Author Topic: Avast remnants preventing other AV programs to install  (Read 1191 times)

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Offline giannifari

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Avast remnants preventing other AV programs to install
« on: September 01, 2020, 12:07:32 AM »
Hi all,

I have been trying to uninstall Avast because I wanted to try another antivirus program, but it seems I can't get rid of Avast at all...

I'm using Windows 10 Pro and tried to uninstall the latest Avast version at the moment I'm writing this post.

Actually I have gone through these:

  • Uninstalling by Control Panel = FAILED
  • Uninstalling by Avast Uninstall Utility= FAILED
  • Uninstalling by ESET removal tool = FAILED
  • Tried to manually delete all the remaining folders = FAILED
  • Tried to manually delete all the registry entries = FAILED
  • Deactivated the Avast real time protection = FAILED
  • Some combinations of the above = FAILED (and one time almost couldn't start my pc... by luck I was able to get it work again...)

The problem is that Avast apparently seems to be uninstalled, but when I try to install the new antivirus, the setup stops because it detects Avast is already installed.

Please help me with any advice you may have, I can't believe I have no options to completely remove Avast.

Thanks,
Gianni

Offline schmidthouse

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Re: Avast remnants preventing other AV programs to install
« Reply #1 on: September 01, 2020, 12:19:34 AM »
Yes Security Software can be difficult to totally remove remnants.
I've encountered this issue in the past.
What I ended up doing was search Registry, and System and Program Folders and Program data (which is hidden Folder) and deleted all entries having to do with the Security Program I wanted to UNINSTALL. And Reboot.
This has worked for me, it may or may not work for you. :)
« Last Edit: September 01, 2020, 12:21:12 AM by schmidthouse »

Offline Jamie2020

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Re: Avast remnants preventing other AV programs to install
« Reply #2 on: September 01, 2020, 06:15:31 AM »
I hope you get some clarity on this issue, because while I currently don't plan on uninstalling my Avast, I hope to have the option to do so if I decide to try some other Antivirus. I remembered having a hard time getting rid of BitDefender a few years back, and I would hate to experience the same thing with Avast. I don't think companies should be making it difficult for users to uninstall their softwares.

Offline giannifari

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Re: Avast remnants preventing other AV programs to install
« Reply #3 on: September 01, 2020, 04:06:57 PM »
I hope I will.

By now I see no solutions, that is shameful.

Do you know how to directly contact Avast support?