Image: Avira
Avira is in the process of rolling out a fix for users of its antivirus software, as a recent update locked up their PCs entirely.
Last week, users complained that updating to the most recent version of Avira caused their PCs to totally lock up. “I tried disabling all background apps until only Avira was left,” a user complained on Reddit, prompting a thread of similar complaints. “[Two] other people I know had the same issue (both have Avira). Fixed it by going into safe startup and uninstalling Avira.”
That, in a nutshell, was the problem and remedy for affected users. If the problem affected your PC, the only way to solve the issue was to take the few moments afforded to you after booting to your PC and uninstalling the Avira antivirus program.
According to Heise.de, however, the bug was no mere Internet rumor. Avira’s owner, NortonLifeLock (renamed Gen Digital) acknowledged the problem and is rolling out a fix. The company allegedly blamed the issue on its firewall and not the antivirus software itself.
Avira is traditionally one of the better antivirus programs, especially for those who don’t want to pay for a traditional antimalware app or service. Lockups, though, are no joke. Rest assured that if you do suffer from the lockup bug (or just want to uninstall Avira before the fix is pushed to your machine), Windows Defender will step in and automatically take over.
Beginning in 2019, the two leading antivirus groups put Defender’s antimalware capabilities at the same level as paid services, meaning that you should be able to get away with letting Defender guard your PC for at least the short term.
Author: Mark Hachman, Senior Editor
As PCWorld’s senior editor, Mark focuses on Microsoft news and chip technology, among other beats. He has formerly written for PCMag, BYTE, Slashdot, eWEEK, and ReadWrite.