I’ve installed the latest version of Avast (8.0.1497) yesterday and it’s my first experience with Avast Free Antivirus. Everything is working flawlessly and I have to admit that I’m really impressed by the features it offers.
But I have a problem with this program and as the title says, it’s related to the update. When I hit the update engine and virus definition, I get an error message after a few minutes of trying to download servers.def.vpx. It shows “Cannot connect to server” several times and finally the error message shows up.
The error message says: Cannot connect to downloadxxx.avast.com (where xxx is a random number)
I also clicked update program button to see what happens (while it’s already the latest version) and it stuck on the initializing phase.
I’ve read some other topics before and did the following troubleshooting tips:
Disabled Windows Firewall completely
Added Avast to the allowed programs and gave it full permission in the Windows Firewall
Checked my internet connection and proxy settings
Tried both direct connection and system settings in the Avast settings
Connection settings are perfectly set and there’s no problem with none of my browsers
The strange thing is that I could update the definition by going to the Programs and Features and hit Change/Uninstall button. The update worked fine and now it’s up to date. But the in-app update is not working at all!
OS: Windows 7 Home Edition
Firewall: Windows Firewall
Security Software: Avast Free Antivirus 8.0.1497 and MalwareBytes’ Anti-Malware Pro 1.75.0.1300
I've installed the latest version of Avast (8.0.1497) yesterday and it's my first experience with Avast Free Antivirus.
what AV did you use before installing avast?
did you uninstall it before installing avast?
did you run the vendors removal tool to clear any leftover files that may conflict?
I was using Bitdefender (free version) but my laptop got infected and due to the fact that Bitdefender cannot scan the system in safe mode, I couldn’t get rid of the virus. So I restored my system, which means that the HDD is formatted completely and Windows is installed again. My system is completely clean and only essential programs are installed.
Yes, it was restored from the recovery partition of my Vaio laptop and since the very first things I remove after restoring my laptop are those free-to-try programs, I completely forgot about the Norton security software.
I downloaded and run Norton Removal Tool from the above link and followed the instruction and restarted my laptop but I still get the same error message when I use the update button.
There should also be no need to add avast the windows firewall unless you have activated the outbound protection, In it’s default state outbound is off.
If the repair that Pondus has suggested does not work then you are only left with doing a clean install ( use the links Pondus has supplied ), the original install could possibly be corrupted or there is the chance there may be a server issue in your area but there hasn’t been any other reports of this.
Thank you both for your help but the problem persists!
I removed Avast using the removal tool in the safe mode and reinstalled it again. I also double-checked the Windows Firewall and the outbound protection is off.
If there’s a server issue in my area, so why does it update using Control Panel\Programs and Features?!
It’s really annoying to use this method to update and I think that auto-update is essential for a reliable AV tool…
I don’t know what happened but I tried it once again and this time I got “Already up to date” message. I’m not sure it’s fixed or I will encounter the same annoying problem again. Perhaps a server issue. ???
Sorry for bringing this matter up but I have a few other questions regarding the auto updater.
In the Maintenance\Update screen, it says “Connection not established”, but I got the definition update automatically a few minutes ago. What does it mean and how can I fix it?
I’ve waited for half an hour to get the update automatically and nothing happened while the last update attempt was for yesterday. So I went to the update settings and changed the interval from its default value (240 minutes) to 5 minutes and guess what, I got the notification for the successful update right after 5 minutes!
Does this auto-update interval interrupt when Windows goes to sleep?
1. In the Maintenance\Update screen, it says "Connection not established", but I got the definition update automatically a few minutes ago. What does it mean and how can I fix it?
this is the stream updates...this may be on and off, as there have been many posts about this
avast check for new VPS updates when you turn on the comp … if it find any it will be downloaded. if computer stay on it will check for updates every 240min (default) and download if any found
VPS contain all previous released stream updates
they are usually released twice a day, more if needed and some days none…it depends whats happend out in the virus world
So why didn’t it update the definition when I turned on my laptop? The release date is set to 14 hours ago, so theoretically I should get the update when I turned my laptop 1 hour ago…
No, I’m using Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit on my Vaio laptop.
I don’t know why the auto-updater doesn’t work and I have to manually check for updates or change the interval to something like 5 minutes. It seems that unlike what Pondus says, Avast doesn’t check for updates when I open the lid of my laptop and turn it on!! (atleast it doesn’t work for me)
Currently, the Last update attempt is for 10 hours ago when I set the update interval to 5 minutes. I returned it back to its default value (240) and it seems that Avast is not looking for updates at all unless I keep my laptop on for 240 minutes!!
Streaming update: Enabled
Connection: Connection not established
Latest update received: —
