Main Area and Open Discussion > General Software Discussion

Latest Avast deleting Firefox add-ons

<< < (2/3) > >>

dr_andus:
I stopped using/endorsing Avast a few years back when it decided to just up and (FP) delete all of an accounting firms tax software one fine morning in April..
-Stoic Joker (November 17, 2014, 01:43 PM)
--- End quote ---

I don't know if it was last week's MS update, or uninstalling Avast, or installing AVG, but things got royally messed up in my system.

Why I'm suspecting the MS update is because when I first went to "Programs and Features" in the control panel, I couldn't find Avast to uninstall from there or from anywhere else, and the list of programs there looked suspiciously short. But I didn't take much notice of that because I was focused on removing Avast. Eventually the only way to do it was to download their Avast Uninstall Utility and use it in Safe Mode. Then I installed AVG Free. I restarted the system a few times during the process.

The problems began when I tried to use MS Word and it started an installer for it, rather than the app. Nonetheless it ran fine eventually.

However, today I wanted to use Dragon NaturallySpeaking 12.5, but the installer for v. 12 launched instead and gave me an error message, not finding bits of v. 12 to install (even though I already upgraded to v. 12.5 a while ago). Then I noticed that all the Dragon shortcuts have been renamed to v. 12, and v. 12.5 has effectively disappeared from my system, while v. 12 refuses to run or install.

Then I went back to "Programs and Features" in the control panel and now I can see that a vast number of programs (which otherwise still seem to be installed on my system) do not show up there (e.g. Scrivener, or, indeed, Dragon).

Potentially there could be other programs whose updates may have been uninstalled. It's almost like the Avast uninstall (or the MS update) have reset my system to an earlier state.

Anyway, it looks like I have to reinstall Dragon 12 from scratch, and then update to 12.5 again, if Nuance lets me... What a drag... Does anyone understand what may have just happened here?

dr_andus:
However, today I wanted to use Dragon NaturallySpeaking 12.5, but the installer for v. 12 launched instead and gave me an error message, not finding bits of v. 12 to install (even though I already upgraded to v. 12.5 a while ago). Then I noticed that all the Dragon shortcuts have been renamed to v. 12, and v. 12.5 has effectively disappeared from my system, while v. 12 refuses to run or install.
-dr_andus (November 18, 2014, 08:07 AM)
--- End quote ---

OK, correction: it looks like DNS12.5 is still installed on my system, however all the shortcuts to it have been removed and replaced with shortcuts to the no longer existing DNS12 on my system, hence triggering the installation process.

I'm suspecting that Avast's removal tool may have had something to do with this?

Anyway, this particular problem with DNS has now been solved.

tomos:
Wrote this below, but you seem to have solved the problem (?)

Personally didnt have any problems with the recent MS updates (Win7), but probably worth doing a search about it.
Maybe doing a system restore would be easier than all this reinstalling?
And installing the MS updates one by one (oh the joy!).

Re uninstalling anti-virus, it's probably always best that one use their dedicated uninstall utility. I guess the idea is that they dont want anyone e.g. a virus, to be easily able to uninstall/remove their software.

dr_andus:
Wrote this below, but you seem to have solved the problem (?)
-tomos (November 18, 2014, 08:24 AM)
--- End quote ---

Thanks. I did solve the DNS problem, which was the most pressing one at the moment.

But I still don't know why some of my programs are missing from the "Programs and Features" in the control panel, and what the consequences of that (if any) are. Should I be worried about that? Scrivener and Dragon seem to run as they should, so does it matter that they are no longer listed in P&F?

tomos:
But I still don't know why some of my programs are missing from the "Programs and Features" in the control panel, and what the consequences of that (if any) are. Should I be worried about that? Scrivener and Dragon seem to run as they should, so does it matter that they are no longer listed in P&F?
-dr_andus (November 18, 2014, 08:52 AM)
--- End quote ---

I'm no expert there (anyone else got an idea/opinion?)


* Does the problem persist after rebooting?
* Do they show up in an alternative uninstaller? (e.g. Revo, or MyUninstaller from nirsoft)

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page