Troubleshooting 'The Base Filtering Engine (BFE) service is not running' error during installation of AVG Antivirus

When installing AVG Internet Security or AVG AntiVirus FREE, you may receive an error message 'The Base Filtering Engine (BFE) is not running', and the AVG Setup wizard is unable to complete the installation until the Windows BFE service is restored and running.

The BFE service controls the operation of the Windows Filtering Platform. This service is essential for the operation of many firewall products, including the Firewall embedded in AVG AntiVirus products.

This issue may be a result of active malware which has disabled, terminated, or removed the Windows BFE service to prevent detection. It may also result from changes made to your system files or registry by third-party PC optimization software.

To resolve this problem, you need to restore and start the BFE service.

Instructions

Ensure that the Windows Base Filtering Engine service is running by following these steps:

1. On your keyboard, press the Win key and R key simultaneously to run the Windows Services console, then type services.msc in the field and click OK. The Services console appears.
2. Locate Base Filtering Engine in the Windows Services console, and check the Status column. The status needs to display the text Running before you can continue installing AVG. If the status is blank, it means the service is not running.
3. Right-click Base Filtering Engine in the list and select Start to enable the BFE service. If the BFE service does not start, repair the BFE Service by using Windows Firewall Diagnostics from Microsoft Support:
   • Microsoft Support ▸ Automatically diagnose and fix problems with Windows Firewall
4. Go back to AVG AntiVirus setup and click Retry to continue the installation, or refer to the instructions in the relevant article below to install your version of AVG AntiVirus again:
   • AVG Internet Security | AVG AntiVirus FREE
   

Further recommendations

When you have successfully installed AVG AntiVirus on your PC, it is recommended to follow these additional steps:

• Run a Boot-Time Scan to check for any malware that may try to disable the BFE service again. For more information, refer to the following article:
  • Running a Boot-Time Scan in AVG AntiVirus
• Ensure that there is no other third-party antivirus software installed, including expired or trial versions. Having more than one security product on your system can lead to conflicts such as false positive detections. For more details, refer to the following article:
  • Uninstalling other antivirus software
• Consider uninstalling any PC optimization software. Such applications can make changes to your critical system files or Windows registry that may interfere with services such as BFE. For more information, refer to the relevant article below from Microsoft Support:
  • Microsoft Support ▸ Repair apps and programs in Windows 10
  • Microsoft Support ▸ Tips to free up drive space on your PC (Windows 8)
  • Microsoft Support ▸ Windows 7 – How to properly uninstall programs