Avira Update troubles again

[Feline]

Hello,

I've updated my Avira Free Antivirus today and it produces a message that the systems needs to restart for the updates to be effective. I remember the last time it did that it was to install some spamware/toolbars that I didn't want and that caused a lot of trouble until the whole thing was fixed

I uninstalled Avira back then and used Avast, but wasn't very happy with it andcame back to Avira when I was told the issue with the enforced ask.com spamware was fixed. I allowed Avira updates to install manually only and set my Sygate Firewall to notify me when anything regarding Avira updates was attempting to go out. That worked for a good time and I felt safe with Avira again - unfortunately, safe enough to even let it update without activating Time Freeze before. just in case.

Now I'm a bit concerned. I have not let the system restart yet and the nagging screen (restart now/remind me later) keeps popping up. I'm afraid that if I restart, I will install unwanted spam like maybe ask.com toolbars or the like, as it did before.

Now I'm wondering what exactly would be installed when I restart? Why on earth would it have to restart at all, after a simple update? As said, last time it was to install the Ask.com toolbar...

I'm wondering if I should uninstall Avira before shutting down the computer, to not give whatever it is a chance to get installed.

But what would be a better antivirus for my rather old computer, a two ghz Windows XP machine?

And actually, I wonder if I need an antivirus anyway - after all, I have Sygate, only surf with Sandboxie and I could always start TimeFreeze before going online. Wouldn't that be enough?

All my best, and many thanks for reading this and any advice you might give,

Feline

[torres-no-tan-magnifico]

Avira has just been updated without a hitch and prior to that I can't remember ever being asked to restart my PC after installing an update.

I have used Avira for, at least, the past 3 years and have never had a toolbar forced upon me... well as far as I can recall.

I did try Avast once but never felt confident in its detection ability and also I didn't like the GUI.

Sorry I can't help you any further but I am sure there is another Luke Filewalker devotee out there who can!

[Feline]

Thanks for answering anyway, Torres.

I had the toolbar problem before, I posted it here on this forum a year or so ago. It was solved when Avira backed off from enforcing that toolbar and offered the choice to not install it during installation.

However, right now my problem is that I don't dare a restart, and consequently don't dare to shut down my computer at all. There was another post at the Avira forum by someone who obviously wasn't able to get Windows running at all after an Avira udate. He wrote:

Please give me a link, or tell me how to fix my laptop. I cannot even get IN windows XP to do anything. BSOD. Cannot boot into Safe mode either.

So it may be that an unwanted tool bar could be the least problem...

I'm not much of a computer expert and probably would be as helpless as that poor guy, so I'm not wild to take any chances here. I guess my best option would be to uninstall Avira altogether before the next computer shut down and take Time Freeze as security for the time being.

Drat! Considering that neither SAS nor Avira had found anything remotely close to a virus for a year I begin wondering if I need Avira at all.

Feline

[MidnightCowboy]

Originally Posted by Feline

And actually, I wonder if I need an antivirus anyway - after all, I have Sygate, only surf with Sandboxie and I could always start TimeFreeze before going online. Wouldn't that be enough?

There are many that would answer "yes" to this. In general terms though we still recommend the use of an antivirus because not everyone will use Sandboxie 100% as it is intended, and of course there are other threat areas such as removable media to consider.

Avira does seem to be the cause of quite a lot of aggravation again lately, so maybe consider one of the others such as Avast! or the now upgraded MSE?

[Feline]

Thanks, MidnightCowboy. I reckon I might take a chance on that, at least for a couple of days.

Trouble is now that it doesn't seem easy to uninstall Avira. I started an attempt with my tried and faithful Revo Uninstaller and got the following message:

Please reboot system before using setup (error code 12)

Ugh - I don't want to reboot anything before Avira isn't gone.


That never happened before with Revo. Also, I cannot seem to exit Avira, only stop the 'realtime protection'.

And what should I do now? I tried to shut Avira out in the task manager, but this also doesn't work.

Feline

[George.J]

Avira does enforce to install the Ask toolbar if the default browser on your system is Firefox or Internet Explorer only. Many toolbars function the same way. Probably this is why Torres didn't face it.

More info here: http://www.techsupportalert.com/cont...watch-list.htm
The article is still under construction, but I've tested Avira and it is bundled with Ask toolbar.

[George.J]

Feline if you wish to uninstall, I'll recommend you to use the Avira Uninstall tool offered here.
http://www.avira.com/en/support-down...r-removal-tool

[bo.elam]

Reboot in safe mode and choose "last known good configuration". That should do the trick as Avira will be back as before the update. Thats what I would do.

------

You probably can not "Exit" Avira because you have "self protection" on. It can be disabled and Exiting should work afterward.

Anyway, doing the "last known...." will work. Do it now if you have not tried anything else, yet.

Bo

[Feline]

George, thanks, but what I can glean from thze manual, the removal tool is only to remove viruses, not Avira itself.

Bo.elam, thank you, I will try that. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Feline

[George.J]

Originally Posted by Feline

George, thanks, but what I can glean from thze manual, the removal tool is only to remove viruses, not Avira itself.

Bo.elam, thank you, I will try that. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Feline

I believe that page was for Uninstalling Avira. Probably it might have been for earlier versions? I guess there's no such uninstaller tool for the later versions. You may try it out anyway.

These were the articles that led me to the Avira Removal tool.
http://www.computertipsfree.com/how-...ir-completely/
http://www.themisteriosos.com/uninst...completely.htm
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/w...e-4477d283f956

They say that downloading the Avira Removal Tool and Avira Registry Cleaner and running them on your PC, would let you remove all the traces of Avira from your system.