Unable to uninstall Avast and Avira [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate:
Cannot uninstall Avast Free Antivirus

I have two antivirus programs installed (Avira and Avast), and it is really impacting performance. I tried uninstalling them using the Add/Remove Programs control panel applet, but I get an error massage.

I checked Program Files and some of the files seem to be missing (which may explain why they did not work correctly anyway).

Is there a way to solve this problem?

Solution 1:

Why a program needs to be cleaned up after being uninstalled is a mystery, but some programs provide removal tools to clean up and properly uninstall them after they are "uninstalled".

Avira provides a RegistryCleaner which removes all of their registry keys. They used to also provide an "uninstall package", but that has since been removed, presumably because newer versions did not need it; so hopefully the RegistryCleaner will be sufficient.

Avast provides their own Clear utility to clean up after themselves. (Avast also requests optional feedback as to the reason for uninstalling which you are free to provide.)

PCHell provides a nice list of antivirus uninstall/cleanup utilities.

Solution 2:

One way to properly uninstall programs that are missing chunks is to reinstall them so that files are replaced, and THEN uninstall it via Add/Remove.