Author Topic: Windows 10 can't update to 1903 due to "ghost(?)" install of Avast  (Read 4348 times)

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Offline Amgeek

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Windows 10 can't update to 1903 due to "ghost(?)" install of Avast
« on: September 07, 2019, 09:29:54 PM »
Windows 10 update to 1903 (from 1803) still seeing old version of  long removed avast and wont install.

Have ran your uninstall utility but Windows still says I have an incompatible version of Avast installed.

Offline DavidR

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Re: Windows 10 can't update to 1903 due to "ghost(?)" install of Avast
« Reply #1 on: September 07, 2019, 09:42:53 PM »
Where (or does it) say it is.

There have been a couple of instances where win10 has found it in the windows.old file/folder created by a previous windows update.  This is meant to be removed automatically by the OS after 30 days.

Have you got the windows.old file/folder ?
Windows 10 Home 64bit/ Acer Aspire F15/ Intel Core i5 7200U 2.5GHz, 8GB DDR4 memory, 256GB SSD, 1TB HDD/ avast! free 24.2.6105 (build 24.2.8918.824) UI 1.0.799/ Firefox, uBlock Origin, uMatrix/ MailWasher Pro/ Avast! Mobile Security

Offline Amgeek

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Re: Windows 10 can't update to 1903 due to "ghost(?)" install of Avast
« Reply #2 on: September 07, 2019, 11:57:05 PM »
No.

« Last Edit: September 08, 2019, 12:03:14 AM by Amgeek »

Offline bob3160

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Re: Windows 10 can't update to 1903 due to "ghost(?)" install of Avast
« Reply #3 on: September 08, 2019, 12:08:06 AM »
If you're running avastclear.exe as the screenshot shows,
Finish running it by selecting yes to allow windows to go into safe mode and finish uninstalling Avast.
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Offline Amgeek

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Re: Windows 10 can't update to 1903 due to "ghost(?)" install of Avast
« Reply #4 on: September 08, 2019, 03:02:11 PM »
Done that twice, so far. Will try again.


Offline lukor

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Re: Windows 10 can't update to 1903 due to "ghost(?)" install of Avast
« Reply #5 on: September 09, 2019, 11:09:51 AM »
Hello Amgeek,
it might possibly be an issue with the Windows Updater -- looking for an old version of Avast anywhere on the disk (no matter if it is installed and/or running).  Could you do a search for "avastui.exe" on your whole disk and when found delete that folder (provided that you really don't have Avast installed -- in such case updating to a newer version is the preferred way of fixing it -- and by "newer" I mean anything that was released in 2019.

Or you can follow this guide from reddit to find out exactly where Windows Update had located the older version:

Quote from: ps010101 link="https://www.reddit.com/r/windows/comments/cqyb9e/my_pc_says_i_need_to_remove_avast_to_get_the_may/?utm_source=ifttt"
Code: [Select]

23 days ago
If updating to the newest version, repairing the installation via Add/Remove program or running avastclear.exe from https://www.avast.com/en-us/uninstall-utility didn't help and you still see incompatibility dialog, you can use following generic approach (it's a little bit geeky, use it only if you know what you are doing):

when incompatibility dialog appears, check the folder %SystemDrive%\$WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\Panther for file[s] that has a name than ends with *_APPRAISER_HumanReadable.xml

open one of these files in notepad. Do not use default app, which is typically a IE/Edge and it takes forever to open it.

search for Property Name="BlockUpgrade" Value="TRUE" . There might be more occurrences of that. These sections contain information of what program might block Windows Update. Look specifically for path to this file (Property Name="LowerCaseLongPathUnexpanded) and either uninstall the program (preferred way) or delete the file, if possible.

Alternatively - if you get the message about Avast, search for Avast in this file. Look specifically for the path to the file (Property Name="LowerCaseLongPath"), it should contain the file in question. Delete the file.

Last, but not least:

If you can't delete the file, reboot to Safe Mode and delete the file in safe mode

Does it help?


Offline Amgeek

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Re: Windows 10 can't update to 1903 due to "ghost(?)" install of Avast
« Reply #6 on: September 10, 2019, 03:06:44 PM »
Thanks, that did it.

The "Geeky" way worked. Over 40,00 lines in that log. Opened in Notepad++ and searched for     "BlockUpgrade" Value="TRUE"
found it straight away. Old backup of some type from 2012 buried a couple of folders in on C: drive.

Thanks again

Amgeek

Offline rlweiner

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Re: Windows 10 can't update to 1903 due to "ghost(?)" install of Avast
« Reply #7 on: October 14, 2019, 08:54:32 PM »
I had the same problem. I used the geeky approach and found the locations of an ancient version of Avast (v5) plus a backup copy of another version that I'd made when troubleshooting a problem with Avast. Deleting those folders fixed the problem. I didn't have to uninstall the current version.

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