Can't boot to Windows 10 after uninstalling Avast antivirus.

socksnatcher · 17 Jan 2016

I ran chkdsk but still no resolution.
I also ran farbar per another forums suggestion.
C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\volsnap.sys IS MISSING <==== ATTENTION
C:\Windows\System32\codeintegrity\Bootcat.cache IS MISSING <==== ATTENTION
being the root of my problem and from microsoft support bootcat.cache needs to be deleted.
how would i go about doing that in command prompt?

edit: after navigating to C:\ cd windows\system32\codeintegrity
"del bootcat.cache" bootcat.cache could not be found.

any solution besides factory reset?

axe0 · 18 Jan 2016

An inplace upgrade might help, keeps your files and stuff and only removes the updates from Windows Update.
Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade - Windows 10 Forums

socksnatcher · 18 Jan 2016

axe0 said:

An inplace upgrade might help, keeps your files and stuff and only removes the updates from Windows Update.
Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade - Windows 10 Forums

tried it but it hangs @ 1% and then shows that the task could not be finished. most likely at this point ill back up my files via cmd/notepad and do a factory reset. thanks all for your help

johncam23 · 09 Mar 2017

I know this is an old thread but for anyone with similar problems one possibility is that Avast may have quarantined some files required for booting, possibly because of a virus at some time. When you uninstalled Avast, it removed the quarantine files as well. If simpler approaches fail, in the Advanced Boot menu, try a Startup Repair.

Peiguy76 · 08 Apr 2017

I am having this very same issure

daarklord · 10 Aug 2017

Hi. I uninstalled Avast, Installed AVG, ordered the computer to restart, and now it cannot boot. None of the Windows 10 recovery options work. I'm now on the Windows PE found in this thread:
Windows 10 Recovery Tools - Bootable Rescue Disk - Windows 10 Forums

I did a scan using FRST. Here are the results:

FRST.txt

It's definitely one of the antivirus programs. Judging from what people are saying on the Internet, it's probably the uninstalling of Avast that did it. If I can find the specific corrupted or missing files and restore them without having to reinstall Windows that would be great. (I didn't make a recovery disk and now that I can't boot I don't know if it's possible to run the media creation tool from Windows PE). Any help would be greatly appreciated!

simrick · 10 Aug 2017

daarklord said:

Hi. I uninstalled Avast, Installed AVG, ordered the computer to restart, and now it cannot boot. None of the Windows 10 recovery options work. I'm now on the Windows PE found in this thread:
Windows 10 Recovery Tools - Bootable Rescue Disk - Windows 10 Forums

I did a scan using FRST. Here are the results:

FRST.txt

It's definitely one of the antivirus programs. Judging from what people are saying on the Internet, it's probably the uninstalling of Avast that did it. If I can find the specific corrupted or missing files and restore them without having to reinstall Windows that would be great. (I didn't make a recovery disk and now that I can't boot I don't know if it's possible to run the media creation tool from Windows PE). Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hi daarklord and welcome to Tenforums.

Have a look at this thread:
bsod - Is there any solution to Process1_Initialization_Failed on Windows 7? - Super User

Perhaps this will help:

Can't boot to Windows 10 after uninstalling Avast antivirus.-image.png

Or, the answer by Derek McNelly.

I realize this refers to W7, but the process would be the same. Not sure if you want to go through this much effort though. A repair install might be best.

AVs get so deep into the system that, when they mess something up, they mess it up big time. Again, a repair install is probably best.

daarklord · 12 Aug 2017

simrick said:

Hi daarklord and welcome to Tenforums.

Have a look at this thread:
bsod - Is there any solution to Process1_Initialization_Failed on Windows 7? - Super User

Perhaps this will help:

Or, the answer by Derek McNelly.

I realize this refers to W7, but the process would be the same. Not sure if you want to go through this much effort though. A repair install might be best.

AVs get so deep into the system that, when they mess something up, they mess it up big time. Again, a repair install is probably best.

Thanks simrick. I went with a complete reinstall after all. My IT expert friend said a repair install is just like a reinstall but you get an auto-generated HTML page that lists what programs were removed and have to be reinstalled, which isn't all the much better. Same in your experience? Either way here I am with a noticeably faster new Windows 10, reinstalling my drivers.

I'm going to stick with Windows Defender for now. Suffering from PTSD about installing an anti-virus.

simrick · 13 Aug 2017

daarklord said:

Thanks simrick. I went with a complete reinstall after all. My IT expert friend said a repair install is just like a reinstall but you get an auto-generated HTML page that lists what programs were removed and have to be reinstalled, which isn't all the much better. Same in your experience? Either way here I am with a noticeably faster new Windows 10, reinstalling my drivers.

I'm going to stick with Windows Defender for now. Suffering from PTSD about installing an anti-virus.

Hi,
A RESET will get you a list of removed programs. A Repair Install is different, and maintains your programs.
But, you're good with a clean install, so glad all is well. Cheers.

DPayer · 18 Aug 2017

I will be brief. Understanding this is an old thread. Avast caused nothing but problems for me. I wrote Avast. As usual, "It's not us so it must be you". Between blocking and blocking sites and programs, causing Start up problems galore, repeatedly stopping the stream in a room as I entered .... I'd had it. Uninstalled it. After 3rd uninstall the WD 1TB (less than a year old) would not boot into Windows. Wouldn't let me re-install Windows. Made the whole drive useless. If I were you right now, I'd do what I finally did. Get MalwareBytes and thank God you won't have to deal with Avast again.