Do not remove the antivirus. What to do if Kaspersky is not uninstalled

In the letters that I receive from site visitors, quite often there are questions, the meaning of which boils down to the following:

- I want to change the antivirus, but it doesn’t work.

- The antivirus installation program requires you to remove the old antivirus, but it is not removed.

- I removed the old antivirus, but I can’t install the new one. A message appears that the old antivirus has not been removed. What to do?

Having answered letters with similar questions several times, I realized that this topic is of interest to many, and therefore I decided to release a lesson for all site visitors.

The reason for problems of this kind lies in the fact that almost any antivirus program, when installed, “penetrates” very deeply into the operating system, and subsequently finding and removing these “roots” is not always possible using conventional removal methods.

If you have ever tried to install two antiviruses at the same time, then you probably know how it ends. In 99% of cases, the computer is incredibly “buggy” and it is simply impossible to work.

And therefore, when installing most antiviruses, they require you to remove all the “tails” of the antivirus programs that were installed before.

This is where the problem arises - the old antivirus cannot be completely removed, and the new one does not want to be installed, because... “sees” the remnants of the previous one.

Hence the conclusion: in order for the problem to disappear, you need to learn how to completely (along with the “tails”) remove the antivirus. What are we going to do now?

Let's study this issue, moving from simple to complex!

1. First of all, try to remove the antivirus in the usual way. How this is done is described in the lesson “How to properly install and remove programs,” so I will not repeat myself.

In addition to the methods described in this lesson, you can try running the installation file (setup.exe or install.exe) that you used to install your antivirus. Many antiviruses have built-in tools for removing themselves, so when you run the installation, you will most likely see next to the item "install" and point "uninstall program".

This is the easiest removal method, which, unfortunately, almost always leaves “tails”.

In addition, on the websites of antivirus creators (or on their forums) you can find and download utilities (programs) that are made specifically for removing your own antiviruses. The name of the site can be found from the antivirus program itself by selecting in the menu item "Reference" (Help) line "About the program" (About).

They are definitely worth looking for, but, unfortunately, such utilities do not exist for all antiviruses. Therefore, after you have done all this (or were unable to do it), and there is no effect, you need to find and remove all obvious (visible) remnants of the antivirus.

2. We are looking for obvious “tails”.

To do this, first delete all folders with files in which this antivirus is located. After that, run a search: Start – Search, and in the left part of the window that appears, select the item "Files and folders":

When the search is completed, delete everything related to your antivirus from all folders, and especially from the Program Files folder.

Read more about searching for files.

3. Sometimes, to remove some of these files it is necessary disable services that are created by antiviruses.

To find out if there are such services, you need to click Start - Run and type from the keyboard services.msc

If you do not want to do a deeper cleaning, then after this step you can try to install a new antivirus, because... often this is already enough for the installation to be successful. However, not always.

4. An even more serious step towards removing all unnecessary “tails” remaining from the old antivirus would be registry cleaning.

To clean the registry, you can use special programs: NBG Clean Regisrty, RegCleaner, jv16 PowerTools or CCleaner, which can be downloaded.

After cleaning any of these programs, most often the problem disappears completely, but again not always.

Therefore, if all of the above does not help, you can do the following...

5. Manual registry cleaning.

Run the program to edit the registry: Start - Run– type from the keyboard regedit :

When the program starts, select the menu item “Edit” - “Find”:

In the window that appears, enter the name of your antivirus. Make sure all the checkboxes are checked and click the button "Find Next":

When the program finds any registry entry similar to the entered name, it will stop waiting for your actions. Your task here is to make sure that this entry is actually associated with the antivirus, and delete it if so. To do this, move the mouse cursor to this entry, right-click and select "Delete":

To continue the search after this, press the key F3, and when the program finds the next entry, delete it and press again F3. And so on until the search and removal of all unnecessary registry entries is completed. Pay special attention to this registry branch:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>SOFTWARE>MICROSOFT>WINDOWS>CurrentVersion>Run

But be careful not to accidentally delete anything unrelated to what you're looking for.

(By the way, this cleaning method is also good for removing “tails” from some programs that have a limited period of use (usually 30 days), after which they cannot be installed again).

After all the above steps, reboot and if you did everything correctly and carefully, feel free to start installing the desired program.

6. Well, if this doesn’t help, then there is always such a universal way as complete reinstallation of Windows.

After a complete reinstallation of Windows, any problem of this kind disappears 100%.

It is extremely undesirable - a lot of antivirus files remain in the system registry, which in the future can contribute to the deterioration of the performance of your computer. There are several ways to properly uninstall antiviruses.

Uninstalling an antivirus through the Start menu. In this menu you need to open the “All Programs” section. Here you will find the folder with the installed antivirus. After the folder has been found, hover your mouse over it and select “Uninstall”. Next, follow the prompts to uninstall the antivirus application from your computer.

Uninstalling an antivirus through the Add or Remove Programs service. You can open this service through the “My Computer” menu. On the left side of the menu that opens, click on the appropriate section. Once the list of programs installed on your computer is built, find the antivirus offer and remove it. Using this service, you can also remove other applications.

Video on the topic

Sources:

• how to remove antivirus from computer

Some antiviruses cannot be removed as a simple file, i.e. without consequences. Improper removal can lead to various consequences. In particular, to a software conflict. You need to remove the antivirus depending on the circumstances, in various ways.

Instructions

Antivirus (or any other program) should not be simply deleted, such as a simple text file, image, etc. Such removal may cause a system conflict, due to which the next antivirus may not work correctly, since many incorrect software files are still left in the system. These leftovers are also very important. Antiviruses are developing rapidly, and obviously they need special utilities to constantly monitor malicious software. You need to get rid of the protection completely - by deleting all system files.

First of all, you can remove many of the antiviruses correctly by going to the following address: Start
Control Panel
Installing and removing programs There you need to look for an antivirus in the list and select “uninstall”. This is a correct deletion. You can also delete it a little differently: Start
All programs
Look for an antivirus in the list. After finding the directory, select “remove” or “uninstall”

If there are no such means of correct removal (which sometimes happens), you need to go to the official antivirus website. For example, some versions of Kaspersky antivirus can only be removed with a special application. You can download this application on the official Kaspersky website ( http://www.kaspersky.ru/) is called - Kaspersky Lab Product Removal Utility.

And if for some reason the antivirus was removed incorrectly, you need to thoroughly clean the system in order to prevent errors in the future. To do this, it is best to download the IObit Security 360 utility, conduct a full diagnosis and remove errors in the system, registry, etc.

Related article

I would like to reveal a terrible secret - nothing is deleted from the computer without a trace... At least immediately and without a trace. As you know, information is contained in clusters, and in order for information about a file to be completely erased from the hard drive, you need to rewrite the information to this cluster five to six times. Therefore, you should be extremely careful when choosing an antivirus program, and even more so when removing it. After all, as you know, different antiviruses can’t stand each other. And to avoid annoying troubles, you should follow a few simple tips.

Instructions

But it’s also not worth installing one antivirus while another is installed. Otherwise, the very first check may have a significant impact on the condition. In the best case, the system will recover and it will be possible to remove one of the two. In the worst case, you will have to reinstall the system or change the hardware.

It is precisely to prevent this from happening that you need to carefully remove the antivirus. This is done simply.

To begin, press the “Start” button. In the system menu that appears, select the “Control Panel” tab. If you have the Windows XP operating system, then there will be no special problems. Many users often installed and uninstalled games, so they often encountered such a menu.

In the “Control Panel” tab, look for the “Add or Remove Programs” item. We activate it by pressing the left mouse button. The user is presented with the entire list of programs installed on this computer. And here not only programs, but also games. If you want to delete something, you just have to find the treasured name in the list and press the key located to the right of the software name, which says “ReplaceDelete”.

By clicking on this button, the removal of the program from the computer is activated. However, there is one “but” - the program itself can and will be deleted, but only the saved files may remain. To remove them too, you need to open “my computer” and search on the drive and in the folder where it was installed. By default, all programs are installed on the “C” drive, in the “Program files” folder. In this folder, find the name of the remote program. Delete this folder and then empty the Trash. And you can install a new antivirus with a light heart and conscience.

Video on the topic

If you have multiple users on your computer, each with their own account, you might want to think about limiting the rights in those accounts. For example, this may be necessary if you do not want other users to be able to install programs or games. It is also very important that there is only one administrator account left in the system - yours. In this case, other accounts will not have rights to change their profiles; only you will have this ability.

You will need

• A computer running an operating system, basic computer skills

Instructions

Find the line “Win2k User Accounts”. Double-click the left mouse button on the icon to start setting up accounts. In the window that opens, on the “Users” tab, check the “Require username and password” checkbox. On the same tab, find the “Users on this computer” list.

Start editing the rights of each user. To do this, select the desired user and click the “Properties” button. In the “Properties” window on the “Group Membership” tab, set the value to “Limited access (Users)”. Make sure your account is set to “Administrator” in “Properties”. Using the “Change Password” button in the main “User Accounts” window, set a password for the selected account. After making all the necessary changes, click the "Apply" button.

Video on the topic

Almost every PC user has encountered the problem of deleting folders or files. It is especially difficult to solve this problem for beginners who have just recently started using a computer. Deleting the Administrator folder is not easy, but it is possible.

You will need

• - a computer connected to the Internet;
• - special Unlocker program.

Instructions

To delete a file or folder, connect to the Internet and download an archive with a special program called Unlocker. This program is capable of deleting any folder or file, even if the system refuses to do so. It is easy to operate, and easy installation makes it easy to understand even for beginners. The program independently finds the reason for the system’s refusal to delete and eliminates it.

After downloading the Unlocker program, install it on your computer. If it is successfully installed, you will see an icon with a magic wand in the system tray. Next, go to the folder with the Unlocker program archive, and launch the “Administrator” folder in it. A window will appear called Installer Language, in which it is not recommended to touch anything. Without closing the window with the running program, return to the folder and select the line of the installed program.

In the Unlocker program window that opens, you will see a list of processes blocking operations on the folder. In addition, the program itself provides the ability to manipulate the folder, as well as control the blocking process.

Before you start deleting the folder permanently, try to unblock the process, and if this fails, then simply delete it. When you delete, the process will close and you can delete, rename, or move the folder without any problems.

note

Be careful when deleting system folders or files, as you may accidentally delete important data and thereby cause great damage to your PC system.

Helpful advice

If the program did not delete the folder immediately, then it will definitely prompt you to complete the operation the next time you boot the system, therefore, after the request, feel free to restart your PC and you will see that the deletion operation is completely completed.

A user folder is a system directory that contains documents, photos, videos, music and other files used by the owner of a personal computer account.

You will need

• - Unlocker utility;
• - Far file manager.

Instructions

If you have the opportunity to log in from a user account of the operating system whose files you want to delete, log in with the appropriate username and password and delete unnecessary ones. Please note that system files and folders (My Documents, My Pictures, My Music) in this case will still not be deleted in the usual way; you can only get rid of their contents.

If you want to completely delete a Windows user's Documents folder, boot the operating system under a different account. If there isn't one, create one. Open your computer's control panel and go to the menu responsible for account settings. In the list of available accounts, select the one whose folder you are going to delete by left-clicking. Select account from the menu that opens. In this case, the deletion will occur completely, even for system folders.

If none of the above methods suits your situation, download any program to forcefully delete files and folders, for example, Unlocker. After installing it, an additional item will appear in the context menu; use it and delete blocked folders from your computer. Before using this utility, carefully familiarize yourself with its interface and basic functions.

Download the Far file manager from any of the developer's official sites. Install the program on your computer, run it, open in its menu the folder containing the user data to be deleted. Select it and press the Alt+Delete key combination. You can use other similar utilities, but this one is the best at accessing various directories on the computer and deleting inaccessible elements of the operating system.

note

System folders often cannot be easily deleted.

In the Windows operating system, installation of the program is accompanied by the creation of many entries in a variety of directories and the system registry. When you uninstall the program, most of the information is deleted, but some files remain. To maintain good system parameters, these files should be deleted.

You will need

• - Uninstall Tool utility;
• - CCleaner utility;

Instructions

The logic of the Windows operating system is such that with frequent installation and removal of programs, unnecessary files accumulate in it due to poor performance of the standard Windows uninstaller. This leads to an increase in the size of the system registry and boot time, and the likelihood of failures increases.

To remove a program and all traces of its presence on the computer, you should use third-party software instead of the standard Windows uninstaller. In particular, the Uninstall Tool utility does a very good job of removing programs; it can be found on the Internet.

Launch the utility. In the list of installed programs that opens, find the one you are going to remove. Select it with the mouse, then select “Delete selected program” in the left column of the program. In the next window, confirm the deletion. The uninstallation process will begin, after its completion the program will scan the registry and computer directories for the presence of files of the deleted program.

Once the scan is complete, a message will appear with a list of files found and you will be asked to confirm their deletion. After this, all traces of the program will be removed from the computer. The program works very reliably and quickly, so it can be recommended as a replacement for the standard Windows uninstaller.

Since various errors constantly accumulate in Windows, they should be corrected periodically. To do this, use the CCleaner utility. It allows you to clean your computer of old files, fix the registry, and with its help it is convenient to monitor the startup folder. The utility can be found on the Internet.

To clean the registry and fix its errors, run CCleaner and select “Registry” from the menu. Leave all the items marked in the menu that appears unchanged, click the “Search for problems” button. The program will check the registry and display information about the errors found. After that, click the “Fix” button. In the window that appears, select the option to save a backup copy. After the next window appears, click the “Fix marked” button, all errors will be eliminated.

Uninstall via Control Panel

Removal by the first method is the most common. To do this, you need to go to the control panel, go to “Add or Remove Programs”, select your antivirus from the list that appears in the window and click the uninstall button.

Removing through the “My Computer” folder

The second method is the most universal. Open the “My Computer” folder, go to the local drive on which the old antivirus is installed, select the desired folder, most often it is Program Files, look for the folder with the name of the antivirus program, select it and press the Shift+Delete key combination.

Most often, an antivirus program is installed in the following path: C:\Program Files\ antivirus folder.

Removal by installing a new antivirus

Installing a new antivirus is not always a suitable method. Not every antivirus asks you to uninstall the old program during installation. The essence of this method is as follows: we start the installation of a new antivirus, according to the standard, click “Next”. Before the installation itself, a window will appear with a message informing you that an antivirus installed on your computer has been detected; at the bottom of the window, click “Delete”.

Under no circumstances should you install two or more antiviruses on your computer!

Removal using special applications

.
The fourth method is similar to the first. The principle of removal is the same here. The difference is that you must install one of the applications to remove programs. Here are some of them: Revo Uninstaller, TuneUp Utilities, Uninstall Tool, CCleaner.

Removal via system rollback

The last method is the most radical. It should be resorted to in the most exceptional cases.

When you roll back the system, not only the antivirus will be removed, but also programs installed after the restore date.

The mechanism of operation is as follows: in utility programs, open the “System Restore” application, follow the instructions, indicate the date, and begin the recovery procedure.

Instructions

First, you need to have an antivirus installed on your computer. Anyone with a quarantine manager will do. An example would be Kaspersky, Dr.Web, Avira, Acronis, NOD32, Avast or some other antivirus. If you do not have a security program, be sure to download and install one of the above.

So, deletion will be carried out using the quarantine manager. First open the program window, then find the quarantine manager (usually located in utility programs) and go into it. In the dialog box, find the files to delete. If the desired file is not visible, then in the lower “File type” block, select the “All files” field from the list.

Also, the file can be hidden and to make it visible, follow these steps: go to the “Start” menu, then to “Control Panel”, then to “Folder Options” and select the “View” tab. Now find the “Advanced options” block and drag the slider down the list, then check the box next to the “Show hidden files...” option. Select and add the selected objects to quarantine. They will be considered suspicious files and can be deleted.

After adding files to the quarantine manager, select them and delete them by clicking the “Delete” button.

Video on the topic

It is important to know how to completely remove antivirus from a laptop or computer. If you simply delete the folder with the name of the antivirus program on drive C in Program Files, irreversible changes will occur in your operating system, which can lead to a fatal error.

How to remove Avast antivirus?

Avast is one of the most popular free antiviruses. However, if its work no longer suits you, you can delete it at any time. To remove it, you will need a special program called Avastclear, which can be downloaded on the Internet.

Algorithm of actions:

• Start Windows in Safe Mode.
• Open the Avastclear window.
• Find your antivirus among the proposed programs.
• Remove it by clicking the corresponding button.
• Restart your laptop.

How to remove Kaspersky antivirus?

If you do not trust the built-in removal utilities, download the KAV Remover Tool from the official Kaspersky website. This is a special product developed by Kaspersky Lab employees. It is zipped, so unzip it after downloading and run the kavremover.exe file. Uninstaller features:

• Automatically removes antivirus software.
• Uninstalls parts of the program remaining after incorrect removal.

How to remove Eset NOD 32 antivirus?

Instructions for proper removal:

• Open the folder where the program is located.
• Double-click on the Uninstall file with the left mouse button.
• Follow the instructions on the screen.

You can also remove the antivirus, like any other program, using the Control Panel tools. Open "All Programs" in the Start menu and click "Uninstall" in the folder with the utility. You will be asked a short questionnaire from the developers, after which the software will be removed from your computer.

An alternative option is to uninstall using the ESET Uninstaller program, which is no more difficult to work with than the utilities discussed above.

How to completely remove antivirus from your computer

Another method that works for almost any antivirus software is removal using the standard command line

• Press and hold Win+R at the same time.
• Type or copy appwiz.cpl.
• Select the name of your antivirus from the list and click on the “Delete” button.
• Restart your computer.

Now you can remove any antivirus installed on your PC without fear that a system failure will occur and you will have to reinstall Windows.

Antivirus software is a prerequisite for the normal functionality of a computer. Especially considering the fact that today there are a lot of dangerous viruses and unwanted programs walking around the Internet. But what if there is a need to replace the antivirus? After all, removing antivirus from a PC is not so easy.

Basic steps when uninstalling an antivirus program

Actually, you can easily figure out how to remove an antivirus from your computer. And yet, it is worth noting that the uninstallation procedure is performed in several ways:

• removal using standard operating system tools;
• using special utilities from antivirus manufacturers;
• using uninstaller programs.

Each method is good in its own way, but we should not forget that anti-virus software files are registered in the system registry, so regular removal cannot always help. And when installing new software, conflicts may arise. Therefore, you need to know how to remove the antivirus correctly and completely.

To better understand the situation, you should consider special cases of removing the most popular antivirus programs.

Uninstalling Avast Free Antivirus

This program is one of the most popular today. And there is no particular problem with how to remove Avast antivirus from a PC. There are two guaranteed ways to do this without affecting your computer's operation.

The first method involves using the profile utility aswclear, which not only deletes all program files, but also clears entries in the system registry. After the uninstallation procedure is completed, the PC reboots and that’s it - you can install a new antivirus.

The second method is relevant if you have a special uninstaller program (for example, you can take Revo Uninstaller). It operates in a similar way to the utility, with the difference that you need to select Avast antivirus, click “Delete”, and then confirm the search and deletion of entries for this software in the registry. The end result is a reboot of the device.

Uninstall ESET NOD 32

Another powerful representative of the antivirus industry is NOD 32. It is really good, but it is quite large and uses a lot of OS resources. Although this disadvantage is compensated by reliability and reliability. Figuring out how to completely remove an antivirus is also quite easy.

Method one. Standard Windows tools are used (via the Programs and Features menu in the Control Panel), although complications are possible in the form of resetting the PC’s network parameters. Therefore, it is better to use another way.

Method two. Complete uninstallation of this antivirus is guaranteed by the special ESET Uninstaller utility. It itself starts the removal procedure in safe mode, automatically restarts the computer and clears all data about the program in the registry, so there is no problem with how to remove the antivirus. You don't have to worry about this at all.

How to remove Kaspersky antivirus

Another good antivirus software, Kaspersky internet Security, also has its own removal specifics. You can use standard OS tools or the native uninstaller of the program, or you can use the special KAV Remover Tool utility.

First way. To remove Kaspersky antivirus, you need to go to the root folder of the program and run the “uninstall Kaspersky” shortcut. It’s worth mentioning right away that this method of how to remove an antivirus from a PC is only relevant for versions lower than KAV 2013. For new versions, you need to go to the program settings and disable the self-defense functions against uninstallation. And, in any case, manual cleaning of the registry is inevitable.

Second way. Everything is clear here, since the Remover Tool itself performs complete removal and cleaning of registries, without user intervention. If the utility does not recognize the installed antivirus on your PC, you can add it manually from the list provided.

Antivirus is an important element of the security of any system. However, you need to be able to not only install it, but also remove it correctly, so as not to encounter various unpleasant situations.

Incorrect deletion

Before we figure out how to remove an antivirus from a computer, let's see how not to get rid of it so as not to subsequently have problems with the system.

Do not under any circumstances erase the folder containing the antivirus software files!

You should not look for the antivirus directory in “Program Files” and destroy it along with all its contents. Otherwise, you may encounter the following unpleasant moments:

Simply sending it to the trash can only get rid of portable versions of programs. For example, this is how you can remove Doctor Web antivirus from your computer (CureIT treatment utility).

Proper removal

We've figured out the wrong way, now let's see how to correctly clear the system of one anti-virus application package so that you can install other security software without any problems.

Be sure to disable your antivirus protection and close it before attempting to remove it. Otherwise, the security software will block any attempts to get rid of itself.

Let's start with the standard method, which involves using the “Control Panel”:

Another option is to use the built-in uninstaller, which can be found in the Start menu.

After uninstallation, you need to configure CCleaner and use it to clean the registry to get rid of any remaining traces of security software. After cleaning the registry and restarting the computer, you can install another application package to ensure system security.

The two indicated methods have a common drawback - even if you work with the registry, it is not a fact that all traces of the antivirus will be destroyed. The result is sad: errors, a gap in computer protection, an increased threat of virus infection.

The best way is to use special uninstallation utilities that antivirus developers produce specifically for their products.

If you have tried to completely remove Kaspersky Anti-Virus from your computer, then you know that this task cannot be completed without the Kaspersky Lab Products Remover utility. You can download this program from the official website of the developers for free.

Other antivirus programs also have similar proprietary utilities, so if possible, it is better to use them.

Third party software

If the antivirus software you use doesn't have a proprietary uninstall utility, or you can't find one, try the AV Uninstall Tools Pack. This package contains utilities for uninstalling more than four dozen antivirus programs. All programs are taken from official resources and tested by the developers.

Attention! If you do not disable the antivirus, then when you try to unpack the archive with AV Uninstall Tools Pack, a message about a detected virus will appear. This is a normal situation for programs of this kind, since they forcefully terminate antivirus processes and are therefore identified as a security threat.

A folder with the uninstallation utility will open. Run it and remove the security software. After completing this procedure, restart your computer again and start the system normally.