Is AVG AntiVirus Free blocking our emails?

Hi,
Thank you for your help.

Because I couldn’t find the slider to turn off AVG through a restart, I ran AVG_Remover.exe a few times, but it obviously didn’t do a complete job, because I still got a message when restarting the computer about a problem with avguix.exe!

I was still unable to access my emails after removing (most of) AVG.

I then tried to reinstall the 2016 version of AVG, so I could restore the same email settings as had worked with that, but trying to reinstall it gave an error message.

I’ve now reinstalled the current AVG AntiVirus Free, and still get the same message trying to access my incoming emails on Windows Mail (I tried sending an email, and that worked OK).

Incidentally, I tried looking for my message on the community website, but couldn’t find it.  How does AVG’s Support Community website work?  I assumed my question hadn’t been answered yet, but went to the Virgin Media website to check for emails in general, and found your reply.
 
Error messages shown by Windows Mail when attempting to download emailsChris

Chris, For your info, just in case that you are unaware, you can post the screenshot here in your topic. Click on 'Answer' & then click on the 'Image' [mountain symbol] & follow the instructions. 
AVG Guru

Please run the AVG Remover tool by using the below instructions.
1 Download the AVG remover tool please click on this link:
http://aa-download.avg.com/filedir/util/AVG_Remover.exe
2 Run the downloaded tool and follow the instructions displayed on your screen.
3 Your computer will be restarted automatically.
After reboot, Open C drive and look for folder "AVG Remover" and delete it manually, also delete "AVG" folder in "Program files (x86)" in C Drive.
Please check your Windows mail now, if you are still facing the issues, please let us know, we'll check and help you. Thank you.

Hi,
Our elder son (who studied Computer Science at University) came home over the weekend, and changed the Windows Mail settings we had been using successfully with the previous version of AVG Free to settings that work with the latest AVG Free.  So he has solved our current problem, thanks.

However, for any future issues on our computer where we might wish to check whether AVG is involved, I would be grateful if you could explain where I can find the Passive Mode slider, described in the AVG AntiVirus Free Help, that will enable me to turn AVG off in such a way that it won’t come back on when I restart the computer, without uninstalling it.

With thanks,
Chris Newman

Hi Chris,

We apologize for the inconvenience caused, to assist you further, could you confirm once if you're able to receive emails after disabling AVG? Also, please attach us the screenshot http://avgclick.me/getscreenshot of the error message that you receive while trying to access the emails with AVG turned enabled.

Thank you!

We have a Windows Vista 32-bit system that was running the 2016 version of AVG Free until that showed problems today.  I clicked a [Fix it] button, but got a permanent timer, and had to turn off the power.  I realized a newer version was available, and tried to update.  It got to about 90% and nothing else seemed to happen, so I downloaded the uninstaller and removed old AVG.  The subsequent installation stopped at a similar percentage, and I began using my laptop to search for a solution when it moved again and completed.  But now I can’t access emails (virginmedia.com through Windows Mail); I get a message such as “The connection to the server has failed. Account: '…', Server: 'localhost', Protocol: POP3, Port: 10110, Secure(SSL): No, Socket Error: 10061, Error Number: 0x800CCC0E”

I wanted to turn off AVG to see if that freed my emails, but couldn’t find a way.  Help refers to Passive Mode, and states “To manually activate Passive Mode, click the red slider (OFF) so that it changes to green (ON). Then, click OK and Restart now to confirm your changes.”  Where is the red slider?  If I <Right Click> on the AVG icon in the taskbar, a small window opens, and I can make the lower panel change from green to red, and it says “Protection is off until your PC restarts”  A window opens asking me to confirm this, but I don’t see an option to keep it off when the computer restarts.

With previous versions of AVG Free I had to make settings for the email server, but I read this is automatic with the latest version.

Is there a way I can turn off AVG AntiVirus Free to stay off when I restart the computer?

Is AVG AntiVirus Free likely to be the reason why I can no longer receive emails?
 
With thanks in advance,
Chris
 

Chris, Your screenshots are actually visible on the Support Community. Also log onto the Community. Click on 'All Questions' @ the top of the page & you'll see a drop-down menu including 'My Questions'. Click on this for a list of all your queries.
AVG Guru

Hi,
 
That link is much more helpful than the AVG AntiVirus Free Help topic ‘Enable Passive Mode?’, as it includes the dire line “This feature is available for PCs running Windows 7 and later.”  As I explained initially, our desktop runs Vista (I do have a laptop bought with 8.1, then utilizing the promised upgraded to 10, but currently have Avira anti-virus on it, and rarely use it for emails).
 
Of the recent versions of Windows I’ve used, I’d score Windows 7 as 4½* for user-friendliness, XP as 4*, Vista as 3½*, Windows 10 as 2½*, and Windows 8.1 as only ½*.  But I only had the pleasure of using Windows 7 at my workplace, when they belatedly replaced XP with it shortly before I retired.  By then our desktop was already fairly long in the tooth, and it didn’t seem worth upgrading to Windows 7.  I don’t think Microsoft would have sold Windows 7 as an upgrade from 10 for my laptop, and in any case newer applications would cease to be available for Windows 7, and I think Microsoft support will soon cease.

At least I understand now why I couldn’t find the Passive Mode slider!
 
With thanks,
Chris Newman

Hi Chris,

We apologize for the inconvenience caused, to assist you further, could you confirm once if you're able to receive emails after disabling AVG? Also, please attach us the screenshot http://avgclick.me/getscreenshot of the error message that you receive while trying to access the emails with AVG turned enabled.

Thank you!

Hi,
Our elder son (who studied Computer Science at University) came home over the weekend, and changed the Windows Mail settings we had been using successfully with the previous version of AVG Free to settings that work with the latest AVG Free.  So he has solved our current problem, thanks.

However, for any future issues on our computer where we might wish to check whether AVG is involved, I would be grateful if you could explain where I can find the Passive Mode slider, described in the AVG AntiVirus Free Help, that will enable me to turn AVG off in such a way that it won’t come back on when I restart the computer, without uninstalling it.

With thanks,
Chris Newman

Hi Chris,
We regret to hear about the inconvenience caused, since we have updated our AVG programs to 2017 version, it is not possible to install the older versions. We suggest you to remove the AVG and its traces from your computer using AVG Clear tool and AVG Remover tool and check your Windows mail.
1 Use the link https://share.avg.com/steam/PSP/AVG2017/AVG_Clear.exe to run the AVG Clear tool.
2 Open the AVG Clear tool, click Yes in the User Account control dialog.
3 Click No in the Windows safe mode dialog.
4 Select the installed version of AVG, click Uninstall, then click Restart computer. (1/2)

Hello Chris,
We are sorry for the confusion, you can find the Passive mode enable/disable option under settings. Please click on the link to show how to use Passive mode, it will show the option how to enable/disable the passive mode : http://support.avg.com/SupportArticleView?urlname=How-to-use-Passive-Mode
Hope it helps. Please, feel free to let us know if you require any further assistance. Thank you.

Hello Chris,
We are happy to hear that your Windows mail issue has been fixed. You can turn off AVG 207 version temporarily using the AVG icon in system tray (Bottom right corner), drag the option to "OFF" or Open AVG Zen -> Click on Anti-Virus Free -> Click on "Menu" -> Settings -> Disable all components (Resident Shield, Software Analyzer & Email Protection (Disable Until restart)). Hope it helps. Please, feel free to let us know if you require any further assistance. Thank you.