Why is my AntiVirus Not Working?

Antivirus Not Working

An antivirus is surely one of the most important software that all internet users should have in their computer system. The online world of the internet is full of security threats such as viruses, malware, scammers etc. A good antivirus can protect you from all these dangers. A lot of good antiviruses are available in the market today such as AVG, Norton, McAfee etc. However, none of these antiviruses is absolutely flawless. There are many issues that can hinder the proper flow of an antivirus. In case the antivirus not working then your PC becomes quite vulnerable to the virus or phishing attacks.

No matter how hard you try to keep your antivirus away from the errors, it is nearly impossible to stop minor issues and errors to occur in an antivirus. There is no need to get panic due to these errors because most of them can get resolved very easily. In this tutorial, we will analyze different reasons why the antivirus stopped working for many people and techniques to fix them.

Different Errors and Issues in an antivirus

None of the devices or operating systems are completely free from the Antivirus problems. A minor technical glitch can occur in the devices and operating system at any time. Here are some popular problems related to an Antivirus.

• Antivirus not working in windows 10
• Unable to install antivirus
• Antivirus not working in windows 7
• Unable to run antivirus programs
• Not able to download antivirus software
• Antivirus not opening
• Antivirus stopped working in chrome
• Not able to update antivirus.
• Antivirus not scanning
• Error in uninstalling Antivirus

Any of these and other similar errors can create a lot of problems for Antivirus users. That’s why it is recommended that you should fix even the small issue with your antivirus immediately to keep your PC safe. 

Why is my Antivirus not Working?

The reason why your antivirus stopped working or not working actually depends upon the model and version of antivirus you are using. Nonetheless, a list of different possible reasons is as follows.

• Using Antivirus in an incompatible device
• Incorrect time in your PC
• Missing updates of the Antivirus software you are using.
• Expired license keys.
• Software conflict due to some other antivirus and software installed on your PC.
• Incorrect system configuration.

Apart from these reasons, there are many other major/ minor issues that cause a problem in Antivirus.

Solution to Antivirus problem

The steps fix the problem why your Antivirus not working depends upon the version of your antivirus. However, here are some basic troubleshooting steps that you should try.

1. At first, you should restart your PC. Many times, just a single restart can make your Antivirus software to work properly.
2. After restarting, you should start your PC in the safe mode. Starting the PC in safe mode will fix the problems that occur due to the incorrect system settings or configuration.
3. Make sure your device is fulfilling the system requirement of the antivirus software you are using. System requirement involves the availability of Ram, hard disk space, processor speed etc.
4. Visit the official website of your antivirus and see if there is an update available. If yes, then you should update your antivirus.
5. If you have more than one antivirus or security software then you should disable any one of them. Two antiviruses cannot work properly within a computer.
6. Make sure your computer is showing the correct time.
7. Execute a repair install of your antivirus.
8. Temporarily disable your antivirus and scan your PC with another antivirus to see if there is a virus infection in your PC.
9. In case the problem continues then it is better to contact the support service of the antivirus you are using.

These steps are applicable to all the antivirus software. Given below are the steps for some particular antivirus software.

Norton Antivirus not working

If Norton antivirus is not working for you then you should launch Norton LiveUpdate and restart the PC. In addition to this, you can also download, Norton power eraser from Norton’s website. Running Norton power eraser will let you fix Norton antivirus issues automatically. 

Avast Antivirus not working

You can repair Avast antivirus through the following steps.

1. Download and open Avira antivirus installation file from the official website of Avira
2. “Repair/ Update” option will appear as soon as you double click the installation link.
3. Select the “Repair/ Update” option.
4. Then click on the “Next” button.
5. Now, you need to carefully check that the required components of the installation are flagged. After that, you need to click on the “next” button.
6. After that, you have to wait for a while.
7. Once the installation gets repaired then you need to reboot your computer system.

For the rest of the antivirus, steps we have mentioned earlier should work fine.