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William BakerWilliam Baker 

AVG Zen corrupts Windows 10

I just bought a new HP Envy 17.3 inch laptop with 16 GB Ram, i7 5500 Intel chip. The computer came with a trial of McAfee antivirus. I uninstalled that and after installing AVG Zen 2015 and rebooting, Windows 10 would not run. It required a resetting. I did this 4 times and EVERY time it causes a failure of Windows 10 to run. I've gone back to the trial of McAfee which works fine. Has anyone else had such a problem? I have two other computers running Windows 10 and AVG without problems (all desktops).
Rajarajan SooiyachanthRajarajan Sooiyachanth (Avast)
Hello William,

I really apologize for the inconvenience caused. Kindly let us know if you received any error message while you installed AVG program. Also please provide us the exact error message you received while booting your computer with AVG installed so that we will be able to assist you better.

Thank you.
William BakerWilliam Baker
There is NO error message. When I reboot I simply get a message that Windows 10 cannot upload and that I need to reset the computer. After doing that I have to start all over installing applications. This takes a lot of time. I tried this 4 times, but I was sure to add the AVG file first to see if it would corrupt Windows 10 and it did.
William BakerWilliam Baker
Also, I'm unwilling to try again without being VERY SURE that the same thing will not happen.
Alan BinchAlan Binch
William, When you uninstalled McAfee did you download & run the total removal tool.... (http://download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/MCPR.exe)?.
AVG Guru
William BakerWilliam Baker
No, I used control panel, programs, uninstall McAfee. After that a McAfee uninstall program engaged and uninstalled the program, which I assumed removed all files.
KishoreKishore (Avast) 
Hello William. I request you to download and run the McAfee removal tool and then proceed with the installation of AVG. Thank you.
William BakerWilliam Baker
I've completely removed McAfee, but that did not help. So, now I'm in a position where I'm afraid to reinstall AVG Protection because it is SO MUCH WORK to put all the programs back on again. I'm sticking to Windows Defender (free) until I get a guarantee that the AVG program won't mess up my computer again.
Alan BinchAlan Binch
William, When initially released Windows Defender was an anti-spyware program. With Win 8/10 it has built-in real-time antivirus. If you decide to install AVG again please bear in mind this article (http://avgclick.me/prepareforAVGinstall).
AVG Guru
Rubina FathimaRubina Fathima (Avast)
Hello William
I request you to install AVG Protection in your computer using the following link(http://support.avg.com/SupportArticleView?urlname=Download-and-install-AVG-Protection). Please make sure that we are here to help you, if you still face any issues with AVG, please do not hesitate to contact us back. We work round the clock.
Thank you.
Guy DelphGuy Delph

Exactly the same issue, I'ts odd. Had Windows 10(64-bit) running perfectly after upgrading to win 10 from 8.1 with the free update, avg was installed pre update and stayed installed after the upgrade. However this issue arised when i upgraded some system components and installed windows 10 from the oficial installaton media (full version on usb key) pc works perfectly untill avg is installed... Thought I would do a little investigative work so I took my spare pc (another system running windows 10 from the update from 8.1) that pc is also running avg no issues, untill I installed windows 10 on it from another oficial install media, avg installed and guess what... system won't boot.
Gulam Shaik MohammedGulam Shaik Mohammed (Avast)
Hello William,
I apologize for the inconvenience you experienced in this case.
I request you to please get connected with our remote team using the email instructions which I have sent to you, so that our Technician will  diagnose your system by remote and help you.
Please feel free to get back to us for further assistance.
Thank you.
Alan NicholsonAlan Nicholson
Hi William,
​Yes, I have had the very same problem with AVG Zen (Free) and McAfee AV, After uninstalling McAfee AV then installing Windows 10 all ran well. Then I installed AVG Zen and nothing would run, so that led me to Resetting my Brand New Acer Laptop computer back to Factory Settings and reinstalling Windows 10 again. I trust AVG Techies will sort this problem (good luck guys) as it is most frustrating and time consuming. I am afraid to use Zen again.  Cheers Alan
Aravind GnanamurthyAravind Gnanamurthy (Avast)
Hello Alan,
I understand how something like this can really try your patience. Please be informed that before installing AVG Zen you must uninstall all AVG product from your pc and then install AVG Zen. To make your uninstallation easier we recommend you to use remover tool. To run AVG remover tool for AVG Antivirus please follow the below steps :
Please click on the below link to download remover tool
http://aa-download.avg.com/filedir/util/AVG_Remover.exe
Accept the license agreement and then choose AVG Internet Security and remove it.
NOTE: Once the AVG Remover Tool has done with its process. Please go to the drive where you installed this tool and look for a folder named as "AVG Remover" and I request you to delete it manually.
To install AVG Zen (Free) please click on the following link http://files-download.avg.com/inst/mp/AVG_Antivirus_Free_692.exe .
Please feel free to contact us for any further assistance. Thank you.
George MasinaGeorge Masina
After hours of trying to fix the problems with upgraded Win 10 and AVG Zen which somehow loaded without me knowing....I have uninstalled ALL AVG products. Which is sad because AVG has for years always been my No.1 app, even over Windows. It's now become unstable bloatware as far as Win 10 is concerned. I won't go back to it as it has set me back hours of very important work. At the moment I have resorted to Windows defender because everything out there is bloatware. AVG was and always has been my preferred and recommended until now. I am expecting calls from everyone I have recommended AVG to to ask what's happened to their computer....
AvinashAvinash (Avast) 
George, we apologize if an AVG product did not meet your expectations. Our main goal is to keep our customers happy.

AVG carefully monitors the quality of our products and the service we provide, therefore all feedback from our customers is important to us. Please share it here http://avgclick.me/AVGfeedback . Thank you.
Liz RaymondLiz Raymond
I've just seen exactly the same issue on a brand new Toshiba laptop with Windows 10 installed.  The ONLY software we installed was AVG Zen.  Then we attempted to reboot - and hey Windows 10 was no longer bootable.  The only recovery was to "reset" the computer to its install image.

Rinse. Repeat. Same behaviour.

I can't get AVG Zen installed onto this computer without this happening.

Pity really, I'm an IT tech and up until now I've recommended AVG to my customers.  Alas I cannot afford for this kind of debacle when I'm on a customer site so I'm afraid I'll have to recommend an alternative product to my customers.
Aravind GnanamurthyAravind Gnanamurthy (Avast)
Hello Liz,
We apologize if an AVG product did not meet your expectations. Our main goal is to keep our customers happy. AVG carefully monitors the quality of our products and the service we provide, therefore all feedback http://avgclick.me/AVGfeedback from our customers is important to us. If you have a specific experience with AVG products that you would like to share with us, we would appreciate hearing about it.
Liz RaymondLiz Raymond
> Our main goal is to keep our customers happy.

If that was true you'd accept the specific example I just gave you instead of forcing me to repeat it through a feedback page.

I found my own solution so I'll share it in the hope of helping others.

When the computer won't boot and throws you into the startup recovery environment, try disabling the Device Driver Signature Enforcement.  The sequence of choices you need to make is something like:

* See advanced repair options
* Troubleshoot
* Advanced options
* Start-up settings
* Restart
* Disable driver signature enforcement

Something like that anyway. Alas I didn't note down the exact sequence.​

After that the computer will boot into Windows - at least, it did for me.  Of course next time I rebooted the computer I had to go through the same sequence again.

There were a stack of Windows 10 updates waiting to install, so I installed them. You can check for updates by typing "check for updates" into the search bar at the bottom left of the screen.  Note that rebooting the computer won't necessarily complete the installation.  You need to go into the Windows updates screen and click on Reboot Now.

After the updates were applied, I didn't have the AVG problem any more.  So I'm guessing that there's a particular Windows update that resolved the problem but I'm afraid I can't tell you which one it was.

A further thought for others struggling with this issue.
If disabling the driver signature enforcement works for you, you can disable it permanently. I don't recommend doing this unless you absolutely have to. Option 1 on this webpage shows you how: http://www.technipages.com/enable-disable-device-driver-signing

I hope this may save a little time and hair-pulling for others who have experienced this problem.
Robert BurchRobert Burch
Thank you, Liz Raymond!  Your description and resolution was spot on for this same problem that I was experiencing.  
Balasubramanian SBalasubramanian S (Avast) 
Hello Liz Raymond,

Thank you for sharing the workaround.
We really appreciate that.
Balasubramanian SBalasubramanian S (Avast) 
Hello Robert,

Glad to know that your issue got resolved by following "Liz Raymond" instructions.
Walter ZarinsWalter Zarins
Hello William, you so echo my experience. I got a brand new laptop for my birthday that came with a trial version of McAfee. The system was working magnificent until the trial period was over and I oped to download and install the free version AVG Zen. It installed fine and all but after I performed a couple of  its fixes and performance enhancements it all but killed my system. It is beyond slow. Things take forever to open and usually time out before opening. I have internet connectivity issues. It's endless. I finally unistalled all the AVG components and my system is nearly back to normal. I'm still exploring and fixing.
KarthikeyanKarthikeyan (Foundever) 
Hello Walter,
We apologize for the inconvenience,
This issue can happen if the AVG program was not updated properly, we suggest you to completely remove and install the latest version of AVG program to fix this issue.
Thank you.
Alan BinchAlan Binch
@ Walter Zarins
Walter, When the McAfee trial expired did you remove same using the full removal tool (http://us.mcafee.com/apps/supporttools/mcpr/mcpr.asp)?.
AVG Guru
Bruce CampbellBruce Campbell
Sticking my nose in...
this is what you get from buying a pre-loaded machine, when you're a builder, you can take things step by step, you can always re-load a 'virgin' computer until you get the software correct. Ditto for laptops, or any mobile, don't buy pre-loaded, you'll have more fun "rolling your own" and in the end have a machine better customised to your needs.
lars janslars jans
My pc was complete ruined. It did not boot anaymore.  it was complaining about the keyboed defenition and damaged hard disk.
There was nothing wrong with te keyboard. It crashed every time. After a couple of reinstalls it was over.

I finally went to the PC shop.The harddisk was ok. They said AVG zen destroyed my windows 10 installation. After complete new installation. I tried AVG free, again it crashed.

I am really not happy what's going on. This is a 1 year old PC. I always used AVG.
I do have a couple of other PC with windows 8.1 and AVG. I don't have any trouble there.

Can somebody help me to solve this problem ?



 
KarthikeyanKarthikeyan (Foundever) 
Hello lars,
We are sorry to know that. The latest version of AVG will not conflcit with AVG. We suggest you to upgrade the product to latest 2017 version and see if that fix the isuse. Please uninstall the older version of AVG from your computer and install this 2017 version and see if that fix the issue.
Thank you
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