PC unusable after upgrade from avast Free 4.8 to 5

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

Hi All,

I have been using free avast for a number of years without problem. However I logged in to my computer the other day and I got a message saying my subscription would be expiring soon. It encouraged me to switch to avast 5 from avast 4.8.

After installation of Avast 5 I find I could no longer work on my PC, it freezes and all I get is desktop wall paper, no start menu or anything else. I had to do a system restore. I uninstalled 4.8 and then installed avast 5, it worked initially, then I did a boot time scan, after this, the problems started again. No user is able to do anything on the computer after logging in. All that is seen is the desktop wall paper. My operating system is Windows XP SP3.

I am now thinking of ditching avast all together. As anyone experienced this problem. If so, how can I rectify the problem. The only time my computer becomes usable again is when I do a system restore.

Help please

2

Did you follow the correct procedure to uninstall avast! 4.8 ? There are many posts here explaining that.

3

Download the latest version of avast, 5.0.462 http://files.avast.com/iavs5x/setup_av_free.exe 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, find it here ensure you get the version5 one (it has uninstall tools for both 4.8 and 5.0), aswClear5.exe and save it to your HDD.

    1. Now uninstall (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 4.8 if previously installed and then for 5.0, once complete reboot into normal mode.- 3. install the latest version, reboot.