Very, very slow Avast Premium Security installation

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

I tried to install Avast Premium Security yesterday evening, using the online setup program from https://www.avast.com/en-gb/premium-security#pc. I was using a clean install of Windows 10, updated to 1909.

The installation process took more than 90 minutes to setup and launch the Avast UI. When the Avast UI loaded, the “Status” tab displayed the standard “You’re protected” message along with a progress bar and the words “Completing installation”. The progress bar was stuck at 45%.

When I have installed/re-installed Avast Premium Security or Internet Security in the past, the setup process has taken no longer than 10 minutes. No additional progress bar was displayed once the Avast UI loaded.

I was very worried by the installer’s behaviour, and guessed that there might be an issue with Avast’s servers - that’s where the installer would be pulling files from, after all. I contacted Avast’s support line via their UK number (0800 085 4825), but the T1 tech who I spoke to was unable or unwilling to check if anything was wrong with the update/download infrastructure.

The only other explanation for the installer’s behaviour that I can think of is an incompatibility with Win 10 1909. In fact, my experience yesterday has a lot of similarities with this forum post: https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=229958.0

Rather than go through the misery of trying to remove a broken/incomplete Avast install from my system, I wiped and re-imaged the hard drive. This is the polar opposite of my idea of a fun evening. I’m now trying to decide between attempting to run the installer again or ditching Avast completely.

I would be super grateful if someone from the community (or an Avast dev or support person) could confirm:

[b]1. If there have been any issue affecting Avast’s servers that could slow down Avast Premium Security installs carried out using the online installer.

  1. If slow installation is a known issue on Windows 10 1909 systems.[/b]

I have been able to rule out other explanations for the slow installation:

  • I connect to the internet via a 100Mbps line that is not subject to throttling or traffic shaping. After abandoning the Avast install, I carried out a speed test on my line and recorded 100Mbps down, 20Mbps up. I also tested router-to-client and mesh speeds and saw nothing unusual.
  • My home network is based on Google Wifi hardware, so I have no direct control over its firewall settings. Google Wifi’s security features have not prevented me from installing Avast Premium Security in the past.
  • There was no other software running on my PC that could have interfered with the Avast installer. I was using a clean install of Windows 10, without bloatware and without any other third party AV software.

I’m desperate here. I don’t want to lose another evening to a broken install process, and I really don’t want to shop around for another antivirus solution, but it seems like I’m rapidly running out of options.

2
  1. Download Avast Premium Security: https://files.avast.com/iavs9x/avast_premium_security_setup_offline.exe
  2. Reinstall Avast with the downloaded installer from point 1.
  3. Reboot.
3

Appreciate the swift response, Asyn, but that doesn’t deal with the “Completing Setup” message. After loading up the Avast UI and shields, it appears that the Avast installer (or another Avast process) goes to fetch additional files. If I had to guess, I’d say these were signatures and other updates. There’s every chance I’ll run into the problem again if I use the offline installer. Result: a broken install.

I’d also note that the person who started this thread - https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=229958.0 - ran into problems when using the offline installer too.

4

Well, it’s worth a try, imo.

5

Sure, I may have to try that. However, it would still be nice to know,

  1. If there have been any issue affecting Avast’s servers that could slow down Avast Premium Security installs carried out using the online installer.

  2. If slow installation is a known issue on Windows 10 1909 systems.

6

Sorry, no idea, I always use the offline installer.

7

FWIW, I’ve sent a shortened version of my description of the issue to Avast Support, via the contact form on the website. No response as yet.

Does anyone know where avast.com’s offline installers page is located now? None of the other pages on the site seem to link to it.

8

Found another forum user having the same problem: https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=230608.0

9

No reply to the written support request so far.

Checking back through posts to this forum and to the Avast subreddit during September and October, I’ve found two further reports of the installer running slowly. On one occasion the Avast installer took three hours to finish what it was doing. There’s clearly some sort of systemic problem here.

10

→ https://www.avast.com/installation-files

11

So it looks like Avast haven’t bothered to follow up on the support request that I sent to them on Friday. There haven’t been any comments by Avast developers or support staff on this thread either.

I don’t want to take the risk of running into the same install problem again, because then I’ll have to carry out another clean install of Windows. That’s something that I have neither the time nor patience to go through with.

The lack of interest that Avast have shown is genuinely disappointing: multiple Avast users have been affected by this problem, and it seems that it is at least partly related to Avast’s own auto-setup/auto-update systems.

I think the only course of action left open to me is to cancel my Avast subscription and sign up with BitDefender or Webroot instead.