Yes, uninstalling N0rton does make you jump through hoops! I’ve had to remove it from many machines and I know how bad it can be. :stuck_out_tongue:

A good replacement to start for uninstalling SB would be MBAM (Malwarebytes) http://www.malwarebytes.org/. There is a free on-demand or a paid resident version. Many of us here use it and it is compatible with Avast.

To clean your machine, yes CCleaner Slim version http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/builds would be recommended. It also has a registry cleaner/fix and you can make a back up prior to fixing temporarily in Documents or on a USB. The Slim version is not on their web site now as they are updating their versions but should appear in a day or so. If you download the full version, only download it as a “Custom Install” so you do NOT download any toolbars and carefully look at what you are downloading…e.g. uncheck anything you do not want to download like ebay and any browser toolbars. The Slim version has no toolbars.

I would suggest defraging your entire system. There are many defrag tools, but one that also does a boot-time defrag would be best. A free one that is quick and light on your system and used by our malware removal expert is Puran Defrag http://www.puransoftware.com/. You would do a regular defrag with Puran, then a boot-time defrag. Also, during the boot-time defrag, it does a system check (not a complete diagnostic check).

I suggest that you uninstall SB and TT (not disable it) since this could be conflicting with Avast, as well as running CCleaner and defragging your machine, with reboots in between. If you are still having problems after this, then an Avast Repair might be worth a try or a complete uninstall/clean install…but I will await your reply as to how your machine responds to the uninstall of SB w/TT and cleaning/defrag first.

I tend to think the root of this problem is not Avast, but something causing Avast to run slower. The only way to know is to troubleshoot. Should this fail, then I will have you submit a mini-dump file to Avast, which I will instruct you to do when we get to that point. Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you.