Can't start new install of 6.0

[Snagglegrain]

avast has been removed from my systems for awhile.
I wanted to try 6.0Free, so I installed and avast ran an automatic system scan.
Then the systray icon appeared with a red x.
I clicked on it and the GUI opened up and I saw another big red X, and...

Current Status UNSECURED  [FIX NOW] (button)
Your system is not protected.
Please use the fix now button to start protecting your system
***********
Urgent: avast! service stopped
The avast! antivirus program has been stopped, or is in an inconsistent state.
Please restart the program to resume protecting your system.  [Start program] (button)

Nothing happens when I press either of the buttons.

I looked in Services in Admin Tools and found that AvastSvc.exe's status was "starting" (not started or stopped).  No joy when I attempted to manually start it.  Message was, "The avast! antivirus service on Local Computer started and then stopped".

Lots of rebooting, to no avail.
Online Armor was in Learning Mode during install.
No other resident security apps except Sandboxie.
I tried fixing avast with Sandboxie not started on reboot, no luck.

I am trying uninstall and reinstall, but I'm hoping for some input from you folks.
(And for the inevitable questioner... XP Home with 1GB RAM on that machine)

[sded]

Exclude C:\Program Files\Avast Software under Online Armor options/exclusions and try again.  If the folder is gone, just create an empty folder and exclude it.  What AV were you using prior to Avast!?  You may need to remove the remnants of that first via the removal tools at http://uninstallers.blogspot.com/.  And uninstall avast! itself from safe mode using the avast! uninstaller at http://files.avast.com/files/eng/aswclear6.exe .  Then reinstall with the OA exclusion.

[Snagglegrain]

Great advice.
Will do.
I uninstalled Prevx prior to installing avast.
It always uninstalls real nice, leaves nothing behind, at least in my experience.
Will report back!
Thanks!

[Lisandro]

Prevx and anything proactive on Online Armor prevented the correct installing of avast.
You can try repairing the installation or even temporary uninstall the others, install avast, reinstall them.

[sded]

Prevx is usually not an interference problem.  You can try the OA exclusion and attempt to repair Avast!, but you may need to uninstall and reinstall it anyway.

[Lisandro]

Prevx is usually not an interference problem.

I'm not so sure...

[sded]

Prevx is usually not an interference problem.

I'm not so sure...

Should have said I have been using it for a long time with OA and Avast! and it has not been an interferer with my uninstalls and reinstalls.  But YMMV.    Always safer to remove it; it is very small and uninstalls cleanly.

[Lisandro]

YMMV. 

Maybe it's a personal prejudice against Prevx. Sorry.

[Snagglegrain]

Well boys, no need to argue... as I said, I uninstalled Prevx prior to installing avast. 
But Prevx is actually meant to work alongside other AVs.  I've run it with avast before.
But this time, in anticipation of a problem, just to be safe, I uninstalled Prevx first because I didn't want to run it with avast anyway.
So Prevx is probably not a culprit here.

I have uninstalled avast in safe mode with the linked uninstall tool (thank you), and I will re-install avast and double-check for the proper OA exclusion.

Will post back...

[Snagglegrain]

Whoa, that was a surprise... I uninstalled in safemode with the aswclear6.exe tool and rebooted and avast was still there.  At least the systray icon with the red x was there.  I should have checked for the program files, but have already booted back into safemode.  Weird.  Gonna uninstall in safemode with Add/Remove programs.

[Snagglegrain]

I've tried about 3-4 times and uninstall/reinstall is not working.
Think I'll skip avast6.0.
Shame too, cause I always enjoyed avast.
Probably Sandboxie is interfering... but I don't feel like uninstalling it too.
Back to Prevx.
Thank you to the helpful responders!

[doktornotor]

Whoa, that was a surprise... I uninstalled in safemode with the aswclear6.exe tool and rebooted and avast was still there.  At least the systray icon with the red x was there.

Are you sure you have uninstalled the correct version? (And yeah, uninstalling via Add/Remove programs should be done before using aswclear6.exe, probably won't work now.)

[SafeSurf]

uninstalling via Add/Remove programs should be done before using aswclear6.exe

Try uninstalling Avast again and uninstall all versions you had on this machine when you do get into Safe Mode.

Since sded and I have both used Avast, OA, and Prevx for a very long time and tested almost every version, you should not have a conflict running these 3 programs on the same machine.  I would, as was previously mentioned, put all these programs in exclusions with each other since they are security programs as a just in case even though I've never had a problem.

Since Avast v.6 has a Sandbox (SB), I would suggest a Custom install of Avast and opt out of this since you are currently running Sandboxie.  This may be causing an issue with Avast. 

If you have Prevx set to maximum for everything (I keep it at default with SOL set to max.), you may want to consider disabling the Avast Behavior Shield or not installing it during the Custom install as well to see if this resolves your problem.

If you still are having problems despite doing the above, then perhaps try the previous version of Avast you had (5.1.889), which you can get from filehippo.com, but I would still put your security software in exclusions.

Let us know if you have any other questions.  Thanks. 

[Snagglegrain]

Are you sure you have uninstalled the correct version? (And yeah, uninstalling via Add/Remove programs should be done before using aswclear6.exe, probably won't work now.)

I definitely never keep a couple versions of an AV on my computers at the same time, if that's what you mean.  I removed 5.1.889 one month ago.  And somehow I missed the part about uninstalling prior to using aswclear6.exe.  Live and learn, eh? 

Try uninstalling Avast again and uninstall all versions you had on this machine when you do get into Safe Mode.

Yikes!  Another allusion to not uninstalling a previous version.  :'(  The first thing I mentioned in my original post was, "avast has been removed from my systems for awhile".   

Since sded and I have both used Avast, OA, and Prevx for a very long time and tested almost every version, you should not have a conflict running these 3 programs on the same machine.  I would, as was previously mentioned, put all these programs in exclusions with each other since they are security programs as a just in case even though I've never had a problem.

As I mentioned, "I uninstalled Prevx prior to installing avast", so although I agree that all 3 run together nicely (I've run them together for a long time), I was not attempting it with 6.0

Since Avast v.6 has a Sandbox (SB), I would suggest a Custom install of Avast and opt out of this since you are currently running Sandboxie.  This may be causing an issue with Avast.

Great suggestion, but I'm probably not going to try avast6.0 again, or at least not for a long time.

If you have Prevx set to maximum for everything (I keep it at default with SOL set to max.), you may want to consider disabling the Avast Behavior Shield or not installing it during the Custom install as well to see if this resolves your problem.

Again, no Prevx onboard when I encountered problems with 6.0.

If you still are having problems despite doing the above, then perhaps try the previous version of Avast you had (5.1.889), which you can get from filehippo.com, but I would still put your security software in exclusions.

Another helpful suggestion.

Let us know if you have any other questions.  Thanks. 

Everyone here is always quite willing to help.  A great forum!

[doktornotor]

Are you sure you have uninstalled the correct version? (And yeah, uninstalling via Add/Remove programs should be done before using aswclear6.exe, probably won't work now.)

I definitely never keep a couple versions of an AV on my computers at the same time, if that's what you mean.  I removed 5.1.889 one month ago.  And somehow I missed the part about uninstalling prior to using aswclear6.exe.  Live and learn, eh?  

T3h sigh. What I obviously meant is that the universal uninstaller tool has a drop down menu to select a correct version. E.g., if you have had avast 4 and 5 on your box (upgraded from v4 to v5), you should run the uninstaller twice to wipe the traces of both versions. However stupid it might seem to you, this is a common mistake many users make.