Avast 5 won't work- side by side configuration

[nonotnyet]

help! i got a message saying that my older version of Avast! 4.8 was going to expire soon, so i decided to upgrade to 5.0. i can't get ot to work at all. i've tried all the tips i can find... i dled the uninstaller and have reinstalled 5.0 three times now and i still get the following message:

"The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect. Please see the application event log for more detail."

is there a dl of 4.8 i a can get, because i'm sick of this. i love Avast!, but this is ridiculous...

help!

[nonotnyet]

btw, my os is Vista on a 1 year old HP laptop. i also use spybot s&d.

[DavidR]

I would suggest you do a clean reinstall of avast:
This is for the free version as you didn't say which you are using - Download the latest version of avast free, 5.0.594 http://files.avast.com/iavs5x/setup_av_free.exe and save it to your HDD, somewhere you can find it again (if you didn't save your last download). Use that when you reinstall.

- Download the avast! Uninstall Utility, aswClear5.exe find it here and save it to your HDD (it has uninstall tools for both 4.8 and 5.0).

• 1. Now uninstall (using add remove programs, if you can't do that start from the next step), reboot.
• 2. run the avast! Uninstall Utility from safe mode, first for 4.8 if previously installed and then for 5.0, once complete reboot into normal mode.
• 3. install the latest version, reboot.

[Asyn]

Search for that term in the forum:
The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect
There are many related threads...!
asyn

[nonotnyet]

thank you both!

i'll try the dl installer (btw, my version is the free one) and i'll check the other threads.

^_^

[Asyn]

thank you both!

i'll try the dl installer (btw, my version is the free one) and i'll check the other threads.

^_^

You're welcome..!
Hint: You need the C++ 2008 redistributable...
asyn

[nonotnyet]

thank you both!

i'll try the dl installer (btw, my version is the free one) and i'll check the other threads.

^_^

You're welcome..!
Hint: You need the C++ 2008 redistributable...
asyn

okay tried the C++ 2008 redistributable... rebooted... the whole shebang for the 6th time. still getting the side by side message. this is ridiculous.

[Asyn]

Did you install the right version..?
There are two of them..! (32bit/64bit)
asyn

[nonotnyet]

Did you install the right version..?
There are two of them..! (32bit/64bit)
asyn

i don't know. i need the 64 bit version. i'm REALLY tired of this uninstall/reboot/reinstall over and over again. i'll try ONE more time, but this will be the last. if it doesn't work this time, i'm going w/ avira. too bad, as i really did like the old avast!

[nonotnyet]

Did you install the right version..?
There are two of them..! (32bit/64bit)
asyn

i don't know. i need the 64 bit version. i'm REALLY tired of this uninstall/reboot/reinstall over and over again. i'll try ONE more time, but this will be the last. if it doesn't work this time, i'm going w/ avira. too bad, as i really did like the old avast!

okay, when i go to dl avast!, it gives me no options for either 32 or 64 bit. it just gives me one standard dl. screw this, i want the old version back w/ the old interface.

[Dch48]

I think what Asyn was asking was which version of C++ you installed. There are both versions on the MS download site.

Here's what you have to do. You have to uninstall Avast!, then install the C++ package, then reinstall Avast!.  I had the exact same problem on the Vista machine here and that was how I fixed it. I first installed the C++ files with Avast! still installed and then the Avast! GUI would open but I couldn't get it to update the virus defs correctly. It said I needed to update but then the updater said I had the latest defs. The only thing that fixed it was to uninstall Avast! completely, including using the removal tool, rebooting and then reinstalling Avast!. Ever since then it's been working perfectly. For some reason, the Avast! 5 installer does not always properly install the needed C++ files.

Once you get everything working, go to Windows update and see if there is an update for the C++2008 package, there almost certainly will be one that shows up and it's an important security fix.

You really should do this and get v5 working. It's much better than v4.8 was.

[Asyn]

No, I was talking about the C++ 2008 redistributable..!!
Did you install the 64bit version..??
asyn

[nonotnyet]

You have to uninstall Avast!, then install the C++ package, then reinstall Avast!.

that's what i did. still the exact side by side message pops up.

[nonotnyet]

No, I was talking about the C++ 2008 redistributable..!!
Did you install the 64bit version..??
asyn

yep. the 64 bit version is what i installed.

[Dch48]

Did you use the Avast! removal tool? You may have to run it for both versions to get completely reset. Run it for v4, reboot, run it again for v5, reboot again and then try installing the latest version.