Quick Tips

How To remove Avast Antivirus

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Several weeks ago, I was helping someone remove a copy of Avast Antivirus 4. To my surprise, it would not let me remove it using the normal uninstall process.

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After a minute or so of Googling, I found the answer - awsclear.exe. Apparently, this problem is more widespread, so there is a tool to remove it in circumstances when the normal uninstall doesn't work.


Why would I want to remove a good product such as Avast you ask? There are numerous reasons.
  • Corrupted virus signatures due to a bad update
  • It just wont start properly
  • Corrupted files are causing 100% CPU usage
  • You want to replace it with another product that you want to try out etc...
Avast is not alone, I've had problems removing other antivirus problems in the past.  It's good that Avast has a simple removal utility to help.  Have you had problems removing an antivirus program?  What's your favorite antivirus program?

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