Avast Free is at 95% of CPU and avastclear will not work

[amatwell]

Hello All,

I recently have had an issue Avast Free (19.6.4546.0) taking up almost all of my CPU, to the point that it is hard to even open a file folder anymore. I'm running it on Windows 10 and it's worked fine for years. I can't open the user interface, I can't uninstall from the control panel (it says "setup is already running. Please try to start the setup later.") I downloaded avastclear, but when I run it, it just runs continuously and never gets anywhere (6 hours the last time I left it). I even tried to drag files to the recycle bin so I could restart the computer without it running, but it says I don't have permission. Please help.

[Asyn]

- OS..? (32/64 Bit..? - which SP/Build..?)
- Other security related software installed..?
- Which AV(s) did you use before Avast..?

[amatwell]

The OS is Windows 10 home 64-bit, version 1803. The build is 17134.885. No other antivirus has been installed since I got the computer except the Windows defender that comes with Windows.

[Pondus]

I downloaded avastclear, but when I run it, it just runs continuously and never gets anywhere

You Are running it in safe mode?

[amatwell]

I didn't think there was a safe mode on Windows 10. Is there something I can do at startup?

[Pondus]

Instruktions.    https://support.avast.com/en-eu/article/Uninstall-Antivirus-Utility

[amatwell]

Well, I finally got it. I wasn't able to do the instructions telling me to right click on the file because when I right clicked on avastclear it would crash the file folder. I did see the instructions about starting safe mode manually, which I went through and that allowed me to use avastclear and now it looks like it's uninstalled. Thank you for your help!