Hello, yesterday night I was running an avast boot-time scan, I found 2 malware viruses which I then deleted, but when I booted my PC back up something VERY strange happened. My windows had deactivated? I then restarted my PC and everything was fine. I am almost certain that the viruses I found were not false positives because one located in the temp file, and the other somewhere in Google Earth? Is this a permanent problem that will happen again? I’m worried to run another boot-time scan as I dont want my windows 8 to permanently lock me out of my PC. My windows 8 came pre-installed with my laptop therefore I have no serial key or number.
My windows 8 came pre-installed with my laptop therefore I have no serial key or number.Yes you do. There should be a sticker on the laptop with the serial key or you should have got it in another way from the seller.
My windows had deactivated? I then restarted my PC and everything was fine.Deactivation and not booting are two entirely different things. So, what exactly happened?
Is it windows 8 or 8.1?
What exact version of avast?
Do you have or had any other anti-malware/security software installed?
I have windows 8, not 8.1
Avast! Version 2014.9.0.2021
I currently only have Avast, however I used to use AVG free, which I uninstalled before installing Avast.
My PC booted like normal, I entered my password and when I clicked the Desktop icon from my start menu, it loaded a blue screen with a white cog (settings?) It then said something like: “To continue, you must activate windows 8.” I then restarted my PC and everything worked normally from then.
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Delete avg and avast completely.
Links to instructions/tools can be found at:
http://www.ache.nl/index.php?location=mal-01 -
Update to Windows 8.1
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Instal all patches/updates from:
http://update.microsoft.com -
Install avast