• Avast Free License Key Expired Error

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    #2270826

    I recently “updated” to Avast Free v9.0.2021. (Don’t laugh, the engine works just fine and is far less taxing on system resources than the latest and greatest version of Avast Free.)

    Anyway, the 30 day period expired and you now have to enter a new license key for it to continue working.

    According to Avast’s website:

    Good news! You no longer need to register!

    Newer versions of Avast Free Antivirus will no longer ask you to register, and older versions will keep working even after they’ve “expired”. If you’re using Avast Free Antivirus version 7 or older, please use this universal key: W11332244H9900A0420-8MRTR8W5

    Here’s the problem:

    When I enter the “universal key”, I get an error message telling me the license key has already expired. Uuuuuuuuh, what?

    Since I don’t have a current valid, working license key for Avast Free, and contrary to Avast’s statement above, the program is not working and has instead disabled itself with a big red “X” until a new such key is entered. In the meantime, this has currently left my system without a functioning AV program.

    I am not impressed.

    In the old days, you used to be able to register Avast Free on their website and they would send you a license key via email to allow you to use the program for another 12 months. This tried and true method always worked, but in a Microsoft sort of way, Avast “fixed” it so that you can no longer do it like this.

    Has anyone else had this happen to them and, if so, how did you resolve it?

    Thanks in advance for any and all replies and expertise you’re willing to share.

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    • #2270837

      Here’s a possible reason: you report that you’re using Avast version 9, but also that the Avast website says the universal key is for versions 7 and older. The key for version 7 may not be applicable to version 9. Maybe there’s some other way to get a new key for version 9?

      Doesn’t the Avast 9 interface offer a way to renew or to get a new key? That would be very bad design if it didn’t.

      Not sure if Avast offers technical support for users of their Free edition. Ultimately, you may need to bring up this issue on the Avast forum and see what staff and other users have to say. It’s possible that other users have run into the same problem and asked about it there, and then you can see what solution they came up with.

      Good luck!

       

    • #2270850

      The Avast interface does indeed offer a “Register Now” button, but clicking it has absolutely no effect whatsoever and also fails to resolve the problem.

      I’m not sure if the universal key listed on their website if for version 7 only (because of their wording), but if it is, this is yet another bad design/oversight on Avast’s part as they should have such keys listed for each applicable version.

      I’ve been searching and looking for another possible way to get a license key for Avast Free 9 but no luck yet. I figured if anyone would have a resolution to this, then this would be the best place to inquire about it.

    • #2270861

      Let’s see if there’s someone else here who has experienced what you saw and knows what to do about it. I suspect that a chunk of former Avast users on this forum stopped using the software in the wake of recent revelations about its privacy practices.

      You may want to try uninstalling Avast 9 and then re-installing it, keeping an eye out for a checkbox to select or unselect the 30-day trial vs. the Free version. I have some vague recollection that something like this was going on, that you could get the free perpetual license but that during installation the 30-day trial was checked by default and you had to make sure to uncheck it.

      I used to have Avast 7 on several computers. The program worked well and it had plenty of knobs and dials to turn, which I greatly prefer over “simplified” interfaces that actually make it harder to get things done when you need to. And just as you remember, when it came time to renew you could click on a button and get a new license key.

      But then at some point, this method stopped working. The renewal process would go into some kind of loop where it would perform a check and then come back to where you started. It would start reminding you about renewal weeks before but the renewal would never “catch” when you tried it. Finally I would let it expire (not that there was much choice) and within a couple of weeks the thing would magically have renewed for 30 days. Then the annoying cycle would start all over again.

      I ended up getting rid of Avast on all PCs that had it. I hated the cartoonish new interfaces that they introduced in later versions (“Grime Fighter” with a masked bank-robber figure? Really??) and they consolidated many of the shields, decreasing one’s ability to pick and choose which ones to set or disable. The most recent versions would automatically install some unwanted customized browser, and kept launching it on reboot even when I disabled that. It would occasionally inform me that I had X amount of stuff to clean up, but not allow me to see what files it was proposing to erase, let alone to decide what to keep and what to clean up.

      The only neat feature I found in newer versions was that when Avast would ask for a reboot to install some program update (not virus definitions), one of the choices for when to reboot was “next century.”  🙂  Quite a contrast with Microsoft and Windows 10!

       

    • #2270995

      One more thing I get forgot to add is that I’m still getting the popup messages informing me there are updated AV definitions available even though the program is currently disabled. (I have even tried to manually turn the program back on in Windows Action Center and it still won’t let me.)

      Also, I keep a close watch on the boxes when installing anything to make sure I don’t install something unwanted and I can assure you this is not the trial version of Avast Pro but the Free version instead.

      After many years of using Avast Free, I am teetering in the edge of uninstalling it once and for all because of the unnecessary frustration they are causing by not allowing me to both easily obtain and manually enter a valid license key.

      May I ask what AV you’re running now?

      • #2271002

        If you uninstall it, be sure that you also run Avast’s special removal tool you can obtain from their website. Wouldn’t hurt to run it several times.

        1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2271038

      When downloading Avast Free Version 9 many years ago I only had to provide an email address, the universal key is good for use up to version seven. You can get support through the Avast forums.

      Note: If you are using newer builds of Windows 10 for the operating system this could become a problem; I’ve experienced one Antivirus trial program that will install and claims to work with every Windows 10 version but did not function with older builds because of changes.

    • #2271210

      This is what baffles me.

      As I mentioned above, it clearly states on the Register Avast website, if you’re using Avast Free Antivirus version 7 or older, use the universal license key. If this key only works for version 7, then this statement is clearly misleading. Doesn’t anyone at Avast read their own website(s)?

      Also, no version below version 9 is even supported by Avast any longer and hence my reason for “upgrading” to it.

      Finally, I tried downloading and manually installing the AV definition from the Avast website and everything went fine… except the program is still disabled and won’t scan anything.

      Is there a setting somewhere in the registry that is preventing me from re-enabling Avast in the absence of a valid, working license key or is there some other way to reset or disable the setting in the software that keeps track of the ridiculous “you must register after 30 days” requirement?

    • #2271260

      Apparently, after all this time, my reading and comprehension was not at the level I thought it was.

      Why I was thinking that Avast 7 and older meant it applied to a higher numbered version such as 9, I’ll never know. Thank you for pointing this glaringly obvious point out to me, @Cybertooth.

      Thanks for sharing the Avast forum discussion info as well. Sadly, a search for the file “license.avastlic’ in Avast 9 yields nothing so there must be another file for this version that tells Avast the license has expired.

      Switching to another AV may very well be on the horizon.

      1 user thanked author for this post.
    • #2272475

      I haven’t turned this system on since @Cybertooth ‘s post above and when I did just a few minutes ago, I was greeted with another popup informing me my virus definitions were not currently up to date. Upon clicking the update definitions button (or whatever it’s called), they proceeded to download and install and then, much to my amazement, the red X over the avast icon in the system tray magically disappeared.

      Clicking on the registration information tells me the product is now registered for the next 90 days and will expire on 09/13/2020 at 3:08:59 AM.

      I just don’t get it. I ended up doing nothing further and the problem I was having ultimately resolved itself… at least for the next 90 days. This time I won’t wait until it “expires” before I “renew” it. Good grief.

      Thanks again everyone for your assistance.

    • #2318229

      Because the Virus Vault would not empty, I uninstalled Free Avast, and installed v20.9 through a freshly downloaded off-line installer. When re-installation was finished, sure enough the virus vault was empty, but I was told that the Free AntiVirus had expired. Clicking the re-activate button, did NOT fix the problem, nor did the path where one can choose between Free and Premium.

      I did get the program to change its tune and say ‘your PC is protected’ but to achieve that, I had to ‘Reset to default’ at the end of the path : Menu>Settings>Troubleshooting (at the bottom). However, STATUS still loudly proclaims ‘!’; and the systray icon still shouts ATTENTION.

       

    • #2318249

      As you are currently experiencing, and as I have come to learn first hand, Avast can sometimes exhibit a mind of its own which often defines logic.

      While I’m not familiar with v20.9 nor its menu layout, have you tried manually entering the Avast universal activation key?

      There should be a place somewhere in the registration tab/area to allow you do this and even though this key is for versions 7 and older, it may make the exclamation mark disappear:

      W11332244H9900A0420-8MRTR8W5

      You may also want to try temporarily disabling Avast and then turning it back on to see if the no longer needed registration successfully “registers”.

      Finally, you too may find this issue will simply, and unexplainably, resolve itself.

    • #2318392

      I had entered a key which was prompted BY Avast (!!!!) and it was rejected.  I was about to enter the one YOU prompted above, but the exclamation mark had already disappeared. The systray icon no longer shouts ‘ATTENTION’ – so it could be what you suggested – it could also be that Avast/Computer/whatever just needs time. I learned this from pressure monitors on the tyres of my car that will persist displaying error for a day or so after the batteries are renewed.

      1 user thanked author for this post.
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