System Restore on Win7 Has Avast 5 malfunctioning and disabled :(

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

Hi, after I did a system restore last week, my avast free personal antivirus stopped working. It had a big red X on it and in its control panel it said for me to click on FIX IT. I did, but I only got errors. I’m not able to restore a previous version, not able to install a new version, not able to fix/update it, and not able to delete the confounded thing!!

avast warns me

http://listofparks.com/misc/avast-fix-it.jpg

avast wont do updates because it wont run

http://listofparks.com/misc/servicewontrun.jpg

previous versions are not choosable because they’re in system restore

http://listofparks.com/misc/noprevious.jpg

tried uninstalling from Windows Programs

http://listofparks.com/misc/wontuninstall

errrrr… this came up either when i tried to uninstall from Windows Programs list (me thinks) :-\

http://listofparks.com/misc/spawning.jpg

I read your forum over and over, thought I had found a solution in the board thread here titlted Can’t update Avast after System Restore Ver 5 to Ver 7. However, I downloaded the uninstaller and ran it in safe mode and got the error about it not being a system thirty two thing… (same message as andrzejvca)

Hi Pondus. I have the same problem as av, but I can not remove Avast. I am getting "[b]acwsclear.exe is not valid Win32 application[/b]" window while trying to run it. I hope you can help me. I am using free version of Avast, Vista32.

http://listofparks.com/misc/system32not.jpg

I tried to change compatibility modes, that did not help.

http://listofparks.com/misc/compatibility.jpg

Once more, I went back into safe mode and then I just deleted the whole avast folder. THEN, guess what? my computer would NOT BOOT ever again, I just kept getting the BLUE dump screen over and over. HOW could this be possible?? all I did was delete avast folder, and then my PC is broke? :frowning: :frowning:

So, I booted back into safe mode, went to my recycle bin, restored the avast folder to its previous place, and VOILA, my computer is okay to boot on as normal.

My problem here is that my avast is broken, and I have done everything I can think of to get it fixed. I love avast. I have been using it since… maybe ten years! Also, I am scared of it, because a couple of years ago, when I was trying to clean up a virus mess on an old pc, avast asked me something about rebooting and scanning root… I chose YES to this and that computer NEVER came back on again. :frowning: I did remove that hard drive and transfer all the files from it to an external drive, so I didnt lose my years of data, but still the problem remains that I dont want to cripple my current computer. And after deleting the avast folder, I see how easy it is to inadvertantly destroy my PC.

Please tell me how to safely uninstall avast, so that I may reinstall a fresh version.

http://listofparks.com/misc/wontinstall.jpg

I get the ais 509 message on both attempting to install and uninstall.
I am using avast 5 on windows 7 home. Please help. Thank you.
Karen May Jones.

2

Hi download aswClear to your desktop http://files.avast.com/files/eng/aswclear.exe
Download Avast 7 to your desktop http://files.avast.com/iavs5x/avast_free_antivirus_setup.exe
Reboot to safe mode and run aswClear
When prompted run it each time for versions 4,5,6,7
Reboot to normal windows and install V7

3

you did it Essexboy…this time you where fastest ;D

4

;D 8)

5

Hi, did you not see the part of the message where I get the system 32 error with the installer? i mean the UN installer?.. thank you, but I’m not sure if I made myself clear :frowning:

6

Please follow essexboy’s instuctions in reply 1, you need to run the uninstaller in safe mode for all versions of avast ever installed then reboot back to normal mode and install the new avast.

7

OMG, I would love to do that, BUT, when I try to run the UN-installer IN ANY MODE, it tells me not a system 32 app?

8

Download a fresh copy and save it to your root C drive

Then right click the file and select run as administrator

9

That did not work. Thanks for your help, but I dont know what else to do, I swear, I worked for DAYS trying everything my little brain knows to get this to fix. I think the best thing would be to warn people about system restore :frowning: … guess I’ll just have to leave the scraps on the pc until I can make a backup of my drive ---- then I will try to beat it up.

10

OK this is not the best way to do it but I can try to remove it manually if you wish

11

No, mark this as resolved. I spent the evening carefully copying from system restore, making sure to save a copy of my current state into a separate folder, booting to safe mode and overwriting the avast 5 folder - My avast is restored for now - I’m afraid to touch it. lol. I’m not sure why the advice given here did not work for me. if I knew the answer to that, I would share it with everyone. Sorry. :-[

12

At least you have fixed it. The problem is that no two computers are the same, which can make it really hard to track problems down

13

Same problems as Karen here. Tried everything she tried and I keep getting the same error messages as she stated. Only difference is I have Windows 7 home edition. If I cant remove Avast through add/remove programs and the uninstaller tells me that aswclear.exe is not a valid win32 application while in safe mode, then what am I suppose to do to get this removed. Right now I dont have any virus protection.

14

Hi, I’m using win 7 home too.

can you go to your avast folder and right click and choose “Restore Previous Version” ?

15

If you do try a system restore you must first disable the Avast protection module

I have tried that on my win7 and it worked a treat

16

I DEFINITELY will do this in the future!!

17

I only know that because I had a little play, seeing as this problem appeared a few times

18

Hello again. Thank you for replying Karen and Essexboy. I right clicked on avast icon and clicked on restore previous versions but it says there are no previous versions. Also, how do i disable the self-defense module? When I go to settings and then troubleshooting I unclick the protection module but as soon as I exit out and go back it is checked again. Is there some other way I’m suppose to stop it from running? Karen, by restoring to a previous version…is that how you were able to fix yours? I’m just ready to get this taken care of,its been one big headache. Thanks…Lanny

19

yes, it is how i fixed mine. Also, I could not get the “previous versions” to show up if I accessed avast from the menu bar. I had to go through C (computer) and then Programs… Awil folder before I could actually right click on my avast folder and find a list of previous versions. This is strange, but I did spend a LOT of time working on this. There were several fixes provided here on the forum, but I could NOT get them to work. At one point, after I deleted the avast folder in safe mode, my pc became completely disabled into a permanent blue screen/reboot/blue screen LOOP (it would not boot into NORMAL mode). The only way I got my pc back was to again go into safe mode, and visit the recycle bin and UNDELETE/restore the avast folder. Crazy! Please be careful.

20

Ok…I went to my computer(C) and program files and was able to right click on avast folder and found the earlier versions like you said but when I highlight the version I want to restore, it doesnt give me the option to apply it. Tried everything