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I had a similar situational response to the “administrator requirement” since this was the first time I decided to try and “fix” a virus myself. It was kind of scary. And, like you, I discovered that the fix was actually very easy.
I have not found that I need to disable Avast for software installs. I just need to be more discerning as to whether a reported “virus” is a system file or not. If it is a system file and it is moved somewhere, then the os can’t run (duh!). So I’ll be much more careful next time.
Lastly, I use Acronis to backup by entire system. I’ve been using it for for six years and fortunately have never had to reinstall my system, but I’m very happy with the way it works in terms of easy-of-backup. Hopefully, if I ever actually have to use it it will work as simply as the backup part. :-))