Hi all
I'll keep things brief: here's the description of the issue I'm having:
OS: Win 8.1, fully updated
Avast version: Internet Security, activated and fully updated
Issue:
1. On Sunday 04 Feb my computer threw up a DPC Watchdog Violation shortly after login.
2. The comp restarted automatically and when I cleared the login page I received a warning from Windows Action Center that Avast's anti virus component was inactive. Avast reported that all of its shields, save the firewall, were not present.
3. To resolve, I uninstalled Avast IS and reinstalled using the offline installer.
4. Yesterday, I decided that the custom Avast set up I'd installed wasn't working out, so I uninstalled Avast again and then reinstalled using the standard set up.
5. After this second installation completed, Avast failed to do the following:
- It did not display the "You are protected" and data privacy post install windows
- It didn't ask me to set Avast firewall's public/private option for my internet connection
- It didn't launch the Avast interface
I waited for approx 20 mins after the install progress bar in the bottom right of the desktop disappeared, but Avast did not go through any of the usual post-install behaviours.
6. I restarted the computer and found that Avast was already activated (and was displaying my name and subscription key in the Subscription menu) and apparently behaving as normal.
7. I uninstalled Avast IS, repeated steps 4, 5 and 6 using the online installer and got the same result.
7. I have now uninstalled Avast IS using the AvastClear.exe until I can confirm the cause of the installer's unexpected behavior.
Information/solution needed:
Could someone explain why the installer failed to launch the Avast interface and how it was able to retrieve my subscription data without asking for a licence file or my subscription key?
Are there files or registry entries that the uninstaller failed to remove that I should delete myself?
Is there a more significant issue with my computer related to the DPC Watchdog Violation that is interfering with the Avast installer?