FULLY stop an antivirus from running

Question

I would like a way to fully stop Avast or any antivirus from running. I don't want to uninstall Avast or disable the Shields I want to be able to look in task manager and not see Avast running as a process.

Please could someone tell me a way to do this.

Solution

I want to be able to look in task manager and not see Avast running as a process.

Do the following at your own risk:

1. Open the Avast User interface

2. Click on "Settings"

3. Uncheck "Enable Avast self-defence module"

   

4. Click "OK"

5. Click "Yes" on the warning dialog (no screen capture is possible for this).

6. Close the Avast User interface

7. Open a cmd shell

8. Run the following command

   taskkill /F /IM avastui.exe
   SUCCESS: The process "AvastUI.exe" with PID 5928 has been terminated.
   

9. Start > Run > Services

10. Right click "Avast Antivirus" and select "Stop"

    

Thanks to HelpingHand for his comment that led to this answer.

Comments

[Tetsujin]

Usually uninstall is the only way to completely stop them. Their job includes to prevent being disabled.

[DavidPostill]

You can't. If you really don't want to see it in task manager then uninstall it

[Tetsujin]

Additionally, even uninstall will not restore quarantined items. If the AV has eaten some essential component, then uninstalling that app & reinstalling [sometimes to a new non-default folder is required], then whitelisting before first run is the only way to get functionality back.

[Ramhound]

What you want isn’t possible. If it was then malware could disable AV software which would make them useless

[Pizza]

Common guys, I said in my post I don't want to uninstall. Also, can a program really completely prevent windows from stopping it?

[Tetsujin]

What you want cannot be done. Antivirus apps are quite keen that it cannot be done, so do a lot to prevent it. If you don't want to uninstall, then you have to put up with the consequences.

[HelpingHand]

I'm not familiar with Avast but the following rules would apply, having disabled any Tamper Protection. 1. Run services.msc, stop/disable any Avast services. I assume they start "Avast". 2. I assume there is some auto-run process that is responsible for a tray icon, in which case you can probably disable that with Autoruns/msconfig but if you're only looking to disable this on a per session basis you should be able to terminate the process. Is the aim here to disable Avast while you play a game to minimise system resources? Maybe a batch file?

[Pizza]

How would one disable Tamper Protection?

[patkim]

On my Comodo antivirus I do the following, using CCleaner app disable its entry in Auto Start with Windows and most importantly Disable the Comodo Service in Administrative Tools--> Services. (I just mark it as Disabled, it does not actually immediately) Only upon subsequent restart, Comodo completely stops. Undo the things to get it back again. However I do not know how Avast works.

[HelpingHand]

I've just installed Avast. An option called self defense can be disabled - imgur.com/a/Fpvzb Once off you can kill the tray process for example taskkill /F /IM avastui.exe You can stop the service sc stop avast! antivirus. I'm not sure what you're trying to do but it can be done.

[Ilya Serbis]

The setting is under Menu > Settings > General > Troubleshooting > Enable Self-Defense now