Safe or Unsafe

[Iceboy]

Is this safe or unsafe on my computer, I use Bitdefender not Avast..whatever it is doing I can't get rid, always says denied.

 

[Wolfie]

Hi Iceboy,

did you install any 3rd party apps that also install other apps without noticing it?, have you looked at your apps list to verify Avast is not installed?.

Be careful when installing apps. How to block additional apps installation.

Hi all, the title may be a bit confusing so let me explain. :) When you download an app, there is often a very dubious button or box that you should click to finish the install process. All well and good you would think but a lot of installers want to install more bloatware or unwanted apps...

www.windows10forums.com

Do you have CCleaner installed? (the free version!), you can use it to remove apps and any remnants of them!.

Download CCleaner 6.21 for Windows - Filehippo.com

Download CCleaner 6.21 for Windows. Fast downloads of the latest free software! Click now

filehippo.com

 

[Trouble]

Avast Removal Tool | Download Avast Clear | Avast

www.avast.com

OR

How to Delete a Windows Service on Windows 10 or Windows 11

If you are a fan of tweaking your system and disabling services, you might find that over time your Windows Services list becomes large and unwieldy. It’s easy enough to remove a Windows service using the Command Prompt or PowerShell on Windows 10 or Windows 11 but be careful. You could break...

www.howtogeek.com

 

[Iceboy]

The only thing I used was ccleaner, but I got rid of that and I'm left with this.

 

[Iceboy]

Thanks for that trouble.

 

[BigFeet]

There's also a way to manually get rid of it too. I can't remember where I had found it, but it does involve deleting a registry key and deleting the folder it's in. I had to do it on a couple PC's that I used to run avast on. The fix trouble mentions is probably much easier.

 

[Iceboy]

Trouble, I tried the avast unistall..but in safe mode I can't sign in..it says wrong pin number?.

 

[Wolfie]

it says wrong pin number?

Did you set a PIN as well as your normal user password?.

 

[Iceboy]

My pin is my password

 

[Trouble]

Trouble, I tried the avast unistall..but in safe mode I can't sign in..it says wrong pin number?.

Safe Mode with Networking may be required. Option #5 rather than #4 when using advanced startup settings.

 

[Iceboy]

Network was on too

 

[Trouble]

My pin is my password

Not sure what that means exactly, but...
Assuming for the moment that both your password and your PIN number are exactly the same in all characters, and....
You're receiving a "wrong PIN number" error, then switch from the PIN login to the normal Password login and type your password as you know it to be and use the EYE spy icon to confirm that it is being entered exactly as you expect.

 

[Wolfie]

I would also reset your PIN to something other than your normal user password as there might be a system conflict there?.

 

[Iceboy]

Right did everything in safe mode, but it didn't remove the avast reporter as shown below, but it did put another folder in registry which I had to remove again..so I'm stuck with this somehow, I have seen other people having trouble too and they don't know where it came from either..I've done a malware scan in safe mode but nothing comes up. There seems no way to remove this even in safe mode it always comes up access denied.

 

[Trouble]

Click the Start Button and simply type
cmd
When it appears at the top of the list generated by this search, right click it and choose "Run as administrator"
In the Admin Command Prompt window type
sc delete AvastWscReporter

I don't know if a Safe Mode boot will be required to accomplish this successfully.
You could try it, in a normal boot and resort to a Safe Mode boot if necessary.

In your image attachment above, it reflects a path to an Avast folder on your machine which might need your attention
AND
Additionally you might want to look at your Task Scheduler and make sure that there isn't a scheduled task that keeps making a call to some hidden files related to Avast that is complicating your life.

 

[Wolfie]

Also, open Services again and look for any Avast entries and right click it and disable it if you can, I know you said that you are having access problems though!. An example below.

 

[Iceboy]

Each time I do that it say's no access unfortunately. Trouble, I get this too

 

[Trouble]

An antivirus manufacturer called ESET makes a tool that is said to be able to remove remnants of previous installations of many antivirus products including Avast.
You may want to give it a try

[KB146] Uninstallers (removal tools) for common Windows antivirus software

support.eset.com

Make sure you download the appropriate version for your system architecture (32 or 64 bit).
There is also a step by step user guide link which you may want to read to be sure you don't have any unintended consequences.
Never had to use it myself but it might be worth having a look.

 

[Iceboy]

Now I have two problems. Since downloading the Avast tool remover, I now get a splash screen at the beginning asking me to choose between win10 or avast start..what was in that bloody avast utility Trouble and how do I get it to start as normal.

 

[Trouble]

I read something about that a few days ago when I was researching this issue for you.
Have a read of this article and see if anything in it matches up with what you are encountering.

Avast installs a mock operating system in order to complete the uninstallation. It will then force the user to reboot the computer in safe mode. Since Avast was the last operating system to install, it becomes the default OS. When the computer restarts, the Avast OS loads and opens windows in safe mode. Avast then proceed to completely uninstall, leaving behind the uninstaller and the registry keys and a few files. Though your antivirus will no longer work, you will need to complete the uninstallation by removing residual files.

SOURCE: https://appuals.com/how-to-remove-avast-left-over-files-completely/