Today, installing a security program on a PC or phone has become necessary. If you use the internet on your device, you need a good security tool that can secure your device and data from all malware and internet threats. For good security, your antivirus must run smoothly. If your antivirus is showing any error then you should immediately inspect it. Antivirus can show not responding error due to various reasons.

Common causes behind security program not responding

1. Antivirus is interrupting another program
2. You have lots of junk files on the device
3. Antivirus subscription get expired
4. You have installed an incompatible antivirus app on the device
5. Some registry files get corrupted
6. You have multiple security applications on the device
7. Low space or RAM on the device

Resolving not responding error on the antivirus program

Restart your device

If your antivirus is not responding then you should restart the device. Restarting is the most common technique to fix any error. You can get the error when your antivirus program gets a runtime error. The runtime error can be easily resolved by restarting the device. Close the antivirus and all applications of your device. Now restart the device and click on your antivirus. Go to its dashboard and run a full system scan.

Install a compatible security program

Your antivirus won’t open or respond if it is not compatible with your device. Antivirus programs provide plans for all devices. But before purchasing the subscription, you should check for the resource requirements. Search for the plan which is compatible with your device. Go to the installed security program and check its specifications. If the application is not compatible then cancel Avast subscription and request a refund. Now search for a compatible security program. Install the compatible application and then scan your device.

Remove the conflicting application

Some users reported that their antivirus is not responding after installing any application on the device. The error occurs when you have installed a malicious application on the device. Your antivirus mainly shows errors when you have installed free gaming or editing software. Some of the free applications can be malicious. They often carry spyware, adware, and other threats. When you install those applications, the threats also get installed on the device. Those types of programs often start interrupting the antivirus. To fix your error, you should remove the malicious application from your device. Go to the Apps folder and click on the recently installed application. Uninstall that application from your device and restart the device. Now your antivirus will start working.

Remove junk from the PC

You can also get antivirus-related issues due to junk files. PCs often accumulate lots of junk files. The junk doesn’t cause any harm to your device. But when the device has lots of junk, some applications can start showing issues. When your antivirus is not responding or showing any kind of error then you should check for junk files. Go to the temp folder on your PC and delete all files. Now click on your antivirus and check for the error. If your antivirus is still showing an error then check for other junk on the device. Finding junk manually is difficult. You can use the inbuilt junk cleaner tool of Windows. Go to your device and open the run bar. Type cleanmgr and run the tool. This tool will immediately show the list of junk on your device. Now remove all the junk and restart your device.

Check the subscription 

When your antivirus program is not working, check for its subscription. Your antivirus will stop working if the subscription expires. This problem appears only in paid antivirus programs. If you have a free version, you can’t check the subscription. For the paid plans, open the subscription window. Go to the account and hit the subscription tab. If it shows Expired status then you need to renew it. Renew your antivirus program and then your program will start working. 

Repair the registry files

Antivirus shows an error when the registry files get corrupted. Your application needs those registry files to find the correct path. Without registry files, your antivirus can’t find the path and will start showing errors. To fix the problem, check the registry files of your program. If the registry files are corrupted, repair them. But edit those files only when you know the correct steps. Before editing the registry files, you should create a backup. Run the Regedit command and the registry editor will appear. Now search for the registry files related to your application. Copy those files and save them with the .reg extension. Export those files to the desktop and then repair them. After repairing the registry file, your antivirus will start responding.

Update your security program

Your program will show errors and stop responding when it is running out of date. Updating the antivirus program is necessary. New threats appear every day and your application must be updated to detect them. When an antivirus detects any malware, it checks the malware on the virus chart. If the virus chart is not updated, antivirus can’t detect new threats. Whenever you see a new update of your antivirus, install it. Open Apps and click on your antivirus. Hit the Update button and wait to complete it. After updating, restart the device to apply new updates. 

Remove the antivirus security program from the device

If you have multiple security applications on a single device; they may start interrupting each other. Installing multiple antiviruses won’t increase security but can cause chaos. When malware appears, both security applications start interrupting each other. To fix this error, keep only one security application. Go to the Apps folder and remove other security programs from the device. 

Reinstall the application

Antivirus will not respond when some of its files are missing or corrupted. You have to repair the program, but repairing the application is difficult. Instead of repairing the files, you can reinstall the application. Remove the program and delete all the related files. Now reinstall a new setup for the application on your device.