Author Topic: Unable to register Avast free edition  (Read 61714 times)

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Unable to register Avast free edition
« on: March 19, 2018, 12:02:00 PM »
Hi all.

My Avast expires in 10days & for the last 20days it's been giving me this popup to register. Every time I try, I select the free edition which requires registration - the program has a retrieving information box for a few seconds, then nothing.

I'm unable to register & the following day I have the same issue.

I read that one doesn't need to register Avast free editions any longer & older versions will also remain operational once expired. But will I have to deal with popups all the time or is there a way to register or insert an offline code or something?

Offline Asyn

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Avast Wissenswertes (Downloads, Anleitungen & Infos): https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=60523.0

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Re: Unable to register Avast free edition
« Reply #2 on: March 21, 2018, 03:52:45 AM »
Asyn,

The link you gave is to the instructions for avast Free 17.x.  What sadiquidey and I need are the instructions that explain how to "keep working" an "older version" of avast Free. Your link's target instructions DO NOT WORK for older versions (in my case, version 9 / 2014, on Windows 7 SP1).  When I get to step 3, "Click Select in the Avast Free Antivirus column", and click "Select", I get a small pop-up saying "Loading . . ." which sits there for 10-15 seconds and then disappears. And absolutely nothing happens thereafter. (Which appears to be what sadiquidey is describing.) Same thing has happened at least a hundred times.

Is there anybody who is able to explain the steps one needs to take to get their "older version" Avast Free to "keep working" after their previous 1-year license has expired (or point us in the direction of that answer)?

The only way I've been able figure out how to do it so far is to un-install avast Free, run avastclear.exe, re-install avast Free ver. 9 (2014). And then, it only "keeps working" for another 30 days. When avast promises that the "older versions" will "keep working", does that mean only if one goes through an un-install/re-install every 30 days?

Offline Asyn

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Avast Wissenswertes (Downloads, Anleitungen & Infos): https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=60523.0

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Re: Unable to register Avast free edition
« Reply #4 on: March 22, 2018, 03:57:50 PM »
Asyn,

Your above link does not help. That topic relates to someone who is having trouble with his install of (apparently) version 17. The suggestion given there by MartinZ was "The program will automagically register itself 10 days after expiration even when you are offline" DID NOT WORK for that user.  10 days later nothing happened.

Your final suggestion was to upgrade to the latest version.

What sadiquidey and I want to do is to continue using our "older version" of avast Free and NOT "upgrade to the latest version". At https://www.avast.com/registration-free-antivirus , avast promises that "older versions will keep working even after they've "expired"."  So, I want to keep using my "older version" 9 (2014). How is that accomplished?

When my previous 1-year license expired, my avast Free instantly shut down the operation of all of its active-protection resident shields and prevented me from updating the virus definitions, rendering my avast Free essentially useless. It DID NOT "automagically register itself 10 days after expiration".

I do admit that there may be something lost in the translation from Czech to English. As a native English-speaker, to me, "older versions" means (A) versions 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 (i.e. versions that came out in years prior to 2017). It may be that what avast means when it says "older versions" they mean (B) version 17.x and later, which become "older versions" when the next year's version comes out. AND that avast's new licensing system does not apply to versions earlier than version 17. AND that, for versions earlier than version 17, avast has deliberately disconnected those users ability to obtain another 1-year license.

The only way--that I can see--for users of versions earlier than version 17 to keep their version of avast Free "working" following the expiration of their pre-version 17 avast Free license is to un-install it, run avastclear.exe, and re-install it every 30 days.

Is there anybody out there who actually knows what's going on here who can tell the rest of us?

Offline boombastik

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Re: Unable to register Avast free edition
« Reply #5 on: March 24, 2018, 12:17:27 AM »
I had the same problem and i simple unistall restart my machine and reinstall it.

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Re: Unable to register Avast free edition
« Reply #6 on: March 24, 2018, 02:30:13 AM »
Carlos,

Just curious, why run such an old release?
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Re: Unable to register Avast free edition
« Reply #7 on: March 24, 2018, 04:07:07 AM »
Carlos,

Just curious, why run such an old release?

Why? Probably because for the same reason why I am still running an old version and have the same problem with renewing it. I HAD TO revert to an older version, since the new version rendered several software programs I am using inoperable (meaning they will not start) and no "fix" for this problem was ever offered (at least not for users of the free Avast version!)

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Re: Unable to register Avast free edition
« Reply #8 on: March 24, 2018, 04:17:43 AM »
I had the same problem and i simple unistall restart my machine and reinstall it.

And you will be doing this every 30 days now? Sorry, but life is too short for that! As of Avast version 17, some software programs have become inoperable (they will not start) and have forced numerous customers to revert to an older version of Avast. Seems now we are stuck with either spending hours with an uninstall/reinstall once a month, or upgrade to a newer version of Avast and do without some essential software programs that don't work with this new Avast version, or find a different anti-virus software. I have been recommending Avast to family, friends and customers for years now, but this is a serious let-down.
Very disappointed that Avast would treat its customers that way, but I guess that's what we get for still using the free version and not having "paid our dues".  :(

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Re: Unable to register Avast free edition
« Reply #9 on: March 24, 2018, 01:45:38 PM »
I had the same problem and i simple unistall restart my machine and reinstall it.

And you will be doing this every 30 days now? Sorry, but life is too short for that! As of Avast version 17, some software programs have become inoperable (they will not start) and have forced numerous customers to revert to an older version of Avast. Seems now we are stuck with either spending hours with an uninstall/reinstall once a month, or upgrade to a newer version of Avast and do without some essential software programs that don't work with this new Avast version, or find a different anti-virus software. I have been recommending Avast to family, friends and customers for years now, but this is a serious let-down.
Very disappointed that Avast would treat its customers that way, but I guess that's what we get for still using the free version and not having "paid our dues".  :(
It really has nothing to do with Avast treating anyone "that way". Microsoft hasn't supported your OS for a very long time. Most people also no longer use computers with the limitations imposed by Windows XP. Certain protection can't be implemented because of OS restrictions. In your case, the problem isn't even OS related but rather old software.
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Re: Unable to register Avast free edition
« Reply #10 on: March 24, 2018, 05:01:12 PM »
Carlos,

Just curious, why run such an old release?
Just as I suspected might happen from your post, this topic has now been hijacked from its original purpose and turned into a debate over the merits (or lack thereof) of upgrading every time avast comes out with its newest version by a bunch of uber-users who think that they know best for everybody else, rather than giving others the benefit of the doubt that maybe we understand our machines and setup better than they do and are sufficiently intelligent to be able to make choices for ourselves. Having been managing software for 25+ years, I operate under the basic principle "If it ain't broken, don't fix it."

The original purpose here was to get some authoritive information (from avast maybe?) as to whether (A) "older versions" of avast Free will actually "keep working", as avast has promised they would: https://www.avast.com/registration-free-antivirus (and, if so, how does one go about doing that), or whether (B) avast has actually pulled the plug on the ability of users of those "older versions" to obtain another 1-year license key--which is necessary in order to keep those "older versions" "working".

Let's be honest here, this is FREE software. avast can do what it wants and set it up with whatever limitations they choose. It's theirs. They can do whatever they want. For whatever reasons they choose. What gripes me, however, is that the company appears to follow the Mushroom School of Information Management: "keep the users in the dark and feed them manure." I can find ZERO information anywhere that will answer the quandary posed in the preceding paragraph. And, when I actually found a Support line that answered the phone, they too were of ZERO help. It would seem to me to be simple courtesy, if avast does choose to pull the plug on all of their "older versions" that are out there floating around in the universe (as they appear to have done), that they just be up front about it and say so, rather than having all of us who are attempting to continue using their "older versions" spend hours and hours and hours trying to figure out how to keep those "older versions" "working" (as avast has, apparently misleadingly, stated they would).

I'm hoping, by these posts, to hear from somebody who actually knows what's going on here. But I'm not holding my breath.

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Re: Unable to register Avast free edition
« Reply #11 on: March 27, 2018, 09:40:05 PM »
Carlos,
You are not alone. I too run (by choice) the older version of avast free antivirus (v8.0) and do NOT WANT to update to a newer version. Their website says old versions, once expired, will continue to run... It didn't. I had to reinstall to get it to work for another 30 days, and the clock is ticking for the next period. I sent a tech request about a week ago to ask about this, and ...crickets... If this continues to occur, then I'll just go to another antivir.  Avast could have a loyal customer, evetnaully a paying customer, but the confusion/obfuscation around their registration issues with older versions is frustrating and untenable.
« Last Edit: March 27, 2018, 09:41:51 PM by archaeo »

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Re: Unable to register Avast free edition
« Reply #12 on: March 28, 2018, 02:56:52 AM »
archaeo,
You're reading my mind. This topic pertains to the "older versions" of avast Free. Look at https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=211395.0 which pertains to the latest version. Read thru that and it appears the latest version is also subject to other numerous problems/bugs. Judging from the posts I read, it appears that avast's new "don't have to register" license renewal system (for whatever reasons) is a complete fiasco. I haven't yet completely given up on avast (I am waiting to hear from them . . .). But I am also searching out other options. I have better things to do with my time than dink around with buggy software.

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Re: Unable to register Avast free edition
« Reply #13 on: March 28, 2018, 11:53:08 AM »
Older versions of Avast Free 7, 8 and 9 (2014) auto register after 30 days. I've just got this confirmed from the Avast team.
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Re: Unable to register Avast free edition
« Reply #14 on: March 28, 2018, 03:14:59 PM »
Older versions of Avast Free 7, 8 and 9 (2014) auto register after 30 days. I've just got this confirmed from the Avast team.
I didn't interpret Avast's reply the same way. What I understood was that the product would keep working.
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