Uninstalling antivirus software is important before installing a new one. The process involves accessing the list of installed programs, selecting the antivirus program, and clicking “uninstall” or “remove”. The user may need to provide permission to proceed and stay nearby to answer any queries. A computer restart may be required before the changes take effect.
The need to uninstall antivirus software can arise for a variety of reasons. Typically, action should be taken when a user chooses to use a new type of antivirus protection and should ensure that the old one is completely removed before starting the installation of the new product. When performing the antivirus software uninstall task, it is important to consider the type of operating system involved and the steps associated with removing any type of program from a hard drive running that system.
With most operating systems, the process of uninstalling antivirus software is relatively straightforward. The first step usually involves accessing a screen that displays all installed software programs. Depending on how your system is configured, this list will normally be alphabetical, making it easy to find antivirus program by name. With many popular operating systems, highlighting the program to remove will be the first step in the process.
At this point, the process used to uninstall antivirus software often involves clicking an icon identified as “uninstall” or “remove”. Assuming you have highlighted the correct program, this will trigger the program to open and run an uninstall sequence. Depending on how the software itself is written, there may be a number of points in the sequence where the user must provide permission to proceed. For example, the software may repeatedly ask if certain files need to be removed from the hard drive. Most antivirus software programs require that the user answer a question about whether they want to proceed with the uninstall action, usually by clicking an icon marked “yes”.
While the anti-virus software uninstall process is running, it is important that the user stays nearby, as requests to answer one or more queries can appear at any time in the sequence. Once the process is complete, it is not uncommon for the task to require a computer restart before the changes take effect. Many programs will display a dialog asking if the user wants to restart immediately or delay the restart until later. Generally, it’s a good idea to close all other programs before starting the uninstall. If programs are left open until the system requests a restart, stop for a moment and close all remaining programs before continuing. This will reduce the possibility of having difficulty opening other programs once you have restarted your system and are ready to install new virus protection software.
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