Did you have a previous antivirus (AV) prior to Avast, or any other security software including:
- Firewall (FW)
- Trial versions of AV, FW, security software
- Security software
If yes to any of the above, how did you uninstall them?
I understand that it is frustrating to do these unistalls/installs to trouble-shoot. If you were using Avast prior to this problem starting, what version were you using?
This is the guideline for uninstalling and doing a clean install:
1. Save a copy of newest version of Avast (5.1.864) and save it to your HDD:
Free–
http://files.avast.com/iavs5x/setup_av_free.exe2. Download the Avast Uninstall Utility, aswClear5.exe
http://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility and save it to your HDD (it has uninstall tools for both 4.0 and 5.0).
3. Disconnect from the Internet at this time.
4. Go to Control Panel and uninstall Avast through Add/Remove Programs if possible and reboot.
5. If Step 4 fails, boot into
Safe Mode (hit F8 repeatedly) and run the Avast Uninstall Tool.
Uninstall ALL previous Avast products and versions you had on this machine at this time.6.
Reboot.
7. Install the newest version of Avast and
reboot.
8. Get Internet access and register your copy Free:
http://www.avast.com/registration-free-antivirus.php9. Update the Avast definitions.
Knowledge based article:
https://support.avast.com/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=504#idt_0003If this fails to work, check in Add/Remove Programs to make sure you have the
Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Package since you mentioned a dependency issue. You most likely have several versions (by year), since this is provided by MS. If you have none, let me know and I will provide you the link...you need this
PRIOR to installing Avast.
The other issue could be a
WinsockFix Utility for XP that you need to install to make things work:
http://majorgeeks.com/WinSock_XP_Fix_d4372.html.
Let us know if any of the above works for you. Thank you.