Boot problems when installing Avast! Free

system · 2015-11-26T10:40:16.000Z

I’ve been using Avast free on my PC without any problems for quite some time now. I recently configured my PC to dual boot with Ubuntu, I ran into some problems and decided to get rid of Ubuntu, format my HDD and make a clean install of Windows 10 educational again (legit version provided to me via my university).

The first thing I did when the installation was complete was to install Avast!, this however rendered my PC unable to boot due to missing Avast drivers. I was able to resolve the issue by removing avast via my Win10 Live disk. Once up and running again I installed some other programs and rebooting my computer every once in a while to make sure nothing was causing boot issues. I decided to give Avast! another go but prior to rebooting I went into \Windows\System32\drivers and made sure the avast drivers that caused the booting problems last time were there (which they were). I rebooted my computer and it took me back to square one… After some experimenting I have concluded that it is indeed Avast that is causing the issues.

I can add that I’ve tried to format the HDD twice followed up by a clean install of windows although the same problem occurs. What am I doing wrong and how do I fix it? I want Avast!, nothing else

Thanks in advance!
/Clayton

Eddy · 2015-11-26T10:46:03.000Z

What version of avast did you tried to install ?

system · 2015-11-26T10:57:48.000Z

The one for windows 10; https://www.avast.com/sv-se/windows-10-antivirus

Eddy · 2015-11-26T11:00:26.000Z

https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=179386.0
Give that one a try.

system · 2015-11-26T11:03:52.000Z

Ok, i’ll do that. I’ll be back with an update if it worked or not. Thanks!

Nope, installing the provided beta resulted in the same issue :S.

system · 2015-11-26T11:42:00.000Z

Could it be that when i installed Ubuntu it messed with the UEFI settings in Bios which would remain after a whipe of the HDD?

Eddy · 2015-11-26T11:46:52.000Z

Easy way to check, reset the bios to default values.

system · 2015-11-26T11:50:44.000Z

I was unsure if it was even possible that it could’ve happened. But yea it’s a quick checkup. I’ll be back with the results.

system · 2015-11-26T16:13:47.000Z

Unfortunately, the problem remains. Any other ideas?

bob3160 · 2015-11-26T16:42:04.000Z

Try a clean install of Avast:
http://goo.gl/VLXde

Eddy · 2015-11-26T16:44:17.000Z

I suggest to submit a ticket and see what avast is saying about it.

Bob, he already did that

format my HDD and make a clean install of Windows 10 educational

bob3160 · 2015-11-26T18:08:16.000Z

Eddy post:11:

I suggest to submit a ticket and see what avast is saying about it.

Bob, he already did that

format my HDD and make a clean install of Windows 10 educational

A clean install of Windows 10 and a clean install of Avast aren’t the same thing.

system · 2015-11-27T07:17:39.000Z

I think Eddy just quoted the wrong line. I tried clean installations of both Avast! and Windows. It turns out however, that the windows install wasn’t as clean as i thought. I have resolved the problem and my PC is just fine now ^^. For those who are interested I’ll explain the problem and the solution below.

First off, when installing Windows I used the built in tool (on the DVD) to format the HDD. This tool wasn’t working properly and I realised this when I saw that my HDD only had 1TB (out of 2TB) available after the installation (of windows) was complete. To properly format my HDD I found a guide on how to do it from cmd:
http://www.windowsnetworking.com/kbase/WindowsTips/Windows7/AdminTips/Miscellaneous/HowtowipeaharddriveusingDiskpartandFormat.html

With a clean disk i tried, once more, to install Win10. This time however I got an error message saying “On efi systems windows can only be installed to GPT disks”, which quickly brought me back to google. I found out that the problem was in my dvd drive. My “fiddling around” in Ubuntu had apparently changed the default “driver” (or whatever it’s called) for the DVD in BIOS. So i went into BIOS and checked out the driver for the DVD and I could swap it for another one that wasn’t marked “UEFI”.

The new DVD driver was able to install Windows properly and a clean wipe (using cmd, not the shitty tool on the Win10 Live Disk) was the thing that led me to it, as I didn’t have any errors when installing windows before the “real” wipe.

Most concering is that a Live disk is no longer able to perform a wipe properly using the graphic layout. I remember that it was possible to to both quick wipe and a full wipe with a WinXP disk without any difficulty.

Eddy · 2015-11-27T11:58:46.000Z

Thanks for sharing it.
I’m sure it can help other people.

So after all, it was indeed a bios setting problem.
You would (could?) expect that Windows setup will see it and either change it or tell the user about it. ???

Anyway good to hear everything is working again now.

Announcements