Question Avast browser won't uninstall

[BlueDogs1967]

I just bought a Gateway laptop and somehow Avast Secure Browser installed itself without my knowledge and will not uninstall. You can start the process, but after agreeing to allow the program to make changes the uninstall process just vanishes

No error message, just doesn't uninstall itself when I choose uninstall from add/remove apps in Windows (upgrade) 11.

To be clear, I did NOT install or even consider installing any type of Avast software. Also, the Norton Antivirus program that came pre installed on this machine constantly has a pop up screen saying "This program is already installed on this machine" after each boot up.
And now, "Norton is experiencing a fatal exception error and requires removal and reinstall to remedy. Restart now?" Pop ups keep happening. I followed the prompts to do just that and the same message came up 5 minutes later.
Ugh. Please help.

 

[USAFRet]

Given the usual bloatware included with a laptop, I generally just do a full OS wipe and reinstall.
That kills off ALL the associated junk.

What OS did it come with?

 

[BlueDogs1967]

It came with Windows 10 home and automatically installed the Windows 11 upgrade. However, this issue with Avast didn't start until 6 weeks after I bought the computer. I did download a free trial of Web designer 19 and it seems like the Avast issue began around that time. I'll uninstall WebDesigner and see if that isn't the issue.

 

[Etrius vanRandr]

I just bought a Gateway laptop

Gateway is owned by Acer now.

You can start the process, but after agreeing to allow the program to make changes the uninstall process just vanishes

No error message, just doesn't uninstall itself when I choose uninstall from add/remove apps in Windows (upgrade) 11.

To be clear, I did NOT install or even consider installing any type of Avast software.

I've said this a few times and people still don't believe me, but Avast is, was, and always will be malware.

Avast is a rootkit which means it's nearly impossible to remove. Back up your important stuff to a cloud service and do a wipe.

When you get to the account creation screen, do NOT follow the prompts. Instead, press CTRL+SHIFT+F3. This will bring up Audit Mode which will allow you to uninstall anything before it has a chance to run under a normal user.

Ugh. Please help.

Buy an HP instead XD