronger. But I would really like to have specific directions as to do it cleanly and in one sweep.

[Pondus]

Regarding other answers: doing it manually only makes me point stronger. But I would really like to have specific directions as to do it cleanly and in one sweep.

All AV vendors have a FAQ section  >>  https://www.avast.com/faq.php?article=AVKB10#artTitle

You may search for leftover files and delete manually

[bob3160]

There seems to be a misnomer that every piece of a software needs to be removed in order for it not
to interfere with something else that might be running or is going to be installed at some future date.
As long as the drivers are removed and there aren't any executable files left that can be triggered,
the rest simply amounts to something that is taking up HD space.
We've long since passed the days where HD space is precious. The days of the 6.7 gig or smaller HD's
is ancient history.
If what remains after an uninstall no longer interferes with anything else, what's the big deal
A clean removal is certainly always wished for but is hardly ever achieved. Worry about important matters not trivial stuff.

[MartinZ]

This dialog shows max 3 times and checks if avast is installed during Win10 start in case Avast was installed on previous version of Windows. It will stop appearing.

[REDACTED]

There seems to be a misnomer that every piece of a software needs to be removed in order for it not
to interfere with something else that might be running or is going to be installed at some future date.
As long as the drivers are removed and there aren't any executable files left that can be triggered,
the rest simply amounts to something that is taking up HD space.
We've long since passed the days where HD space is precious. The days of the 6.7 gig or smaller HD's
is ancient history.
If what remains after an uninstall no longer interferes with anything else, what's the big deal
A clean removal is certainly always wished for but is hardly ever achieved. Worry about important matters not trivial stuff.

I have read elsewhere to just in this forum to just delete the executable file. That is unacceptable.
It's not about the disk space.
It's about not having a bloated system trying to constantly launch a program that's not there anymore.

[REDACTED]

This dialog shows max 3 times and checks if avast is installed during Win10 start in case Avast was installed on previous version of Windows. It will stop appearing.

No it does not.
It's been a week, and I'm getting increasingly pissed at having this constant reminder of being held hostage, and getting no solution from avast at all.

[Eddy]

It's about not having a bloated system trying to constantly launch a program that's not there anymore.

As I said before, often the only way nowadays to remove a application completely is to do it manually.
As you see the message from avast, it is clear you did not remove it completely.
Instead of complaining, why don't you do so ?

[petr_matrix]

Binaries have their purpose when you are upgrading your system (e.g. from Win10 TH2 to Win10 RS1) and have older avast.
But there are tasks and it should be harmless to remove them. They are called avast backup or avast upgrade and they are in task scheduler in the "\AVAST Software" folder.
They should be deleted when you click on never, but don't know why it didn't happen.