Avast Grimefighter on a Loop

system · 2015-04-22T09:57:41.000Z

[size=14pt][font=times new roman]I have had Avast antvirus for around 6 years, the first two years were free but I then paid for the last four years, it has worked very well. I was using Internet Explore but then started to use Google Chrome as it was recommended to me, I bought a new computer six months ago and I was told Chrome was very good. Last week somehow two programs called Roll Around and Buzzads appeared on my computer, they only seemed to pop up on Chrome so I uninstalled and went back to IE, no pop ups on there, I then installed google chrome and again Roll around and Buzzads appeared with lots of ads popping all over the place so again I uninstalled it.
Then I received a message from Avast telling me that Grimefighter was now at half price and it would work wonders by keeping my computer in tiptop condition and clean and would run much faster. As I now have a 1tb hard drive I had no problem with it being slow but if it could help with the ads and because I trusted Avast I thought why not.

I received an email a few minutes after I had accepted and paid by PayPal to say that I was now a grimefighter and I could now run grimefighter, it started to run and then came up with a message to say that it had been aborted because no windows installation or your drives are encrypted. I then tried to close down. This was on Sunday morning and for over 3 days I have been trying to get rid of it but to no avail, it in a loop, I have tried closing it down, taking the plug out of the wall socket, leaving it for a few hours or overnight, but nothing works, it opens with the green screen and the rather silly cartoon figures. I cannot get into my computer, I cannot do anything apart from use the internet as the search is still on. I have sent 3 eamails to Avast but have not had a reply, I sent message on the Avast website but it keeps asking for a ticket and it will not let me in to find one. I then called them on the phone yesterday and spoke to a rather unfriendly young man who informed me that the reason Grimefighter wasn’t working was that my computer was not configured properly, I told him that it was a new computer and that it has been working great until I bought Grimefighter, he said that he was an expert, and he knew what he was talking about as he had been to University, I then said that I would like to have it uninstalled and I would then ask for a refund. He told me that all he could do was to pass me on to the next level of of experts and if paid 125 uk pounds. I asked him to explain why I had to pay this large sum of money to fix something that was Avasts fault, he said it wasn’t it was my fault and not theirs and if I wanted it fixed then I would have to pay. I told him that I was a pensioner and I could not afford to pay that money. his reply was there was nothing that could be done until I paid it.
I told him that this was a scam and he asked me to repeat it which I did, he then said this conversation is recorded, I told him it didn’t make any difference, it was wrong to sell a program which didn’t work and then to ask for money to fix the problem. Again he said that it wasn’t their fault, it was mine.
So I am now left without windows, all my files, folders etc. are on there. I am also a volunteer for a charity and a lot of the charites work is on there and it can never be replaced.
I will now have to try and find a local computer person who can help me get my windows back and hope that if they can nothing is lost. If they can’t then not only have I lost all my data but I have lost my new computer and I cannot afford to buy a new one. I am not very impressed.

Eddy · 2015-04-22T12:59:36.000Z

Please change your post to a normal character size.

system · 2015-06-11T00:19:07.000Z

i am having the same problem
it makes me so mad

system · 2015-06-14T15:53:42.000Z

Dell Inspiron 17 running Win 8.1 was always starting directly into GrimeFighter. I used the information from Ocotillo, Reply #8 on: April 15, 2015, 07:24:20 PM (https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=169311.msg1204703#msg1204703) to fix the problem:

When I hit ESC immediately after turning on the power, at the bottom right appeared two choices F2 Setup? and F12 Boot Options? or vice versa. I tried both and eventually found the Boot Manager. There were two options:
Grime Fighter (ST500LT012-1DG142)
Windows Boot (ST500LT012-1DG142)
I chose the second, Windows Boot, and was able to log in to Windows.

Deleting Grime Fighter from Boot Up

One can remove the Grimefighter boot entry manually by getting to the command prompt and doing this:

run “bcdedit /enum firmware”

Scroll up and look for the Windows Boot Manager entry with a description of Avast! Grimefighter

There will be an identifier number for this entry, it will be a random string of numbers like {233a9f91-efd8-4771-a9c7-5f4ecc823458}

Copy or write down carefully the identifier, including the curly braces so you can re-enter it in the next command.

Scroll back down so you can run another command

To delete the Grimefighter entry run “bcdedit /delete {233a9f91-efd8-4771-a9c7-5f4ecc823458}” using the identifier you have copied for your Grimefighter entry instead of my example one, be very careful here and make sure the identifier you delete is the one for Grimefighter, double check it before hitting ENTER

system · 2015-06-23T06:31:10.000Z

I feel the same way, no help and was told it was my fault. I was also told that I had to pay 179 dollars to fix it. I told the unfriendly Avast people that it was blackmail. I am not happy and will NEVER use this product again!!!

Eddy · 2015-06-23T07:15:32.000Z

dnweinke,

as has been explained 100’s of times already…
The people you have called are not from avast but a third party !

Also has been explained 100’s of times, if you want your money back you will need to submit a ticket to avast.
https://support.avast.com

Information:
https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=154831.msg1172746#msg1172746

Asyn · 2015-06-23T07:18:53.000Z

dnweinke post:5:

I feel the same way, no help and was told it was my fault. I was also told that I had to pay 179 dollars to fix it. I told the unfriendly Avast people that it was blackmail.

Report your experience to Vojta Nekvapil: nekvapil[at]avast.com (3rd Party Support Manager)

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