How to Disable Avg When It Crashes Your Computer

Use a rescue CD to deal with an AVG crash

By
Mary Landesman
Mary Landesman
Writer
  • Brevard College
Mary Landesman is a former freelance contributor to Lifewire and a security expert. She was named as one of the women to watch in IT security.
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Updated on June 23, 2022
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What to Know

  • Disable: Open AVG > select Menu > Settings > Basic Protection > File Shield tab > toggle off > choose time.
  • Next: Repeat steps for Behavior Shield, Web Shield, and Email Shield tabs.

This article explains how to disable AVG antivirus software to prevent it from crashing Windows 10, 8, and 7.

How to Disable AVG for Windows

Each component of AVG must be disabled individually:

  1. Select the up-arrow in the system tray, then select the AVG icon.

    Select the up-arrow in the system tray, then select the AVG icon

  2. Select Menu in the top-right corner of the AVG window, and then select Settings.

    Select Menu in the top-right corner of the AVG window, and then select Settings

  3. Select the Basic protection tab, then select File Shield.

    Select the Basic protection tab, then select File Shield

  4. Select the toggle switch beside File Shield at the top of the window.

    Select the toggle switch beside File Shield at the top of the window

  5. Select a length of time for AVG to remain inactive before turning itself back on, or select Stop indefinitely to disable the feature until you manually enable it.

    If you see a pop-up warning, select OK to ignore it and continue.

    Select a length of time for AVG to remain inactive before turning itself back on, or select Stop indefinitely to disable the feature until you manually enable it

  6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 in the Behavior Shield, Web Shield, and Email Shield tabs.

    Behavior Shield tab in AVG AntiVirus

How to Recover Windows When AVG Crashes Your PC

The best way to recover from a PC crash caused by the AVG AntiVirus software is to use an AVG Rescue CD or flash drive. You will need to use a functioning computer to create a bootable drive.

This AVG Rescue software is no longer being updated by AVG, but it can still be downloaded from various file sharing websites.

  1. On a working computer, download the AVG Rescue software.

    Make sure you choose the correct version (for CD or USB).

    On a working computer, download the AVG Rescue CD software

  2. Insert a blank CD or formatted USB flash drive into the working computer.

  3. Extract the ZIP folder and open the setup.exe file, then select your disc drive or USB drive and select Install.

    Extract the contents of the ZIP file and open the setup.exe file, then select your disc drive or USB drive and select Install

  4. After the installation is complete, remove the disc/flash drive and insert it into the malfunctioning computer.

  5. Boot from the disc (or boot from the USB device) to launch AVG Rescue CD.

  6. After the AVG Rescue CD has launched, select Utilities > File Manager.

  7. Navigate to the affected hard drive (usually /mnt/sda1/).

  8. Navigate to the AVG folder, which is usually under C:\Program Files\grisoft\.

  9. Rename the AVG folder anything you'd like.

  10. Close the File Manager, remove the AVG Rescue CD, and then reboot the computer. It should restart as normal.

If you reinstall AVG with the latest updates, it shouldn't cause system crashes in the future.

AVG Crashes on Mac Computers

Most random AVG crashes occur on Windows PCs. In most cases, the crashes that occur on Macs happen when the Mac system software is upgraded. In the past, Apple has been quick to patch the problem with a new upgrade.

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