Avast is a top-rated antivirus program that has been the number one choice for many Windows users over the years. Avast has improved leaps and bounds in terms of security features, user interface, and much more. But this program is not free of errors. Now and then, users have reported some kind of an issue with the program.
One common issue that has troubled several Avast antivirus users is the program not launching issue. The antivirus just won’t open up at all, without any particular error message showing up on the screen. Users try to run the file several times, but nothing happens. To overcome this, the users tried several fixes, and a couple of them actually solved the issue for some users. Here in this article, we will look at all these working fixes, and surely one of these will solve your Avast not launching issue.
How to fix Avast not opening on Windows?
If you cannot open up Avast on your Windows system, there are two possible reasons behind it. Either there was an issue during the installation, and now you are stuck with a corrupted program. Or the main Avast service that works in the background has some issues running properly. You might even have some files missing in your program folder.
It is impossible to pinpoint what could be the reason behind Avast not launching at all. So we will try the fixes or solutions for all of the possible causes, and surely one of them will resolve your problem.
Repair the Antivirus program:
Every program has a repair setup feature. It reinstalls everything required for the smooth functioning of a program, but it also resets all the changes that the user has made over time in the application or program. With Avast, too, we have a repair wizard, and while trying to fix the not launching issue, this is the first fix that you should try.
- Log in to the administrator account of your Windows.
- Click on the search bar and look for “Control Panel.”
- Once it shows up in the results, open it up.
- In the control panel window, set the View by option at the top-right corner to “Category.”
- Under “Programs,” click on “Uninstall a Program.”
- You will see a list of installed programs. Find “Avast” and click on “Uninstall/Repair.”
- The Avast uninstallation wizard will show up on your screen. You will see four options here: Update, Repair, Customize and Uninstall.
- Click on “Repair” and then click on Next.
- Confirm your action that you do want to repair the program.
- Once the repair is done, Avast will open up on your screen with the default settings.
If you still can’t get the antivirus to start up, move on to the next potential solution.
Restart the antivirus services:
If the main Avast antivirus service is not running properly, you will have problems with the program running normally. So you need to restart the avast antivirus service and see if that solves your problem.
- Press Windows Key + R to open up the Run dialog box.
- Enter “services.msc” in the Run dialog box and then click on Ok.
- In the list of services, look for Avast Antivirus service. Once you find it, right-click on it and choose Properties.
- In the general tab, you will see a “Stop” button. Click on it and wait till the “Service status:” shows up as “Stopped.”
- Make sure the “Startup type” is set to “Automatic.”
- Click on the Start button next to Stop and then click on Ok. Your Avast antivirus service is now restarted.
There is a chance that when you click on “Start,” you will see this error: Windows could not start the Avast Antivirus service on Local Computer. Error 1079: The account specified for this service differs from the account specified for other services running in the same process.
If that happens, then you will have some adjustments in the properties of the Avast antivirus service.
- Press Windows Key + R to open up the Run dialog box.
- Enter “services.msc” in the Run dialog box and then click on Ok.
- In the list of services, look for Avast Antivirus service. Once you find it, right-click on it and choose Properties.
- Go to the “Logon” tab and click on “Browse.”
- Under the “Enter the object name to select” box, enter your account’s name and click on Check Names.
- Wait for the entered name to become available.
- Click on Ok once you are done, and then enter your password in the Password, that is, if you have set one up.
Now try opening up the Avast antivirus program, and it should work fine. If it doesn’t, try the next solution mentioned below.
A clean installation is the final option you should go for if nothing else works out for you. First, it will completely wipe out everything in your computer related to Avast Antivirus and then perform a full installation again. This will delete the cache files and remove the related registry entries of the Avast Antivirus program on your system. It will be like installing the program on your system for the first time.
- Go to this site and click on the “Download free antivirus” button you see on the screen. It will initiate a download of the latest version of the Avast installation.
- Download the Avast Uninstall utility from here.
- Now you have to boot into Safe Mode.
- Press Windows Key + R to open up the Run dialog box. Enter “msconfig” in the Run dialog box and then click on Ok.
- The system configuration window will show up. Click on the “Boot” tab.
- Under Boot options, check the box next to “Safe boot” and click on Ok.
- Now Restart your computer. It will boot up in Safe Mode.
- Launch the Avast Uninstall Utility program that you downloaded a while ago.
- Browse for the folder where you have installed the Antivirus. If you have installed the antivirus in the default folder, then you can go ahead without browsing. But if you made some changes during the installation regarding the installation folder, click on browse and head over to the appropriate installation folder. Choosing any other folder will mean that this method won’t, and your system might even face some other issues as the selected directory will be cleared out. So be careful while selecting the installation directory.
- Click on Uninstall or Remove and then follow the on-screen instructions to complete the uninstallation.
- Once the uninstallation is done, open up the system configuration window again and uncheck “Safe boot.”
- Now restart your computer again, and this time it will boot up normally. Once it boots up normally, install the avast antivirus program again.
- After the installation, open up the Avast antivirus program, and it should load up without any issues.
So that is how you can fix Avast not opening on Windows issue. If you have any questions or queries about this article, then comment down below, and we will get back to you. Also, be sure to check out our other articles on iPhone tips and tricks, Android tips and tricks, PC tips and tricks, and much more for more useful information.
