Win10 refuses to update due to Avira what is gone
 

For a while Windows update failed because it detected Avira, apparently
not being on the whitelist for Spectre-Meltdown protection.
Now had uninstalled Avira years ago. There were no Avira subdirectories
anywhere. Now Avira released a registry cleaner tool to remove the crap
it left behind on its incomplete install. So I ran this in safe mode and
it removed dozens of keys.
Then the March update for version 1607 installed okay. But next day,
Windoze does a check for updates and complains that it cannot proceed
until Avira is removed.
Furthermore, they decree that updates will be terminated after April 10
unless this offending application is eliminated.
So are we up **** creek in a barbwire canoe?

Win10 refuses to update due to Avira what is gone
 

Win10 refuses to update due to Avira what is gone
 

On Friday, April 6, 2018 at 10:08:47 PM UTC+8, Paul wrote:

Do you have an exact copy of the error message ?
You could try popping that into Google and see
what others have run into.

Paul

I did find something that registry keys weren't deleted because they were
write locked. So one has to go and search for those keys and unprotect them.
But what names those keys are? That is another mystery.
What a useless company. I know imperfect uninstallers are pretty common,
but then they issue a "cleanup" tool to finish the job, and that doesn't
solve the problem.

Win10 refuses to update due to Avira what is gone
 

On Fri, 6 Apr 2018 06:13:41 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

So are we up **** creek in a barbwire canoe?

Not WE, paleface. I didn't install Win 10 OR Avira.
;)
[]'s
--
Don't be evil - Google 2004
We have a new policy - Google 2012

Win10 refuses to update due to Avira what is gone
 

On Friday, April 6, 2018 at 10:08:47 PM UTC+8, Paul wrote:

Do you have an exact copy of the error message ?
You could try popping that into Google and see
what others have run into.


Well, I didn't find the answer with Google, but Bing dug up an obscure
geek's blog. It seems Windows update didn't just look in the registry, but
scanned the whole disk and finds a DLL belonging to an old malware scanner,
which is enough to cause it to hold its breath.
Now when my missus got this PC years ago, she copied the entire C drive of
her old WinXP PC onto a directory in the new PC so she could access her old
files. And that old PC had Avira installed.