Avast! Free Antivirus Not Identified by Windows 7

[A. Chung]

Dear Sirs

I have avast! Free Antivirus v5.0.594 installed into my home PC equipped with Windows 7 Home Premium (32-bit).  I am satisfied with its full operation.

However, as noted from Windows 7's built-in Resource and Performance Monitor, it is always reported that the Security Center is unable to identify an active anti-virus application and has not recorded an anti-virus product.
In this connection, I assume that avast! Free Antivirus v5.0.594 is not identified by Windows 7 as an active anti-virus application. 

I appreciate it much if you are planning to have the problem fixed by the latest issue of avast! Free Antivirus.

Yours faithfully
A. Chung

[CraigB]

Hi Chung, avast is recognized by windows 7, have you tried a repair of the program though add remove programs? have you thoroughly removed all previous anti virus product from your cpu with removal tools.

[A. Chung]

Hi, Craig

Thank you for your prompt response.

I have tried to repair avast! Free Antivirus on the Programs and Features, and even uninstall/reinstall the software.  Regrettably, same message appears on the Reliability and Performance Monitor.

Regards,
A. Chung

[CraigB]

What was your previous av,any factory installed av products still on your system as these will interfere. The only thing i have different is having uac turned off but i would'nt think that would have anything to do with it,can alway try it anyway. The main concern is just making sure that other av products are completly gone. What firewall are you using?

[SafeSurf]

This list is the compatibility list of AV's that are recognized in Win7, and Avast is on the list: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/windows-7/en-us/Browse.aspx?type=Software&category=Security&subcategory=Antivirus.  Although I did the search for 32-bit machines (yours), MS says that the list is compatible for 32 and 64-bit.

1. Are you sure you don't have a previous remanent of an AV on your machine? 
2. What other security programs do you have on your machine currently?
3. Is Avast working properly other than your Security Center giving you this warning?
4. Did the Repair of Avast work for you?  You need to reboot after doing the Repair.

[CraigB]

You would think that microsoft would have mentioned there own av (mse) on there list.

[SafeSurf]

At the bottom of the list there are page numbers.  I almost missed it too, but I didn't got through them all...just wanted to see if Avast was there.  You would think mse is there. 

[DavidR]

This is a hiccup with the Win7 Action Center. This was a common problem with XP and Vista versions of the Windows Security Center (WSC), so it looks like this also happens with the win7 equivalent (action center).

Have (or did) you another Anti-Virus installed in this system, if so what was it and how did you get rid of it ?

Unfortunately not being a win7 user I have no personal experience of it, but this is what used to be done with XP to resolve the WSC hiccups.

- WSC doesn't detect avast! - http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/topics/help/wmi.mspx#EQKAC
Also see http://windowsxp.mvps.org/repairwmi.htm
Windows XP SP2, SP3 Start, Run, type cmd and click OK from the command prompt type 'rundll32 wbemupgd, RepairWMISetup' without the quotes and enter.

Microsoft Windows XP, Service Pack 2 or 3

If you are running Windows XP, Service Pack 2 or 3 you can use a single command to detect and repair a corrupted WMI Repository. To do so, type the following from the command prompt (note that the parameter UpgradeRepository is case-sensitive and must be typed exactly as shown):

rundll32 wbemupgd, UpgradeRepository

After running UpgradeRepository you can verify the results by looking at the Setup log. If inconsistencies are detected and if the operating system was able to rebuild the Repository you should see information in Setup.log similar to this:

(Wed Oct 12 13:46:36 2005): ===========================================================================
(Wed Oct 12 13:46:36 2005): Beginning WBEM Service Pack Installation
(Wed Oct 12 13:46:36 2005): Current build of wbemupgd.dll is 5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)
(Wed Oct 12 13:46:36 2005): Current build of wbemcore.dll is 5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)
(Wed Oct 12 13:46:52 2005): Inconsistent repository detected; it will be recreated
…
…
(Wed Oct 12 13:47:33 2005): Wbemupgd.dll Service Security upgrade succeeded (XP SP update).
(Wed Oct 12 13:47:33 2005): WBEM Service Pack Installation completed.
(Wed Oct 12 13:47:33 2005): ===========================================================================

Note. There will probably be other entries in the log as well, but you should specifically look for the ones shown above.

- OR

* Click Start, Run and type CMD.EXE

* Type this command and press Enter:

net stop wscsvc
net stop winmgmt

* Using Windows Explorer, rename the folder %windir%\System32\Wbem\Repository. (For example, %windir%\System32\Wbem\Repository_bad.). %windir% represents the path to the Windows directory, which is typically C:\Windows.

* Switch to Command Prompt window, and type the following and press ENTER after each line:

net start winmgmt
net start wscsvc

EXIT
Reboot

Now I don't know if you can find an equivalent command/location for win7 or try googling for 'antivirus not detected by windows 7 action center' http://www.google.com/search?q=antivirus+not+detected+by+windows+7+action+center. This gets lots of hits, this is the first, Action Center AV not found 1 and another from the same forum, Action Center AV not found 2

[YoKenny]

DavidR on Windows 7 CMD.EXE must be Run as administrator from the Start window.

[DavidR]

Thanks, that is probably the same for Vista, which also has the dreaded UAC.

[YoKenny]

@ DavidR

I have no problem with UAC on Windows 7 but on Vista it is the dreaded UAC.

How To Tame Microsoft Windows Vista's UAC

Are all those Windows Vista User Account Control warnings driving you nuts? Here are seven ways to make Vista's UAC less intrusive, while keeping legitimate security threats at bay.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/operatingsystems/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207801611

[A. Chung]

Dear All

Thank you for the detailed information.

My existing home PC is a newly custom-made one, which does not have any anti-virus application pre-installed until avast! Free Antivirus 5.0.594.  The latter is working fine though Windows 7 Security Center does not recognise or identify its installation.  I did try to "repair" it and rebooted my PC, but there is no improvement.

In the meantime, I have the following equipped with my PC:
1.  Comodo Firewall 4.1 together with its Defense+ and Sandbox;
2.  Malwarebytes' Anti-malware 1.46 (on-demand scanner)'
3.  SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition 4.42.1000 (on-demand scanner);
4.  Windows Defender (on-demand scanner).

Regards,
A. Chung

[DavidR]

You're welcome.

I don;t think those other applications should cause any problem as such relating to avast not being detected by the win7 action center.

I can only suggest trying the second quoted option and see how that fits in with win7, e.g. repository location, etc. as I doubt an avast repair would make any difference.

If that doesn't pan out checking out the google search and the other tow links I gave.

[A. Chung]

Hi, David

I have tried your second option but regret that the problem is not fixed. 

As noted from the articles searched through Google, this may be a problem on the Security Center of Windows 7.  Hopefully, it will soon be solved by Windows 7 Service Pack 1.

Anyway, many thanks for your assistance.

Regards,
A. Chung

[SafeSurf]

This worked for another user with the same problem, so you may want to give this a try:

Sometimes, Windows Security Center stops recognizing your antivirus or firewall... The fix could be fairly easy for the most part.

1. Go to control panel and open Administrative tools.
2. Click on services.
3. Go down to Windows Management Instrumentation.
4. Stop this service. Stop Security Center service too.
    Let them to Automatically start.
5. Exit out of this area to your desktop.
6. Right click Start and choose Explore.
7. Go to C:\windows\system32\wbem\repository.
    Delete this subdirectory ONLY. Leave the others there.
    Sometimes, you may need to use software like Unlocker, MoveOnBoot or Delete FXP to delete these files.
8. Exit back to your desktop and reboot your computer (you might need to boot twice).

This will rebuild the deleted folder and the database. Once restarted, Windows Security Center should show the correct info and antivirus and firewall should now be recognized.