Hello, is it possible to restore Avast’s settings to a different system/machine? Let’s say from a WinXP system to a W7 system?
Also, does it make any difference (in order to avoid issues) if the “restored” Avast has less shields installed than the “backed-up” Avast?
Thanks in advance
Edit: added some info
I would have thought it would be OK.
Perhaps you would at least have to have the same number of shields installed as it mentions the components for which to backup the settings. See image and note I don’t have the P2P or IM shields installed so those won’t be backed up. But I doubt it would actually be restoring the shields, just the settings for them and the .ini file for it if appropriate.
So if a shield that you backed up the settings for wasn’t present on the new install the import couldn’t apply the settings for it, though it may import the .ini file for it. Other than that it would probably work, one way to find out ;D
Thanks, DavidR. Yeah, one way to find out ;D
I was thinking about the scenario you just described - when a shield that I backed up the settings for is not present on the new install and the import cannot apply the settings for it. Perhaps at this point I can back up the settings without including the shields that I do not plan to install on the other system (let’s say friends/relatives machines)… I guess it could work better that way, at least it would not import any .ini file for not-installed shields (provided that it usually does).
[Update]
Okay, I tried this morning:
different machine-system / same OS / different number of installed shields = it worked.
Settings were restored and applied.
However after restoring, I had to delete the SSL Accounts data from the Mail Shield (just because that was not my machine) and revise the exclusions.
Also, I checked again all the main Settings because some of the options are not included in the back up (e.g. proxy…)
Yup, no problem doing this, I’ve used it for quick installs, you can always tweak settings afterwards.
so have you restored the settings also on a different OS (e.g., from WinXP to W7)?
Yes, once tweaked for that system, export the settings for it and give the export file a unique name.
No, I have done it here on Win7 64Bit and 32Bit.
mmmh… why a unique name?
ah okay, thanks
In theory this might not work, as the avast5.ini (and other avast shield .ini files) is in a different location in XP and Vista or win7 (docs&settings Vs ProgramData folder).
I don’t know exactly what is stored in the exported data file or how smart the actual Import function is. If it would place any .ini file in the correct folder location. If the avast .ini files were stored in the exported settings, then the Import function could just replace the existing ones with the exported ones. But there is a lot of ifs in there.
If you haven’t seen the name format they look the same, e.g. have a date stamp style name, the idea of a unique name relates to the content of the export in conjunction with that datestamp, e.g. NoShields-DateStamp.txt. So when you come to use it you know that there are no shield settings exported in this export.
The backup file is a renamed zip file with the ini files (and a couple of others depending on your setting choice) contained within.
In the same way that it knows where to place the sound files, which are the same general location, avast knows where it’s own files are stored. (And IIRC the %ALLUSERSPROFILE% value is the equivalent for both OS types if needed)
The only thing that I can think that may cause a problem, depending on how it works, is the name of the avast5.ini file. In newer installations, it is avast.ini I think and so hopefully avast will recognise that and cope with it 
Well I have done a few clean installs recently and it is still avast5.ini.
There was the update issue with the early beta builds and I had to do a clean reinstall (before avast7 was in the aswclear) and prior to that I had exported the settings (after a installing the closed beta over avast6), so that reference would be for avast5.ini.
I have done another clean reinstall since then, but exported settings, that too would most likely have referred to avast5.ini, so it doesn’t seem to have been an issue.
Thanks for the info, spg SCOTT.
With “newer installation” do you mean “newer OS” or recent clean install of Avast?
I’m asking because yesterday I did a clean install of Avast 7 and it created a avast5.ini* file (not a avast.ini file) on a XP system.
*no settings imported so it’s a totally fresh install
No we are talking only of the avast/5.ini file name nothing to do with OS.
If you do a clean install, regardless of OS Scott is saying the file name would be avast.ini. Me I can’t confirm that as I have imported my previous settings after a clean reinstall, so that may change that back to avast5.ini.
But I rather think there is more to this that just this simple explanation as I don’t know if there wouldn’t be any other references to the avast/5.ini elsewhere.
No David. I did a totally fresh/clean install yesterday (no traces of Avast in the system before the install) and the file is still avast5.ini (not avast.ini file).
Also, I haven’t imported any settings so the file name was generated during the setup process.
System info: Win XP Pro SP3 / Avast! Free AV 7.0.1426
Last edit: some info added
I thought with some update of version 6 the ini name was changed to remove the version number to avoid confusion in the future. Maybe not…I don’t know.
I wont have seen it myself…I have only installed avast once…and that was the first version of 5
I thought that was likely to be the case as some considerable time ago it was mentioned that changing the avast5.ini name would be complex as it is referenced in many areas.
The clean install of avast 6 changed the old folder names, ALWIL Software and Avast5 to AVAST Software and Avast, but the avast5.ini remained the same. So it looks like that anomaly remains, perhaps in avast8 ;D
yeah, but spg SCOTT is so lucky that probably he will have no need to do a clean install of avast 8 ;D