When I boot into safe mode from the HDD (SSD actually) it hangs at the same file every time. First aswRvrt.sys and after I renamed all asw*-files in $Windows\system32\drivers it hangs on ClassPNP.sys.
Before I resort to reinstallation of windows I would like to uninstall Avast and make sure that this is not caused by some malware. Could someone please guide me in that process since I am lacking those skills myself?
Or you can disable the Self Protection Module in Avast.
See attachment below. And them remove Avast in Control Panel, Programs and Features, just like you uninstall any other program.
@Johnny4745: I booted with a rescue disc (Hirens Boot CD 15.2) and ran command prompt in that guest OS. From there I accessed the HDD and renamed the files. The renaming was just about adding a ‘_’ to the end of each filename suffix.
@ram1220: Since i can’t boot the OS installed on the hard drive at all, not even in safe mode, that’s unfortunately not an option. I need a way of removing Avast from a guest OS booted from a CD (or USB).
Hi, the utility will execute and run though it does give a warning that this is not the recommended way.
The Hirens disk ‘should’ have the total commander file explorer if you want to try it. :- Do this at your own risk. Hope this helps.
Thanks for your help. However I have not been able to solve the problem. For those who don’t know, the Avast Uninstall Utility will run from a BootCD, but will not remove anything from the registry of the OS installed on the HDD. Only the files in the Avast directory will be removed.
Now I will check some more for root kits or other malicious code before I reinstall Windows 7 to have the computer back in action.
There is one other thing that could be causing your problem. In April Microsoft released and update that caused some people’s computers to fail to boot. The update was KB2823324.
If you received this update and didn’t remove it, it could cause problems at a later date when software was installed that caused a conflict.