Avast 7 installs chrome without permission

[BlitzenZeus]

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r26929481-Avast-7-installs-Chrome

Three people including myself had the final screen where you're supposed to be able to opt-out of chrome not even stay up long enough to uncheck them, the window just went away by itself, and installed chrome without our permission.

Never given a chance to opt out, and as a matter of fact your abused your position of already having administrator access to install 3rd party software.  Next time don't even offer chrome, or make it opt-in only if you want your users to trust you.  I realize this is likely a bug, on top of this the profiles of those who already had chrome installed had their profiles damaged from the reinstall of Chrome.

I don't need all the replies out there saying it didn't happen to their system, or they didn't see the chrome option on their installs.  It happened to multiple people, and now it's time to make sure it won't happen again.

[DarkRadience]

Well for most it would seem this did not happen, also simply uninstalling Google Chrome is not that hard, though you are right it should be opt-in not opt-out.

Also
See thing following page and read the instructions
http://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility

Then
Avast! Free Antivirus 7.0.1407
http://www.filehippo.com/download_avast_antivirus/

Ensure your using the custom install option when installing Avast Products.

[CraigB]

I agree it should be opt in only but you do get the choice to opt out, iv installed the new version 7 on 9 different systems now and i was shown the google option each time so maybe you just rushed through the process and didn't notice 

[BlitzenZeus]

Oh here we go again.  No I didn't just rush through it, and I provided a damn link for a reason.  I never got a chance to click anything.  I never clicked my mouse.

[EmoHobo]

Yeah some users never get the option, which leads to a glitch where the "Complete your upgrade" pop up returns after every restart.

I never got it and I never had Google Chrome installed on my computer, so it seems it's only an issue for some people, but thankfully editing an .ini file gets rid of the problem with the pop up.

[DAFOX]

This problem has just occurred to me. What really bothers me is that I already had chrome installed on my computer along with custom scripts and programs all tied into it. Why another program would every change an existing program is beyond me. I pay very close attention to the installation process of everything I install nowadays. I did not have the chance to opt out, but even if I didn't opt out it should have never installed over my original program. I am extremely disappointed and frustrated with AVAST. This should have never happened..

[CraigB]

Oh here we go again.  No I didn't just rush through it, and I provided a damn link for a reason.  I never got a chance to click anything.  I never clicked my mouse.

If it was installed without your knowledge then there is a problem i agree but avast will have to check into that if there not already so for the time being just uninstall chrome and your good to go.

[BlitzenZeus]

Yet another person who fails to read before replying.

The reinstall alters the current users profile, resetting it to default, your extensions are gone.  I swear I could have the cure for cancer linked, but people wouldn't read it.

[Gargamel360]

Bltizen, the skepticism comes for a reason.  You would not believe the number of people who have been wrong about this in the past, both here and elsewhere, when they missed a simple checkbox, and they swear up-and-down that they are right, but then they use the same method again and realize they missed it.

That said, there are plenty of people who have reported this.  It is almost certainly a bug.  Even if it was a forced bundle install, it would at least check to see if Chrome was installed first, rather than installing Chrome over the top of an existing install.

[BlitzenZeus]

Not true, many chrome installs are in the user account only.  While it will be hard to improbable to detect, the fact is that the new installer doesn't check for the existence of current profile, and Avast should have found this out in testing before releasing this installer so the issue was reported back to Google.  If you reinstall Firefox it doesn't wipe out the current profile, it will only create a new profile when none exist.  Again something both Avast, and Google should have found in testing before releasing this installer.

[Gargamel360]

Fine, you are clearly correct, this is clearly a conspiracy 

[Alievitan]

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=93980.0

is the same or similar problem.  I don't mind Avast bundling Chrome, I just don't want to pay the consequences of a bungled Chrome install especially for existing Chrome profiles/installations.  The official chrome installation file from google defaults into the user directory.

Why is Avast using a custom version of chrome that installs into program files directory?  Just use official Chrome installer that everybody else uses, and that will solve the problems.  Even if Avast installs Chrome again, as long as the new install and the old install are in the same directory, nothing changes...no profile reset, no conflicting processes. 

The best thing would be for Avast to properly detect Chrome existing installs like past version have, but for ever reason, Avast 7 didn't such as in my personal case.  The second best thing would be to use a official Chrome installer to avoid bonking existing Chrome installs that Chrome users actually have. 

[tortoise]

I don't think it matters if Chrome installed by itself or if I missed the box to untick.  If the latter it means that it wasn't prominent enough and I never thought to look.  I look carefully at first install of a program as you expect rubbish to be added in but I wouldn't have thought it would reappear with this upgrade.

I've uninstalled it now but on my nice clean windows 7 install it's no doubt left crap behind that I really wanted to avoid.  Not impressed.

[Edmort]

I upgraded to version 7 and in two cases I was able to cancel the Chrome installation. But I think the more appropriate action is to offer the install and the user check the options and not the opposite. We see this behavior in a lot of installers, but the fail here is the time for that choice. Never the installer must go ahead without the agreement of the user.

[pga0952]

   I am angry: I really like Avast- but I'm very close to uninstalling it. Why? because when I updated to the latest version a few minutes ago it it arbitrarily and without my permission/knowledge/consent installed Chrome on my computer. I am a very experienced computer user, going back to the first Commodore 64, a founding member of an IBMUG in the 1970's and am not prone to ignoring check boxes, etc. But there was no check box for me to opt out of the Chrome installation. I DO NOT WANT CHROME ON MY COMPUTERS, not on any of the eight I am presently using. I tried Chrome before, did not like it and uninstalled it- BUT IT DOES NOT CLEANLY UNINSTALL! it leaves junk behind.

Please, p l e a s e , PLEASE somebody get the Avast management to unlink the Chrome installer from the Avast update program. I am angry. I am annoyed. I am irritated. I am ready to dump Avast. I will wait a few days before trying to update Avast on my other computers. Hopefully, someone at Avast will correct this- but if it happens again, I'm gone.