Disabling Avast antivirus if the installation instruction demands that.

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If you have installed programs regularly, you could have this experience where the program installation instructions include temporarily disabling your anti-virus programs and other security software so that these will not interfere with the software installation you are doing. Well recently, I had that experience which prompted me to share this information with you friends.
I was trying to install Adobe Illustrator which was gotten from a verified source. When I checked the installation instructions, one of them was to temporarily disable windows security and other antivirus programs. This is completely normal, provided the program is verified and from authorized vendor.

Before I go on to explain how to disable some of the security programs on your windows 10 PC, I will explain why this is sometimes very necessary. So here are the two things we will consider:

  • Why disable antivirus software?
  • How to Disable Windows defender and Avast

We can go into the presentation proper from the first item.

Why disable antivirus software

Like I mentioned earlier, you might be advised to disable antivirus program before you can successfully install a certain program. You should not panic so long as the program you are trying to install is genuine. So here two reasons why that might be necessary:

  • The Installation folder contain files that look or work like a virus: Remember that most antiviru programs work by detecting any new files being added to your computer and checking if its behavior constitutes security threat. Most times, executable files that are part of the installation folder act like a virus. It attempts to make changes to your computer by creating a directory in places where there was none.

Additionally, your installation might make other changes to your computer setting which antivirus programs might interpret as foreign or a threat. As such, the antivirus might move such suspicious installation files to quarantine or simply eliminate. When this happens, the new installation has been interrupted and cannot continue. In order to prevent this from happening, you might be instructed to for the moment of the installation, disable your antivirus programs.

  • Install additional programs that may be viewed as a threat: Some installations require additional programs to work fine. for example, when installing certain programs, you might be required to install or update certain scripts such as DirectX for the program to enable full operations. These additional programs that the new installation initiates might be considered a threat by your antivirus program.

Another example of trying to install third-party programs is usually found in browsers. Some installations carry browser addons which are recognized as foreign and suspicious. If the antivirus program is left on, these third-party installations would be blocked, hence the main program being installed will be interrupted. To prevent this from happening, you will be required to switch off your security programs like your antivirus in order to complete the new installation.

There could be other reasons for switching off your antivirus, but the above two are always the main reasons. It is not wrong to follow that instruction, but be sure to switch back the antivirus and other security programs once the installation is complete. Now lets look at how to do that.

**How to Disable Avast and Windows defender **

My main antivirus program is Avast 2023. So I will start by showing us how to disable it. Then, we can see how to disable windows defender too.

Step 1: Double click your Avast Antivirus from the desktop or open it from Windows. Once the program opens, Click Protection as seen below


Step 2: On the new window, click Core Shields. Check illustration below


Step 3: next, click on the settings icon to your far right. Check image below

Step 4: Click on the toggle icon just beside the Core Shields label.

Step 5: You can select when to automatically turn of the Antivirus. But since I do not know how long the installation would take, I selected the Until I turn it on again option.


Step 6: Avast would like to know if you are the person performing this operation of some virus. So you need to confirm in the confirmation window below. Click Ok, STOP button to complete the process.

Congratulations, you have stopped avast. You can see its switched off from the screen below


Note: Remember to switch on your antivirus after your installation. Its basically the same steps above, no need repeating the. Also, my windows defender is already switched off by default, I will repeat the steps as it is not necessary.

Conclusion

Do not panic if a program asked you to switch off your antivirus before installation. It is normal for some programs. Just be sure that what you are installing is genuine software from a reliable source.

Note: The screenshots are from my 2023 Avast antivirus software.

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