Really Need Help With Avast 8 Free

I've been using Avast 8 Free. I just experienced a major meltdown with my computer system, but after several hours I have finally put most things back together. However, after several restore efforts, etc., my Avast Free shifted from Free to Pro, and then after another reboot, from Pro to Avast Internet Security (at least that's what the GUI header and Subscription information says).

How can I get back to the Free version? Can I simply download the current version and install it over the top of whatever is there now - or won't that work?

 

I think I would just uninstall whatever is there now, then download and install the latest free version. But maybe someone else knows a better way...

 

Registry corruption maybe? Most av's store the license info in the registry

 

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.... So, I ran in safe mode, and did a system restore. The system restored, but now told me that I was using Avast PRO, and I was running a trial version. I did some research here, and found someone from the forum (an Uber poster) had said that Avast didn't play well with system restore. So, after trying to repair the installation and rebooting, no change. It said I was using Avast PRO (even though Add/Remove Programs showed Avast for Free in the list).....

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=118373.0

 

Avast does not work well with system restore. Download the free version and their uninstall tool - uninstall your current version and reinstall new free version.
In the future if you want to use system restore you can try to remove Avast self-protection first, but Avast may still become corrupted. Unfortunately this is an on-going problem with Avast.

 

Thanks for all the help. Uninstalled - reinstalled - all's good.