How To remove Avast Antivirus

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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Wifi Status

I was recently asked: "How do I know how strong my Wi-Fi signal is?". The answer is very simple, check your taskbar!

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First, move your mouse to the computer icons on your taskbar (bottom right of your computer screen). This example uses Windows XP.

Hovering over the wireless icon will bring up a status dialog.  You will know what Wi-Fi access point you are connected to (it's been crossed out here) along with the speed, signal strength and status.  To get obtain a little more information, you just have to click on the icon your mouse was hovering over.

Doing so will give you the above dialog box which displays your signal strength in a graphical view.  The more bars, the better your signal.  In this case, the signal is very good.  You will also see how long you've been connected to this Wi-Fi AP and the send and receive activity since you connected.

To get extended information, I recommend a tool such as NetStumber, which can help you figure out Wi-Fi issues you may be having and plan your Wi-Fi AP placement and channel selection.

I hope this has been helpful.  What Wi-Fi tools do you use in your Tech belt?

Related Books

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Using Team Viewer To Remote Control A PC

Here is a quick tutorial on how to use TeamViewer to remote Control your pc. Assuming you want to remote control your work computer from home.

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Here are the steps.

Work Computer

Download this on your work computer and leave it running.  You will get an ID and Password assigned for this session.  Write it down or email it to yourself so you will have the information at home.

Home Computer


Download the TeamViewer Setup file.
There are three simple steps to take at home.

1. Run Software

2. Accept Agreement

3. Create Session

You will have the Session ID from above.  You can enter the password when prompted.
You are not controlling your work computer from home, and can do anything you would be able to do while at work.

I hope this quick tutorial has been helpful.

Recommended Books

• You can buy the Learning FreeNAS: Configure and manage a network attached storage solution book if you are looking for a good reference book.
• Network Know-How: An Essential Guide for the Accidental Admin
• Absolute FreeBSD: The Complete Guide to FreeBSD, 2nd Edition

For additional links to tips and tricks follow me on Twitter. If you would like to contribute to FrugalNYC or FrugalTech in any way, contact me via email. Click here to add this to your RSS reader or Subscribe to FrugalTech by Email.