14 DAY TRIAL // Another day, another Windows 8 issue. This time, Microsoft users complain that Windows 8 Modern apps do not launch at all after upgrading from Windows 7.
While this could sound like a pretty serious bug, it’s actually caused by third-party anti-virus software that blocks the launch of Modern apps.
Surprisingly, most anti-virus products have already been updated to work with Microsoft’s latest operating system, but according to a lengthy thread on the Microsoft Support forums, the problem appears regardless of the installed anti-virus tool.
Kaspersky anti-virus, Avast and AVG Internet Security 2012 are some of the security tools that could block Modern apps on specific Windows 8 machines, according to users’ reports.
“After a lot of installing & uninstalling I decided to uninstall AVG internet security 2012, this cured my problem. I installed AVG free Antivirus 2013 which works fine. My 2012 Internet Security still has 10 months to run, if AVG come up with a solution for 2012 then I will reinstall,” one of the users wrote.
“After much frustration, I uninstalled my virus scan software and it worked! I was using McAfee VirusScan 8.8 with Patch 1. When I tried reinstalling it didn't even work, so I moved to the McAfee EPO agent and that seems to work fine. I wish the compatibility check would of caught this when upgrading,” another one added.
While compatibility issues are most likely at fault for the issue, many anti-virus products have already been updated to work on Windows 8.
On the other hand, Windows 8 also comes with its very own security product called Windows Defender, a previous anti-spyware product now capable of providing real-time protection against a wide array of threats.
Microsoft claims that Windows Defender is automatically disabled once the user deploys a third-party anti-virus product, but the built-in app cannot be completely removed from a Windows 8 machine.