Deleting uninstaller files in library

In Safe Mode:

1) In Finder, press Command-Shift-G and paste

~/Library/LaunchAgents

Drag the plist files related to avg to the trash

2) In Finder, press Command-Shift-G and paste

~/Library/Application Support

Drag the folders with names starting with AVG to the trash

NOTE: The tilde character is required in these two lines above; this is what distinguishes your own personal Library from the overall one.

3) Empty trash and restart

4) See if Etrecheck still has references to avg

NOTE: the reason these returned after you cleaned the system is because these files

are installed in your user folder, and therefore were reinstated when you, presumably, migrated your account back.

If you are sure, then yes, it is probably a good idea to do it in Safe Mode, just to ensure that none of these agents are actively running.

Then you can simply use the Go to Folder in Finder (command-shift-G) to open the relevant folders and delete the files.

But please be absolutely sure before deleting anything.

If in doubt, post an Etrecheck report here so we can help determine if some things are safe to delete.

You can check to see if you've removed all of the supporting files by downloading and running the shareware app Find Any File to search for any files with the application's or the developer's name in the file name.  For AVG software you'd do the following search(es): 

1 - Name contains avg

Any files that are found can be dragged from the search results window to the Desktop or Trash bin in the Dock for deletion.

FAF can search areas that Spotlight can't like invisible folders, system folders and packages.

If you get warnings that the file can't be deleted because it is in use or used by another app boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and delete from there.

Note:  if you have a wireless keyboard with rechargeable batteries connect it with its charging cable before booting into Safe Mode.  This makes it act as a wired keyboard as will assure a successful boot into Safe Mode.

Once this type of software is installed and embedded into the computer 

Start Over from Scratch 

Heavy Handed ? - Yes

Effective in removing the AV Software ? - Yes 

You can spend hours or days hunting down all the bits and pieces of this software and never really get it all off the computer

For Apple Silicon computer >> Use Disk Utility to erase a Mac with Apple silicon.

For Apple Intel computers >>   Use Disk Utility to erase an Intel-based Mac followed by How to reinstall macOS

Always make a Time Machine Backup  before  proceeding 

If going this route - I suggest Not using Startup Assist to migrate everything back

Emphasis on Restoring Only the User Account

Otherwise, it will probably Re-Introduce ( AVG  ) back into the Operating System 

The reason for booting Safe Mode is to prevent those non-Apple processes from loading so that they can be deleted. If they are loaded as would be the case upon a normal reboot, those processes may be "in use" which can prevent you from deleting them.

Another technique is to identify the processes in Activity Monitor and kill them, after which the files that launch them can be deleted. Safe Mode is easier.

Good luck. Last time I installed "AVG" for evaluation purposes I gave up attempting to uninstall it according to its instructions (because they didn't work) and erased the Mac instead. If you installed "AVG" long ago its kernel extensions may have been "grandfathered" making it difficult to impossible to uninstall.

John Galt wrote

Last time I installed "AVG" for evaluation purposes I gave up attempting to uninstall it according to its instructions (because they didn't work) and erased the Mac instead. If you installed "AVG" long ago its kernel extensions may have been "grandfathered" making it difficult to impossible to uninstall.

Continue to be mindful of that fact.

I did not give up without investing a considerable amount of time and effort, which included contacting its developer for uninstallation assistance. They gave up also. Of course having a TM backup helped.

In your other discussion,

HWTech wrote:

FYI, anti-virus software, cleaning/optimizer apps, and third party security software are not needed on a Mac. These types of apps usually cause more problems than they solve because the interfere with the normal operation of macOS. These types of apps are the source of the majority of system performance issues, fans running at high speed & high temps, and system crashes.

Let n = the number of problems they solve.

n = 0

They only cause problems.

Let m = the number of problems they cause.

m ≫ 0

∴ m / n = ∞

It's one of the reasons I write "rule 1 of Macs is don't install junk" — because installing junk is usually the first step in a long and well-trodden path to misery.

NJM55 wrote:

erased the Mac, is that the same as reinstallation?

A re-install can be done on top of the old install and it might very well leave old 3rd party stuff around while it usually overwrites at least newish Apple stuff.

Erase and install (clean install) sets the Mac back to factory defaults. But then the user must be careful not to restore problematic old 3rd party stuff again, but only restore user data files (.docx, .jpg etc) and then install only absolutely needed 3rd party apps.

@ Luis 👍

To aid in your request for an Etrecheck Report

I finally ran Etrecheck,

👍🏽