Clean installs

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

Hi,

Can anyone tell me how I can do a clean install of Avast? I normally upgrade via the application but have read that it is better to clean install rather than upgrade as it lessens potential problems.

Thanks.

2

Generally it isn’t necessary to do a clean install, unless you experience a problem, but I tend not to pre-empt possible problems.

But here it is (you don’t say what version you have (free/Pro/IS, see below for download locatione):

  • Download the latest version of avast, 7.0.1474 (see #### below) and save it to your HDD, somewhere you can find it again (if you didn’t save your last download). Use that when you reinstall.

  • Download the avast! Uninstall Utility, aswClear.exe find it here and save it to your HDD (it has uninstall tools for 5.x, 6.0.x and 7.0.x).

    1. Now uninstall avast! (using add remove programs, if you can’t do that start from the next step), reboot.- 2. run the avast! Uninstall Utility from safe mode, first for 6.x if previously installed and then for 7.0, once complete reboot into normal mode.- 3. install the latest version, reboot.

Note: The default install location for avast is C:\Program Files\AVAST Software\Avast.
Programs & Features, Uninstall/Change

Free AV: - http://files.avast.com/iavs5x/avast_free_antivirus_setup.exe
Pro AV: - http://files.avast.com/iavs5x/avast_pro_antivirus_setup.exe
AIS: - http://files.avast.com/iavs5x/avast_internet_security_setup.exe

3

Thanks, DavidR.

4

You’re welcome.

5

I followed the procedure outlined above but unfortunately I couldn’t run aswclear. I removed Avast through Add and Remove programs and rebooted into Safe Mode. When I tried to execute aswclear, a message saying that it was not a valid Win32 application was displayed. Is there something else I should have done? I went through with the re-install anyway and Avast is now working with Zone Alarm (I decided to try this method of upgraing Avast first before giving up on Zone Alarm as I had problems when upgrading through Avast). I’m running Win XP Pro 32bit and using Avast Free.

6

That error is a bit of a weird one and one which has been associated with malware infections in the past, though not exclusively.

The aswclear is more of a belt and braces approach (normally only used if experiencing problems with the regular uninstall) to ensure everything is gone. So looks like you were fine with just the regular uninstall.reinstall.

7

That’s good to hear. I thought I needed to run it but if its not always necessary, I won’t pursue it. Thanks again for your help!

8

No problem, have a merry Christmas.