Before I Install Avira Antivir Free... Why Do People Have Issues Uninstalling It?

Hi,



My AVG 7.5 updates have stopped indefinitely. I get a nag screen asking me to install 8.5 which I will not do because it slows my system down to a crawl. I already tried it...

Anyways I want to replace AVG with AVIRA ANTIVIR but before I do so I want to know why is it that so many people claim to have issues uninstalling it? I need to know just in case I choose to uninstall it if it's not to my liking. My pc skills are moderate so I would assume if it's not that tricky I could try uninstalling it myself. Just let me know what those issues are before I actually consider installing to take this risk.

Even reviews on cnet.com say it's tricky to uninstall but why? It's the #1 software on cnet.com and just beat AVG for the first time ever.




Thanks

 

Have you tried AVG 8.5 with a custom install. Simply uncheck Toolbar and link scanner during the *CUSTOM* install.

Yep, Avira can be annoying to remove. Here's a link though.
http://www.pchell.com/virus/uninstallantivir.shtml

Cheers...

 

Yes I did try AVG v8.5 with custom install [no link scanner, no email scanner, no extra languages, and toolbar]. Yet the program still slowed my system down to a complete crawl. It would take 10 seconds to open a folder! 5 Minutes just to boot my pc! I used to love AVG I supported it for years with v7.5... They lost me now, I'll never go back! It's all about money to them now.

 

Hey Superstar,

I was in the exact same situation as you. I kept AVG 7.5 Free until two days before updates stopped. Due to current OS restrictions, Avira seemed like the best option. So I installed it, or rather I thought I did :confused It was not running in the system tray, or in running processes, but it was there with an icon on the Desktop. I had it for a week before I realized - it wasn't running Fortunately, I didn't visit any suspect sites during that time, but essentially I had no anti-virus protection for about a week. This is very dangerous. So I went to uninstall it, and found it was not even listed in Add/Remove Programs :mad I manually deleted it out of Program Files, and then manually deleted the Desktop icon. Later when I checked my Registry, I found it left a bunch of stuff in there, so I cleaned out that garbage, too

My advice: Stay away from this time waster. Either try PC Tools AV Free (Pretty good, though I find it causes a slower start-up), or the latest free AVG, or another Anti-Virus recommended here on MajorGeeks.com.

 

If you were to check, Avira AntiVir has a score of 4.7 out of 5 here at MG.Look in the antivirus listings.

 

From what I've read Avira Antivir doesn't have an active email scanner in the free version, while Avast does.

PS: Most antivirus software do require an uninstall tool to remove remnants after removing it from Add Remove Programs.

 

Avira's AntiVir has issues with uninstalling? This is first I've heard of it. Besides, the "reviews" at CNet are written by people who have trouble microwaving a burrito, let alone using a PC. But, on the other hand, if you have a good antivirus program running, and it's working great, why uninstall it? Why are planning to uninstall it before you even try it out? It works great. I've been using the free AntiVir since version 6 back in 2006/2007. I've tried AVG; I've tried Avast. I'm still with Avira AntiVir. And I've never had any trouble removing it from an XP or Vista PC. Back with version 6 (and occasionally with v7) I had problems with it running with Win2000. But it always uninstalled OK when needed.

@ Tom K: what version Windows were you using? What version of AntiVir?