I was told that my new PC hard drive was corrupted by installing Free Avast from Avast web site and this was a very common problem. They refused to replace my PC. I find this hard to believe as I have been using this for many years.
Crispin
So do I, I wouldn’t believe anything computer related from Currys. I don’t know where they get the “this was a very common problem” from. If it were a common problem then I would expect to see many topics relating to this in the forums and I just don’t see them.
I think you are getting the bums rush here, how would they know it was avast (or anything else) if the drive is corrupt. How could they analyse that as it would surely need to have a working system/drive to do that.
Installing avast wouldn’t corrupt the drive I have been using avast for over twelve years and been helping in these forums for the same sort of time. I have also installed avast on many of my systems in that period without issue.
I would have thought at the very least they could have done was a factory restore, but then Currys aren’t really what I would call computer system experts. I’m not sure what recourse you have left with them as far as consumer standards/protection goes if they are refusing a replacement or refund (if you haven’t had it very long). If you paid for this PC (or part of the cost) by credit card you may have a claim on your card for a refund, again how long you have had the PC would be a factor.
What are the symptoms that you were experiencing ?
Software doesn’t corrupt a drive.
It can make other software not working as it should (e.g. malware making a OS malfunctioning)
Malware can change the firmware of a drive, but that still would be software making other software not to function properly.
Currys is just a retailer owned by Dixons.
And Dixons is not exactly known for their service.
You can easily check the harddrive yourself.
Use the harddrive diagnostic tool from the manufacturer.
I agree that it was extremely unlikely to be Avast or any thing else like that. I was concerned that this ‘expert’ as spreading rumours like this. I went another store and they just agreed to replace the PC. The symptoms I got was boot sectosr corrupted or some thing similar. I will be reporting this to Curry’s complaint department because I like wasting my time. I shared this because I felt that people should know about it.
You did (and are doing) right by sharing this.
If replacing the PC was needed is something I do not know ofcourse since I haven’t seen the system/don’t know what the exact problem was.
I hope your problem is now solved since you got another system.
In case of problems, you know how to find this webboard 
Currys & PC World Knowhow PC repairs investigation - from Which?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Rh-j03-8yE
You have UK consumer law on your side if the machine is new and it really is broken but without more information the rest of this is little more than speculation.
As others have said here installing new software on a HDD isn’t going to “corrupt” it and even if the OS is broken you should still be able to repair/reinstall it by using the OS install discs or accessing the repair partition there should be if no repair discs were provided.
If this is hardware failure of some sort or even a software problem you can legitimately claim the machine is not fit for purpose and the retailer ie. Currys is responsible for either replacing or repairing it depending on just how ‘new’ the machine is.
But like everything else you have to fight your corner to get your rights. That doesn’t mean going ape-**** it means arming yourself by making sure you can explain/demonstrate what is wrong with the PC in a cool and calm way. Read up on exactly what your basic consumer rights are in case like this and don’t be put off by retail staff spinning you a line about AVAST or whatever being the cause of the trouble.
However I would expect that any retail PC from Currys already had an anti-virus installed. I just had a look and it seems they pre-install a trial version of Norton in most PCs they sell so, if that was enabled, or you bought the optional McFee LiveSafe then maybe trying to install AVAST on top of it caused the problem.
If it is something like this then it is not up to Currys or any other retailer to fix it for you. You should be able to do this yourself if that is what the trouble is but you’ll need the help you should be able to find here.
Before you install anything you should have put in a restore point or maybe there is a pre-AVAST restore point available. Trying this would be the first thing I’d do in these circumstances.
You will have to start the PC in Safe Mode if you can’t boot Windows normally because of the problem.
But more information about the nature of this problem will be required to be able to provide more specific advice.
More information isn’t really necessary now as the OP has succeeded in getting the PC replaced.
I went another store and they just agreed to replace the PC.
ClusterZlizard.
excuse my ignorance but if boot sector is corrupted,how do I boot PC into safe mode ?
Mcafee was deleted before Avast installed.
My main point I was trying to make was that Currys was giving out false information and this was a warning to maybe others and the Avast they they were being blamed for something that is not their fault. Many inexperienced people will buy from Currys because it is easy and will install Avast because its bloody good.
If your new computer again came with McAfee or another AV, it must be totally removed before Avast is installed or,
you could again wind up with a problem.
Follow these instructions:
http://goo.gl/VLXde
I missed your second post so, obviously was not aware that you’d actually managed to get the PC replaced elsewhere. The original Currys you went to, presumably the store where you bought it, were clearly spinning you a line by blaming AVAST and you were right to share that experience here.
The fact another Currys’ store just replaced it shows how much of a lottery dealing with problems like this can be. If you’d gone there first you’d rightly be praising their customer service.
In the absence of a repair/recovery disc there should be a dedicated repair/recovery partition accessible at start up sometimes in the same way as you’d access Safe mode (F8) or by using some other dedicated F key (F10 or F12). Information about this should have been provided in any manual that came with the PC.
Plenty of info about this sort of thing but like most solutions you need to be able to get online to find out how to do it unless you’re pre-prepared:-
http://www.thewindowsclub.com/repair-master-boot-record-mbr-windows
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/win7-windows-7-mbr,10036.htm
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12415/windows-10-recovery-optionsl
There’s no guarantee that any of the above solutions would have fixed whatever was wrong with your original PC.
I’d also take their explanation of what the problem was with a fair amount of skepticism too. It sounds like a good excuse and whether correct or not it would have been stupid to question that when they’d agreed to replace the PC. If they’re giving you a new machine you keep your mouth shut and walk out of the store smiling. 
Being prepared for a disaster always needs to happen before the disaster strikes.
Most people learn that lesson the hard way. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZy5in3WNe4
Thanks for those URLs and advice Cluster-Lizard. I may be wrong but I thought all the methods described would need boot sector.
I think its bad no media is supplied especially as one has paid for the software.
In the absence of the Windows installation discs you’d would need to have previously created a rescue disc or buy one to fix the MBR of your particular OS:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZQ9Vw4yXqY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFU8kngy6O0
AVAST has a rescue disc creation option which would be used in a case where the MBR has been stuffed up by a virus which may still be lurking. You’d run that first to clean it out.
RIGHT !
thanks for the video bob3160
My pleasure. Hopefully it will prevent another disaster.