{"id":10029,"date":"2019-06-28T16:03:23","date_gmt":"2019-06-28T10:33:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.58.113.91\/blog\/?p=10029"},"modified":"2023-08-02T20:38:12","modified_gmt":"2023-08-02T15:08:12","slug":"cant-delete-avast-software-registry-key-in-windows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/cant-delete-avast-software-registry-key-in-windows\/","title":{"rendered":"Fix: Can’t delete Avast Software Registry Key in Windows"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week when I installed CCleaner on my system, it also installed Avast antivirus software stealthily, in the background. After I uninstalled Avast, a registry key named AVAST Software<\/strong> still remained in the registry, but it couldn’t be opened. When the AVAST Software branch was selected, it threw the following error:<\/p>\n

Error Opening Key<\/strong>\r\nAVAST Software cannot be opened.\r\nAn error is preventing this key from being opened.\r\nDetails: The system cannot find the file specified.\r\n<\/pre>\n
\"delete<\/p>\n
When I opened the Properties of the AVAST Software<\/strong> key, the Security tab was blank, showing the message: The requested security information is either unavailable or can’t be displayed<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n
\"delete<\/p>\n
I tried running Sysinternals RegDelNull to nuke the keys, but that didn’t help.<\/p>\n
The same error can occur for AVG antivirus users.<\/p>\n
Error Opening Key<\/strong>\r\nAVG cannot be opened.\r\nAn error is preventing this key from being opened.\r\nDetails: The system cannot find the file specified.\r\n<\/pre>\n
Registry Reparse Point<\/h4>\n
Later I realized that the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\Software\\AVAST Software<\/code> is a reparse point or registry link that links to the following key on Windows 64-bit systems:<\/p>\n
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\Software\\WOW6432Node\\AVAST Software<\/pre>\n
But, since the Avast uninstaller had wiped out the above key, the reparse point still remains but is orphaned.<\/p>\n
On Windows 32-bit systems, the reparse point and the target key paths are reversed.<\/em><\/p>\n
However, once I knew it’s only a reparse point, the fix turned out to be very simple; you don’t need to tinker with the registry key permissions<\/a> or ownership<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Fix: Can’t delete Avast Software Registry Key<\/h2>\n
Method 1: Create AVAST Software key under WOW6432Node manually<\/h3>\n
To successfully remove the AVAST Software<\/code> reparse point, first, manually create the missing target<\/strong> key. Follow these steps:<\/p>\n
    \n
  1. Start the Registry Editor (regedit.exe<\/code>)<\/li>\n
  2. Create the AVAST Software<\/code> key under the WOW6432Node<\/code> key below.\n
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\Software\\WOW6432Node\\<\/pre>\n
    Alternately, run the following command from an admin Command Prompt window to create the key manually on a Windows 64-bit system:<\/em><\/p>\n
    reg add \"HKLM\\Software\\AVAST Software\" \/reg:32<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n
  3. Then, go to the following key in the Registry Editor and delete it:\n
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\Software\\AVAST Software<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    This deletes the linked key as well as the reparse point in one go.<\/p>\n
    Important Note:<\/strong> If, the WOW6432Node\\AVAST Software<\/code> key is the reparse point itself (32bit vs 64-bit Windows) which can’t be opened, and points to the key Software\\AVAST Software<\/code>, then you’ll need to create the target key (HKLM\\Software\\AVAST Software<\/code>) key manually before deleting the reparse point.<\/em><\/p>\n
    Method 2: Use AvRegLink.exe from Avast Software<\/h3>\n
    Avast software has a tool named AvRegLink.exe<\/code> which can create, query or delete reparse points in the registry. This tool can be downloaded from the following URL:<\/p>\n
    http:\/\/public.avast.com\/~hnanicek\/AvRegLink.exe<\/pre>\n
    Once downloaded, open admin Command Prompt<\/a> and run the following command:<\/p>\n
    AvRegLink.exe delete \"SOFTWARE\\AVAST Software\"<\/pre>\n
    \"delete<\/p>\n
    If, the WOW6432Node\\AVAST Software<\/code> key is the reparse point itself (32bit vs 64-bit Windows), which points to the key Software\\AVAST Software<\/code>, then you’ll need to run this command instead:<\/p>\n
    AvRegLink.exe delete \"SOFTWARE\\WOW6432Node\\AVAST Software\"<\/pre>\n
    Additional Tips:<\/h4>\n
    Before deleting<\/strong> the reparse point, if you want to query the reparse point to know where it’s pointing to, use this command-line:<\/p>\n
    AvRegLink.exe query \"SOFTWARE\\AVAST Software\"\r\nAvRegLink.exe query \"SOFTWARE\\WOW6432Node\\AVAST Software\"<\/pre>\n
    To create<\/strong> a reparse point manually, use this command-line syntax:<\/p>\n
    AvRegLink.exe create LinkKey TargetKey<\/pre>\n
    Method 3: Using the regln tool<\/h3>\n
    The regln: Windows Registry Linking Utility<\/a> can create or delete reparse points in the registry.\u00a0Download<\/a> regln.<\/p>\n
    Usage: regln [-v] <link_key> <target_key>\r\nregln -d <link_key>\r\n\r\n<link_key> is the new registry link key\r\n<target_key> is an existing registry key being linked to\r\n-v = volatile, exist in memory only\r\n-d = delete link<\/pre>\n
     <\/p>\n
    regln -d \"HKLM\\Software\\WOW6432Node\\AVAST Software\"\r\n\r\n-and-\r\n\r\nregln -d \"HKLM\\Software\\AVAST Software\"<\/pre>\n
    This deletes the AVAST Software registry key and also the link from the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\Software<\/code> and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\WOW6432Node\\Software<\/code> registry locations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    Last week when I installed CCleaner on my system, it also installed Avast antivirus software stealthily, in the background. After I uninstalled Avast, a registry key named AVAST Software still remained in the registry, but it couldn’t be opened. When the AVAST Software branch was selected, it threw the following error: Error Opening Key AVAST … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6,7],"tags":[441],"class_list":["post-10029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-utilities","category-windows","tag-registry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10668,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/windows-10-error-0x80070005-when-installing-a-feature-update\/","url_meta":{"origin":10029,"position":0},"title":"Windows 10 Error 0x80070005 When Installing a Feature Update","author":"Ramesh","date":"August 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Your Windows 10 computer may show the error 0x80070005 when installing a feature update.\u00a0The exact error message verbatim is below: There were problems installing some updates, but we'll try again later. 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