Heres a doozy....
 

Cannot uninstall avast 4.8 :mad:
cant get into safe mode up down arrows keyboard dont work
cant open program settings in avast
cant run avast removal tool in normal mode
cant delete program from control panel
tried new install over the top it gets to uninstall and error messages
i could slip the windows disk in and reformat but im buggered if im finished yet
Oh....cannot select safe mode from MSCONFIG boot.ini either

Go to avast! uninstall utility and grab aswClear.exe, then follow the instructions on the web page.

Since it will be running from startup, have you shut it down first?

If you can't do that by normal means, try Ctrl/Alt/Del and close it from there.

Bushfiva;doesnt work asks for safe mode which i cant open
frostbite ; "access denied" message

Try typing msconfig in the run box and remove it from the start up programs, reboot then try the various options

just restarts again on boot up.....

Look here...It may help....
Unable to uninstall avast! 4.8

You can't shut it down from Ctrl-Alt-Del. It refuses.

Apparently, that's so naughty viruses can't shut it down - although I've not worked out yet how they get in to start with if it's there and running.

Right click the Avast icon. Select "Program Settings">"Troubleshooting">"Disable Avast Self-Defence Module".
Once that's done, you can exit, then uninstall the program.
The bu@@ering around done first may have made that problematic. If so, go to the control panel, select Avast, and carry out a repair, following which it should uninstall OK. Use the uninstall utility next, or if that doesn't work, but you must stop protection and disable the self defence first.


[Edit] Just read the OP more thoroughly. (Sorry, just come off the night shift). The symptoms described fit with malware. Something has disabled your thingumy's.
Have access to another 'pooter? Dowload MBAM to a disk or flash drive, try installing/updating/scanning with it.
Second prong, download Cureit, don't update it (the download is the most updated version; it won't update), install it, scan with it.
The symptoms described also may fit with having more than one AV installed.

No malware or gremlins found
tells me im not the administrator when i try using tool to make it go away

Are you able to restore your machine to a date before Avast was installed or played up????
I know you've probably tried it but just trying to eliminate things...:O

Nope, system restore will not function..:uhoh: .... bewdy innit?

Seems like you tried everything reasonable so here's a brute force approach, one that comes with a big disclaimer - it might get you into more troubles than you have right now:

- Boot
- Kill all processes related to Avast in the task manager
- Remove all references to Avast from your registry
- Delete the Avast directory manually (as much as you can)
- Reboot and sort out the errors coming up during reboot, probably calls for DLLs you deleted in step 3.

Again - this can lead to trouble, up to your machine no longer booting at all and requiring extensive troubleshooting. But I have been in a similar situation with Avast and it worked out.

Maybe the more knowledgable folks have something less drastic to suggest?

What if you use the "run as" command when you right click the uninstall utility?
I guess you are actually running as an admin account? And installed the AV on an admin account?
What other security software is installed?

GOT THE BLIGHTER :ok:
Changed keyboard to PS2 type and was able to open up safe mode with up/down keys
zapped it from there with aswclear.exe tool :D

Thanks everyone AVAST is in the bin

tinpis,
just out of interest, why did you bin it? IIRC you only installed it 2 or 3 weeks ago.

LOL ....post # 1 for a start
Tried it on two PCS had start up issues and some real weird stuff on one, especially when i upgraded it without cleaning out a previous install thoroughly
Ive got free AVG on now that will do me.

Yeah, that sort of stuff will happen if you install one without cleaning the other. That can happen with anyAV installation. I think Avast 4.8 is perhaps a bit more sensitive than some to previous installs, perhaps because of the self protection module.
Once it's installed and running correctly, it rocks.