Avast One shows a white x in a red circle in taskbar and won't open anything when I click on it.

[Iggy Wolf]

Now normally after reboot, it doesn't show it. But eventually it does, and I can't do anything to close it. Clicking on it on the desktop just opens another instance of it in the task manager, but it won't actually open anything. And I'm not able to close the extra instances in the task manager. Is there anyway to close it and restart it? Which program in the task manager should I end task to close ALL instances of Avast?

[Mittens]

You shouldn't use Avast at all, they collect and sell your data - hence why it's free

[udidwht]

Originally posted by Mittens:

You shouldn't use Avast at all, they collect and sell your data - hence why it's free

Many AVs do just that free or not. 99 percent need not worry. You're not guarding national security stuff.

[CursedPanther]

Originally posted by udidwht:

Originally posted by Mittens:

You shouldn't use Avast at all, they collect and sell your data - hence why it's free

Many AVs do just that free or not. 99 percent need not worry. You're not guarding national security stuff.

Even so, Avast isn't a particularly good AV anyway. I have seen far too many false positive related complaints on the Steam forums alone.

[plat]

Is there a tooltip message if you hover over that? What happens if you simply restart the machine? Does it clear or no?

I don't run Avast but it seems you can stop the services. You prob. can't stop the service from Task Manager b/c you need admin. privilege.

You can uninstall it with the dedicated removal tool. There is also a guide to stopping the Avast services by disabling a setting in the Avast interface.

https://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility#pc

Edit: forgot to add: run another malware scanner like AdwCleaner or Norton Power Eraser to rule out infections.

https://support.norton.com/sp/en/us/home/current/solutions/kb20100824120155EN

Edited to modify text and remove an unnecessary link.

[Mittens]

Originally posted by udidwht:

Originally posted by Mittens:

You shouldn't use Avast at all, they collect and sell your data - hence why it's free

Many AVs do just that free or not. 99 percent need not worry. You're not guarding national security stuff.

But Avast is collecting your browsing history - that's overstepping the line.

[GOD RAYS ON ULTRA™]

Originally posted by Iggy Wolf:

Avast One shows a white x...

I wish I could help, but the fact is programs like this should never be installed in the first place. The real solution is to avoid these third-party anti-virus programs and just run with the default windows.

I would format my windows just to make sure that program is completely gone and after that don't install anymore bull.

Best of luck!

[CursedPanther]

Originally posted by The Hardware ʬhisperer:

The real solution is to avoid these third-party anti-virus programs and just run with the default windows.

There are certainly better ones around like Malwarebytes or BitDefender, but Windows Security is indeed quite enough for the average users nowadays save those who have some weird habits of browsing shady websites constantly.

[Iggy Wolf]

Originally posted by plat:

Is there a tooltip message if you hover over that? What happens if you simply restart the machine? Does it clear or no?

I don't run Avast but it seems you can stop the services. You prob. can't stop the service from Task Manager b/c you need admin. privilege.

You can uninstall it with the dedicated removal tool. There is also a guide to stopping the Avast services by disabling a setting in the Avast interface.

https://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility#pc

Edit: forgot to add: run another malware scanner like AdwCleaner or Norton Power Eraser to rule out infections.

https://support.norton.com/sp/en/us/home/current/solutions/kb20100824120155EN

Edited to modify text and remove an unnecessary link.

No, that's the thing. It's almost like either the UI isn't working or is being blocked. Hovering over it shows nothing. Clicking on it does nothing. Clicking on the desktop version which is supposed to load the UI shows another instance being opened in task manager, but shows nothing on desktop itself. Restarting doesn't help. I do currently have a Windows cumulative update waiting to be installed. I don't know if it's an issue perhaps with remote desktop service. I even tried repairing the installation. I didn't restart though when it said it needs to restart to apply the repair.

[Carlsberg]

I believe avast has a self defense mode that you may need to turn off/disable first.

Personally i would consider a reinstall to ensure a clean system without the possibility of modified system files. Third party AV tools are simply not needed with current windows versions.

[plat]

Oh good night, pls. do not update while Avast is on the fritz.

It sounds like a driver conflict--do you have any other security software installed that has real-time protection?

Try going into Safe Mode without networking----that kills any third party drivers. Open Start, type in: msconfig

Go to Boot tab and tick the box: Safe boot.

Then see if you can uninstall it in Safe mode. I did a quick search just now, there's even a video on how to uninstall it there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Egbfwie9dTU

[Iggy Wolf]

Fixed. It was simply not updated and required a repair installation. After properly restarting my PC, Avast One updated the engine definitions and program, and the UI now loads. Close thread. Problem solved.

[davidb11]

I have been using Avast since 2010 or so, and I only rarely run into any false positives with it.
It's been helpful for me, due to the occasional mistake I've made over the years.

It's not good, but it's not the worst.
ALso, yes, even to this day, Avast is a pain in the rear to uninstall, but it's still not as bad as the Starforce DRM that destroyed CD/DVD drives. :P

It also doesn't take any browser information because that's not how Anti-Viruses work at all.
MalwareBytes is more of a malware scanner, and it's really good, for certain.

I believe it's a bit twitchy though, if you try to look at uh, the stuff the internet is known for, :P.