Avast created a new user account

I logged on this morning and Avast has created a new user account. I saw the mention of it in beta forums. I am not running beta. I did not authorize this account. This is alarming to the point of me removing Avast today and finding another solution. I like Avast, but this is very alarming and there is no explanation. Please advise.

  • Which avast!..?? (Free/Pro/IS/Premier)
  • Which version…??
  • OS…?? (32/64 Bit…? - which SP…?)
  • Other security related software installed…??
  • Which AV did you use before avast!..??

Wow - thanks for quick response.

  • Which avast!..?? (Free/Pro/IS/Premier) = Avast version = Free
  • Which version…?? = Program version is 8.0.1489
  • OS…?? (32/64 Bit…? - which SP…?) = Windows 7 64 bit Ultimate SP1
  • Other security related software installed…?? MalwareBytes AntiMalware, Spybot, Spyware Blaster, SandboxIE, What is my computer doing
  • Which AV did you use before avast!..?? = Avira (but that was over a year ago.)

First, please drop Spybot S&D…!!

Then:

  1. Download avast! Free Antivirus: http://files.avast.com/iavs5x/avast_free_antivirus_setup.exe
  2. Follow instructions: http://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility (Run this tool for all prior installed avast! versions…!!)
  3. Reinstall avast! with the downloaded installer from point 1.
  4. Reboot.

A new user account in Avast, or new user accounting in Windows?

A few days ago after restarting my PC, a new user account named avastsoftwareupdater appeared on my logon screen. I’ve not seen it since. I’m using avast pro latest version on Windows 7 home premium. Also Malwarebytes pro (on demand) and Superantispyware free.

Hi Asyn,

I followed your instructions and the new user account seems to have disappeared. Thank you very, very much for your clear instructions and very prompt response. I will update this thread if I have any further information to share.

You’re welcome.

Hi again. The Avast User Account appeared again this morning. I will use the same method outlined above to get rid of it. Do you know why it occurs in the first place, or why it reoccurred? Are there logs that I can send to you that would prove helpful in finding out why this is happening? Please let me know if there is any information you would like to capture and I will be glad to gather that information for you. I will post back on the results of the removal a little later today. Before removing the account, I will check back here and see if there is any information I can gather prior to removing it that might be helpful. If any person who is knowledgeable about Avast gets to read this before then, please leave a message if you know whether there is, or is not, information that needs to be gathered prior to the removal so that I may proceed with a little confidence that I am not destroying important diagnostic information. Thanks.

Current program version of Avast is: 8.0.1489
Current virus definition version is: 130616-0

Same thing on my system this morning. I have the UPdated program 8.0.1489 and defs 1306-16 win 7 home. New user account wanted a password - duh. didn’t create acct so don’t have password. Whenever I see this sort of thing, my first thought is malware or virus!! Bothersome. So now, according to previous answer to this, we must uninstall and reinstall Avast in order to rid system of this. Don’t really feel like going thru all that - question is: can I just ignore and log on with my regular user account? Thanks in advance.

@Mongusa
@N0rT013

That user account is used by the Avast Software Updater. This issue was on a some previous beta versions of Avast 8, but seems like that also a current stable version has these issues.

If you don’t use Avast Software Updater, you can uninstall that component via the Control Panel (change).

Thanks for input - I do use the software updater - it seems like a decent component of Avast. I have logged on a few times since my post and the new Avast user account does not appear. Guess I’ll just move along. Thanks again.

Same happened to me this morning, it was ok when I started the laptop at about 11am just the usual 1 user loggin at start up which is myself only. After about 30 mins I shut the laptop down and restarted it again at 1:15pm to find 2 users, myself and the Avast updater, both needing passwords. I logged in using my own id and password then looked up this on the forum here.

I am using Avast free programme 8.0.1489 and current version 130621-3
Win7 home 64bit and only use malwarebytes but havent ran it in a long time but have just updated it. The only other thing I use is quick start up.

Its not been made clear in any threads about this if it is safe to just log on as usual with my own user id and ignore the newly created avastsoftwareupdater user id? until hopefully Avast come up with a proper solution to this?

Are Avast trying to find a solution to put into a future version update? As I really dont want to start messing around with things if its ok to just wait for Avast to sort it out.

Just turned on my laptop and got a AvastSoftwareUpdate account next to my user account, never going to use avast again, I hope this pisstake puts you out of business…

This has happened in the past and was fixed via a vps (definition) update.
There is nothing to be concerned with, it will go away.
If you want to contact avast use http://www.avast.com/contact-form.php :slight_smile:

One more thing dump SpyBot S&D see http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2412372,00.asp
It really is junk. You are well covered with avast and MBAM. 8)

It happened to me too.
The account appears after an update and disappears after rebooting.

I rebooted and now I don’t see it either. Why did it do it though?

It’s a bug that was supposed to have been fixed in beta testing, but it seems it wasn’t completely.
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=121082.msg928063#msg928063