Very Unhappy with Avast

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

I have resorted to a post in the hope that someone from Avast may actually help !!!
I installed Avast Free on my new laptop. The install seemed to go well and I was asked to reboot, which I did. Laptop came back on as normal and worked properly. I logged in and decided to make sure that the virus definitions and software were up to date. After I ran this, Avast gave me the option to upgrade to their ‘better’ package for a fee. I decided to go for that, paid my money and the new package installed. Again, it asked me to reboot. However, this time, when I tried to log on, my keyboard would not work. The mouse will work but absolutely nothing from the keyboard. I googled this and discovered that other people have had this problem. I rang support and explained the situation. The support person didn’t seem to entertain the fact that the problem lay with Avast. In fact he was implying that it is a windows 8.1 issue. He claimed not to know of any issues. I said that the only thing I did between the laptop working fine and not working was upgrade the Avast package. He still did not accept that the issue had anything to do with Avast. He then became the intermediary between a support person and me and we backed and forth anumber of times without success, with me not being allowed to talk directly to the technical person. Anyway, nothing could be done and it was effectively ‘tough’. So it would appear that my new laptop is to be binned. I asked to speak to a supervisor. In fairness, a supervisor did ring me a couple of hours later, but I didn’t have my laptop with me, so we couldn’t proceed any further. He was a nice guy (Ed, I think) and he told me to ring again when I had the laptop with me and ask to be put through to ‘Level 2’ support. The following day I duly rang support and relayed what I had been told. The person I spoke to would NOT put me through and told me that I had to get a ‘ticket’. I duly got my ‘ticket’ and an email confirmation of that fact. It is now 2 DAYS since that ticket was raised and nobody has contacted me. As I hope you can imagine, I am now starting to get very annoyed. I paid Avast for their ‘upgrade’ which would appear to have turned my laptop into a very expensive ‘paper weight’…
Avast, are you going to help me resolve this situation, or do I just throw my laptop in the bin ???

2

You could try to use the onscreen keyboard with your mouse to logon and then mouse your way to the Avast update. Rightclick the notification area icon, choose update->program.
The latest version of avast (2015 SP1 - 10.0.2208) fixes exactly the issue you describe.

* Fixed a bug in the keyboard driver causing problems with keyboards

3

Hi, thanks for the reply.
Please bear in mind that I’m not a ‘techie’ :slight_smile:
The problem is that I can only get to the log in screen and then I can’t log in because the keyboard won’t work.
I bought a USB keyboard, thinking that it might work, but unfortuantely not.
How can I bring up the on screen keyboard ?

4

Hi Paul,

I understand the issue you have and it must be frustrating.

You should be able to boot into safe mode and get this issue fixed.

Please follow the instructions below.

You need to do a clean install of avast!..

  1. Download Avastclear and the appropriate Avast edition.

Note: It’s important you used the stub online installer from the one I linked… NOT the offline one.

Note: You need to be ONLINE during this install (online installer works in all cases whereas offline sometimes doesn’t)

http://files.avast.com/iavs9x/avast_free_antivirus_setup_online.exe
http://files.avast.com/iavs9x/avast_pro_antivirus_setup_online.exe
http://files.avast.com/iavs9x/avast_internet_security_setup_online.exe
http://files.avast.com/iavs9x/avast_premier_antivirus_setup_online.exe

Avastclear : http://files.avast.com/iavs9x/avastclear.exe

  1. Uninstall Avast by control panel [If you don’t have Avast in control Panel go to #3]
  2. Uninstall in safe mode using Avastclear. [Boot into Safemode : http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/start-computer-safe-mode#start-computer-safe-mode=windows-7]
    Check : Once uninstalled check in device manager>view>show hidden devices if there is anything related to avast with a yellow triangle… if so, uninstall it and reboot.
  3. Install the version you downloaded.
  4. Reboot.

Note : If you have a paid license, insert the license key/activation code after the reboot at stage 6.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

5

If you follow the first link in my previous message there’s an explanation on how to use the on-screen keyboard. It’s just a matter of clicking the ease of access button on the lower left of the logon screen and enabling it.

6

Good suggestion, but since OP cannot log into machine how is he supposed to get to ease of access button ?
Also, does the MS on-screen keyboard work at login screen ?..I thought only on desktop.

7

Paul, when you reboot your machine and the vendor/PC logo comes up right after that AND before anything else comes up start hitting F8 key on keyboard…it should get you into Menu that allows you to choose SAFE MODE.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/start-computer-safe-mode#start-computer-safe-mode=windows-7
In theory this loads Windows without 3rd party drivers, etc…so “in theory” your keyboard should work since the Windows USB driver is used and not whatever the heck Avast is doing/using on its driver. However, I say “in theory” because I have no idea how deep Avast’s “driver” is buried into the O/S…but as Alikhan states…this is next step to try. If you get logged in then go to Program>Features on Control panel and uninstall Avast in SAFE MODE. Reboot and you should eb able to get into normal Windows. If so, then follow the full steps to do a clean un-reinstall.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TCCX0R7AAF2WOxAMQ_kcun2nNnCPFAk2P4RBzFXSgds/edit?pli=1

8

If you read more carefully I speak of the on-screen keyboard on the logon screen. Yes, it works there.

9

Wow, I TOTALLY missed that…learned something new each day…thx !, very slick !

For OP (Paul)…
To open the On-Screen Keyboard
1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search.
(If you’re using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer up, and then click Search.)
2. Enter On-Screen Keyboard in the search box, and then tap or click On-Screen Keyboard.
A keyboard appears on the screen that can be used to move around your PC and enter text. The keyboard will remain on the screen until you close it.

…BUT really easy way (see attached pic)…
[color=red]To open the OSK from the sign-in screen, tap or click the Ease of Access button Ease of Access button in the lower-left corner of the sign-in screen, and then tap or click On-Screen Keyboard.

10

I’d still suggest he use my method…

What’s the guarantee his normal keyboard will work after logon?

11

Some people in SAFE MODE keyboard does not work either…EVEN on new 2208.
However he initially gets the ability to login and then use mouse to uninstall Avast is fine…as long as he goes back and does a clean un-install and re-install as you suggest.