I don’t want avast to be running. At all. There’s no option to “quit” or “shut down” or “exit” on the task panel or the gui. When I try to end the process with task manager it says “access denied”
I’ve read a few similar topics on here, and the responses were very surprising. things like
“why would you want to close avast?”
“it doesn’t take any memory”
“you’ll be prone to attacks HURR DURR”
I just want to be able to stop it from running. This shouldn’t require joining a forum and posting a support topic.
My reasons are irrelevant. It should never be this hard to simply stop an application from running.
That doesn’t do anything but disable it. Seems quite a useless function as Avast stops doing everything, but the process continues to run and take up memory. The icon is still in my taskbar, and AvastUI.exe is still running.
So the only way to close it is to uninstall it? I do want the protection, but I’m suspicious that avast is the cause of some web browsing problems i’ve been having, and I want to close it to see if it is. This shouldn’t be a daunting task!
Imagine if you had to uninstall your browser every time you wanted to close it.
May I suggest a simple “exit avast!” button for the next update.
Disabling the Web Shield temporarily as Tech mentioned is a valid way to check if Avast is causing your browsing problem. With it disabled, clear your browser cache and visit the site(s) that you are having problems with. Of course, you will have less protection and can’t blame Avast if you become infected while doing so.
avast is designed to be a ‘resident’ AV so what you are suggesting isn’t what it was designed for and as such would require lots of hacking to get it to act like an on-demand AV.
The avastUI has no security function, but is there so you can access the various shields and settings.
Eventually we got the information out of you as to why you want to do this - to resolve a perceived web browsing problem:
I do want the protection, but I'm suspicious that avast is the cause of some web browsing problems i've been having, and I want to close it to see if it is.
So why not let us try and find and resolve that problem. The web shield is the shield directly related to the internet, so as suggested you can stop the web shield, whilst still retaining the protection of the other shields.
You seem determined to troubleshoot your own way, so be it.
Uninstall Avast.
That is the only way I know of to exit it.
I see that as a feature, rather than a flaw.
Most users don’t have this issue with Avast selectively blocking some sites; I suspect some other culprit. Let us know how you go.
I would try and scan the computer with other anti-malware apps (ones suggested here) in case Avast is not detecting anything. Or, take a look at the hosts file that may be redirecting traffic where it shouldn’t go and then the connection times out. Or, it’s the LAN proxy setting.
Most AV’s are designed so that you can’t shut them down once they are running. It’s a security feature so that malware can’t just shut the scanners down and then spread. That’s what some of the virus would try and do first.
Programs and Features → avast! Antivirus → Uninstall
Seriously, why ppl use antiviruses and want them to be disabled!? It’s like having a turbo charged Lamborghini Murcielago and want to have it without the engine… Makes no sense.
If you’re suspecting avast! to cause certain web related problems (slowdowns), you can in fact disable those shields from inside avast!. Pay attention to Web Shield and Network Shield. These two pass all the network traffic through its filters. You can also have only Standard Shield installed, but in general, these two shields don’t cause much problems or slowdowns.
First a little bit background information. The reason why it’s somewhat difficult to close avast (and pretty much any other AV, for that matter) is that we want to make it difficult for the bad guys as well. I mean, if there was a simple way to kill the AV processes, it would be way too easy for a virus to do the same.
Now, to return to the original question, it’s not a big deal to do it (if you actually know how ;)).
So, what’s the trick?
First disable the avast self-defense module (avast → Settings → Troubleshooting).
Confirm the consent message with Yes, and that’s basically it.
Now you can e.g. kill the avast processes from the Task Manager.
I know that this is an old post, but just in case any of you still receive notifications, I just want to say thank you, Vlk, for finally answering bghjkl’s original question as it answered mine, too.
This thread is an excellent example of how frustrating it can be to try to get help online as there are so many know-it-alls who put words into your mouth and proceed to answer the question that THEY think you should be asking and offering all sorts of information, both sincere and condescending, that does not in the least give the answer for which you are seeking. Come on, people–just answer the question! Like Vlk did.
OK, so I wanted to close avast today…not as simple as I first thought.
Right click, close - Fail
Open user interface, close - Fail
Ctrl-Alt-Del, TM, close - Fail
Msconfig - Fail
CCleaner - Fail
Time to check the forums…
…A post asking the same question in the Avast forum - this should be the one - Fail
Does anybody other than the guy who first asked the question actually know what “Close Avast” actually means?
The only responses that were even remotely useful were the ones suggesting a complete uninstall - Fail
Is Avast trying to become Adobe? Software on my computer answers to me, not the other way around!
My God! this forum has been read 6750 times, guess I’m not the only who likes to be able to close software at will
Anyway, short of uninstalling Avast, 15 minutes later I eventually figured it out
…time to tell the world how to “close” Avast, damn, I have to register to post…10 minutes later…
Here we go, turn off the self defence module in settings, troubleshooting, blah blah blah
Oh, I wish I had seen the link to page 2 of the forum. Nice Work VLK
What a strange question?You have an AV installed and dont want it running!! :o
Why on earth did you install it and if your having problems with it then simply uninstall it or have i missed something here.? >:(
You could stop it running via the services section but why do that is beyond me. :o