Scribd
Upload
9 views1 page

How To Remove or Uninstall An Antivirus Program

Uploaded by

magwaturephillimon07
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
9 views1 page

How To Remove or Uninstall An Antivirus Program

Uploaded by

magwaturephillimon07
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 1

Search

Help Tips Dictionary History Forums Contact

Share

213
SHARES

You are here: Home > Help > Virus Q&A

How to remove or uninstall an antivirus program


Updated: 06/30/2020 by Computer Hope

There are many different antivirus programs on the market. If an


antivirus is already installed on your computer and you want to
install a different antivirus on the computer, you must uninstall
the current antivirus program first. Below are the steps on how to
uninstall an antivirus program.

Caution

Having more than one antivirus program running on a computer


at the same time often causes conflicts, resulting in errors, slow
performance, and failure to properly detect viruses.

Note

Keep in mind that if you have a subscription with the antivirus company,
uninstalling the program may not cancel your subscription.

Tip

If you are uninstalling the antivirus because you believe it is causing


problems, you can also temporarily disable the antivirus before
uninstalling, see: How do I disable my antivirus program in Windows?

Uninstall through the Start menu


First, try utilizing the built-in uninstall feature of the program by finding
the folder for the antivirus program in your Windows Start menu. To do
this, click Start, All Programs, and look for the antivirus program in the
list of programs.

When you find the antivirus program in the list, locate the uninstall
option, which should be in the same folder. If this is available, click the
uninstall option and follow the prompts to complete the uninstallation of
the antivirus.

Uninstall through Add or Remove programs


The second way is to utilize Add or Remove Programs.

Page contents

Windows Vista, 7, 8, and 10 users.

Windows XP users.

Windows Vista, 7, 8, and 10 users

1. Open the Add or Remove Programs.


2. In the list of installed programs, find the antivirus program and select
it by clicking it once with the left mouse button. Once the antivirus
program is selected, above the column headers, click the Uninstall
option as shown in the picture below to initiate the uninstall process.

Note

Some antivirus programs may be listed several times in the list of


programs. Make sure you've uninstalled all associated parts of the
antivirus before rebooting the computer or installing another
antivirus.

If you're unable to uninstall the antivirus through Add or Remove


Programs because of an error, skip to uninstalling from Safe Mode. If the
antivirus program is not listed in the Add or Remove Programs, you may
have a bad antivirus install or a rogue antivirus.

Windows XP users
1. Open the Add or Remove Programs.
2. In the list of installed programs, find the antivirus program and select
it by clicking it once with the left mouse button. To the right of the
program name, click the Change/Remove or Uninstall button to
initiate the uninstall process.

Note

Some antivirus programs may be listed several times in the list of


programs. Make sure you've uninstalled all associated parts of the
antivirus before rebooting the computer or installing another
antivirus.

If you're unable to uninstall the antivirus through Add or Remove


Programs because of an error, skip to uninstalling from Safe Mode. If the
antivirus program is not listed in the Add or Remove Programs, you may
have a bad antivirus install or a rogue antivirus.

Uninstalling from Safe Mode


In some cases, the uninstall process may not be able to proceed
because the antivirus program is currently loaded and running in
Windows. If the program cannot be disabled, uninstall the antivirus in
Windows Safe Mode. In Safe Mode, the antivirus program is not loaded
and running, making it possible to uninstall using either method
mentioned earlier.

How to open Safe Mode.

Bad antivirus program


In some situations, a legitimate antivirus program cannot uninstall
because it or the software used to uninstall it is corrupt, bad, or missing.
In these situations, you must download an uninstaller program from the
antivirus scanner company to remove all files associated with the
antivirus. Below is a list of known uninstall links for many of the major
antivirus scanner companies.

Antivirus Uninstall Link

Avast Avast uninstall link.

AVG AVG uninstall link.

Avira Avira uninstall link.

BitDefender 2015 BitDefender 2015 uninstall link.

BullGuard BullGuard uninstall link.

Comodo Comodo uninstall link.

Dr. Web Dr. Web uninstall link.

eScan eScan uninstall link (direct download) .

ESET ESET uninstall link.

FRISK F-PROT Antivirus F-PROT uninstall link.

F-Secure F-Secure uninstall link.

G Data G Data uninstall link.

Kaspersky Kaspersky uninstall link.

K7 Total Security K7 uninstaller (direct download).

LavaSoft LavaSoft uninstall link.

McAfee McAfee uninstaller (direct download).

Norman Virus Control/Norman Security Suite (now Norman uninstall link.


part of AVG).

Norton antivirus Norton Antivirus uninstall link.

Norton Internet Security Norton Internet Security uninstall link.

Norton Security Scan Norton Security uninstall link.

Panda Panda uninstaller (direct download).

Panda Cloud Internet Protection Panda Cloud uninstall link.

Sophos Sophos uninstall link.

Trend Micro Trend Micro uninstall link.

Vipre Vipre uninstall link.

Webroot Webroot uninstall link.

Windows Live OneCare Windows Live uninstaller (direct download).

Windows Security Essentials MSE uninstall link.

Zone Alarm Zone Alarm uninstall forum link.

Rogue antivirus programs


There is also the possibility that the antivirus program attempting to be
uninstalled is actually a spyware or malware. There are fake antivirus
programs on the Internet and they can do harm to a computer or help
someone steal your information. One of the better-known ones to have
plagued many computer users is called AntiVirus 2011.

If your computer is infected malware programs posing as an antivirus


program, it is strongly recommended that they be uninstalled. You
should run a spyware removal program such as Malwarebytes to clean
your computer of any other possible spyware or malware programs.

Additional information

How to uninstall software in Windows.

See our antivirus and uninstall definitions for further information and related links.

Computer virus help and support.

Was this page useful? Yes No Feedback E-mail Share Print

Ask another computer question Search

Recently added pages Useful links Follow us


Windows command line powercfg command About Computer Hope Facebook

Computer Slang Site Map Twitter

Linux File Hierarchy Forum Pinterest


YouTube
How to delete a file extension Contact Us
RSS
How to Install and Use a Webcam How to Help

View all recent updates Top 10 pages

© 2020 Computer Hope


Legal Disclaimer - Privacy Statement

You might also like