New Avast Free install won't start on Windows 10 Pro

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

I just installed Avast Free on my Windows 10 PC using the download https://www.avast.com/en-us/download-thank-you.php?product=FAV-ONLINE&locale=en-us. Even after rebooting, Avast doesn’t act like it’s been installed. No icon is in the system tray. Nor do I see an executable in the Avast Program folder.

2
  • OS…? (32/64 Bit…? - which SP/Build…?)
  • Other security related software installed…?
  • Which AV(s) did you use before Avast…?
3

Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
Previous AV was the Comcast license for Norton 360. I’ve had troubles uninstalling it, but I think I got it uninstalled. Avast still won’t start.

4

First, be sure to get rid of all remnants of any prior installed AV(s)…!!
→ https://support.avast.com/article/11/

Then:

  1. Download Avast Free Antivirus: https://files.avast.com/iavs9x/avast_free_antivirus_setup_offline.exe
  2. Follow instructions: https://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility (Run this tool for all prior installed Avast versions…!!)
  3. Reinstall Avast with the downloaded installer from point 1.
  4. Reboot.
5

Even though this is the first install of Avast for this computer?

6

Yep.

7

Reinstall complete. I see Avast programs listed in the Task Manager. But still no system tray icon.

8

I should note the installer window simply vanished both times.

9

Did you get rid of all remnants of Norton…!? (https://support.avast.com/article/11/)

10

Yes, but the removal tool didn’t work. I specifically told it to do a remove rather than a remove and reinstall. But even after 2 runs of that program, Norton was still installed. So I deleted all the program files I could find and the registry entries.

11

Seems you didn’t catch them all and that prevents a successful install of Avast.

12

Well, it seems the network adapter on that laptop died again. It’s part of the motherboard so I’ll need to reinstall Windows after a replacement is installed. That would mean this issue would become irrelevant.

13

Well, I got the laptop back up. I found more Norton components, but Avast still hasn’t installed properly.

14

Well, as said, you need to remove all remnants of Norton, else it won’t work.

15

I found the following after more digging. Regalyzer didn’t find it for some reason. But I can’t delete these keys. I can’t even change the permissions. Now what?

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00


[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center\Provider\Av\{30744133-1E94-7B35-F4A3-82A5AEF1CBAA}]
"GUID"="{30744133-1E94-7B35-F4A3-82A5AEF1CBAA}"
"DISPLAYNAME"="Norton Security Suite"
"STATE"=dword:00051000
"PRODUCTEXE"="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Symantec\\Norton\\Security Suite\\Engine\\22.11.0.41\\WSCStub.exe"
"REPORTINGEXE"="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Symantec\\Norton\\Security Suite\\Engine\\22.11.0.41\\wscstub.exe"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center\Provider\Av\{53C7D717-52E2-B95E-FA61-6F32ECC805DB}]
"GUID"="{53C7D717-52E2-B95E-FA61-6F32ECC805DB}"
"DISPLAYNAME"="Norton Security Suite"
"STATE"=dword:00051000
"PRODUCTEXE"="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Symantec\\Norton\\Security Suite\\Engine\\22.8.0.50\\WSCStub.exe"
"REPORTINGEXE"="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Symantec\\Norton\\Security Suite\\Engine\\22.8.0.50\\wscstub.exe"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center\Provider\Av\{E3FDBD9F-8140-1400-F32B-8B58923F7C4D}]
"GUID"="{E3FDBD9F-8140-1400-F32B-8B58923F7C4D}"
"DISPLAYNAME"="Norton Security Suite"
"STATE"=dword:00051000
"PRODUCTEXE"="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Symantec\\Norton\\Security Suite\\Engine\\22.12.0.104\\WSCStub.exe"
"REPORTINGEXE"="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Symantec\\Norton\\Security Suite\\Engine\\22.12.0.104\\wscstub.exe"
16

Best you contact Norton support, they should know how to remove it.