Cannot shut Avast! down

[GoTwisty]

I'm using avast! Internet Security, Version 6.0.1203, which apparently is impossible to shut down completely. I need to do that for a while so have disabled all shields -- everything says it's turned OFF -- but I can see in Task Manager that avast! is still using most of my CPU (up to 92 percent!) and that several avast! processes are still running and cannot be turned off. Why not? What's going on here?

The whole thing is beginning to scare me, as I desperately need my PC's resources right now but can't free them from avast!. I've shut down the firewall and antivirus services in Task Manager, but that's all I can do and it clearly is not enough. Nothing I've tried in command line works, either.

Can anyone help? I'd sure appreciate it. I'd like to keep the avast! protection I've paid for but am about to uninstall the whole thing in frustration (although I've seen evidence in the support forums that that's a problem too. Yikes).

Any comments and/or tips are welcome. Thanks --

[SHARKY7SHARKY]

You might be seeing Avast scheduler running or something,
System Idle usually runs round the 90s
If you don’t know how to disable are you sure you should be fully shutting things down.

Paste this in Run or Search      services.msc                Right click on Avast Properties Disable
See if this helps.

[CraigB]

As to avast using so much of your cpu some information about your system could be helpful and what other security programs you have running or any other programs in the background running, have you changed any of the default settings of avast ? ( file system shield settings mainly ) usually if avast is taking up alot of cpu-ram it is because of it scanning other processes on your system.
Note that if you do wish to shut down the avast services you would first have to disable the avast self defence module.

[ady4um]

You might be seeing Avast scheduler running or something,
System Idle usually runs round the 90s
If you don't know how to disable are you sure you should be fully shutting things down.
Paste this in Run or Search      services.msc                Right click on Avast Properties Disable
See if this helps.

Such high CPU usage seems strange, if it is continuous and with shields off. Even if you decide to stop Avast (and you might need more than the quoted command), at least you should be aware of the "cons", and specially to be sure about the procedure to activate it again.

[Joe S]

Did you have a different AV installed before? If so did you use their cleanup program? AV programs frequently don't fully uninstall and the left overs can cause problems.
Joe

[Corsair]

The steps below are not recommended for the general user. This will completely disable all protection and you will be vulnerable.

Note: This was done for avast! free anti-virus which may or not be the same for you.

The following is the procedure to shutdown and then start up avast. This should only be done if you know the reason for doing so is absolutely necessary.

Shutting Down avast! Free:

1. Open avast! and go to Settings > Troubleshooting > Untick "enable avast! self defence module". Click OK. Then "Yes" in the pop-up that appears.

2. Right-click on the avast! system tray icon and select "Disable all shields permanently".

3. Close the avast! user interface.

4. Open Task Manager. Got the "Processes" tab and right click on "AvastUI.exe" and select "End Process". Close Task Manager.

5. Click on Start -> Run -> type in services.msc

6. In the Services window select the entry reading "avast! Antivirus" and "Stop" the service.

7. Avast is now completely shut down.

To re-enable avast you pretty much have to do the reverse order.

1. Start the the service(s) you stopped in the Services window.

2. Start avast! from the Start -> Programs Menu.

3. Open the avast! user interface and click on "Fix Now" OR right click on the system tray icon and enable all shields.

4. Open the avast! user interface and go to Settings > Troubleshooting > and tick the "Enable avast! self defence module" option. Select OK.

5. Close avast! user interface.