Avast Free: "Virus definitions are not up to date"

@jan.svoboda are there any updates?
Have you received my ticket?

AVG technical support contacted me via email…very strange…I don’t have the AVG product, I’m expecting Avast assistance.
Request #19880475 :o :o ???

@DavidR and Nunzio77. Here we go again, Toiday for the third time in the last three weeks, Avast task bar icon in red telling me virus definitions are out of date. Run check for updates in Settings > Updates, it runs the process of checking but does nothing. Automatic updates is on but the interface does not do automatic updates.

After running a search for Avast VPS updates in Firefox, I found this page on the Avast pages - see link below. I downloaded VPS updates for 19+. It doies not need system restart, it worked instantly to update virus definitions. I am so not going to keep doing a total uninstall and a clean re load every time this happens. The odd thing is I opened a new tab and tried to find the page in the link via the Avast websites and cannot find it anywhere but it is genuine as it sorted the problem and updated virus definitions there and then. I have toolbar bookmarked it so if this happens agai which I expect it will, I will just run this 19+ update for VPS. I did send a message via the report a problem in the Avast interface about this. They must be aware of this by now and hopefully a fix happens soon.

The other odd thing is when I log onto my Avast account page, it tells me at the top I have 2 messages, but, I so cannot see a way to open any message inbox, there is no tab to do this, not that I can see and been over it three times and the 2 messages line isnt a live tab toclick on that to open them up.

https://www.avast.com/download-update#pc

It’s a problem that apparently they can’t solve or haven’t yet identified the cause…

On that Avast page you pointed to, this is written:

“A feature of most of our programs is the ability to update automatically. If you are connected to the Internet, virus database updates are downloaded and installed automatically without any action on your part. The availability of a new version is checked when an Internet connection is established and every four hours thereafter. If necessary, you can also download update files from these pages, for example if your computer does not have an Internet connection. Updates are generally released on a daily basis.”

But apparently it is not working properly and I am also noticing this problem for the Mobile version of Avast for Android. Updates arrive even after 24 hours…

@Nunzio, there is definitely a problem but I have not read any official release that there is an issue. I am not getting updates even though my interface is set to receive them automatically and as what is written on the page in the link I attached, I am not getting the new version when it is released. For now I wait until the Avast icon in the task bar tells me I am not protected due to virus definitions are out of date. I will use the page in the link to update the 19+ version updates. That is working to solve it quickly without having to mess about with total uninstalls.

In my opinion, it could be that after starting the PC, the automatic definition update script does not start after a few minutes. In fact the update occurs after a few hours. So if a PC is not used for a few days, the Windows Security Center warning will also appear and the red X on the Avast icon in the taskbar warning that the AV is not updated.
This will last for a long time until you update the definitions automatically (after a few hours) or manually.

@Avast staff: can you verify that this is the case and resolve it?

@Nunzio77, That could be the case that it takes a few hours for the virus definitions to automatically update. I only use my laptop for about an hour or so each time during the day and in the evening it is on for 2-3 hours at the most, even then, the updates do not happen automatically in the time frame I am using it. I have had to do it manually, the first two times were a full uninstall then clean re load the program then by the link I added in my previous post which was pretty much instant with no restart required. I will carry on using that link to update 19+ as I feel it will happen again until such time whatever is causing this is resolved, It took a week for the red cross on the task bar icon to reappear. Currently, the virus definition my interface is telling me it’s running is version 231204-0, last week it was 231113-2.

The signature update issue still persists.
Here is a new example image.
As a release date it says December 8, 2023 but the detail is version 231207-2 therefore elative to December 7.
After keeping the PC turned on for more than 30 minutes the signatures have not updated, therefore the update after starting the PC does not work or in any case the alignment of the update date with the definitions is not correct.

Fix the bug.
It wasn’t like that before.

Nunzio77, This is odd. I used the link I added from the Avast update page and used the 19+ download to get latest update. The release date I have is also 8th December, but my version number is 231208-0. My updates still have not been woring when I start up.

I had a reply in another thread, it was suggested to see if turning off windows fast start up option may make the automatic updates work. I didnt know about this, my laotop was set to windows fast start up, my laptop was onkly going into a deeper hibernation mode rather than cold shut down. Starting up from cold shut down is when updates happen so I gather. I will see if my automatic updates actually work tomorrow now I have disabled fast start up.

See this thread in the link, scroll down and read the post from Dinobot2 near the bottom, describing a bit about fast start up option and disabling it might make the updates work.

https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=325646.0

It really does seem I have to update virus definitions from the avast update page as the interface Menu > Settimgs . Update isnt doing this automatically. I do noit know how long my laoto should be on for the interface automatic update setting should take, I would hgave thought it woud be reasonably quick and maybe it should start checking for uodates as soo as my latop is powered up. I have just udated VPS from the Avast update page, have added the link again below. When I done this yesterday I was on version 231208-0. when I just checked after the update took effect it is now 9th December release and version 231209-4.

Given this, to keep the virus definitions completely up to date I presume will have to do this daily from the page in the link as the interface is not doing this. Going by the last couple of weeks, the interface version stays the same until the Avast Icon in the task bar has a red cross telling my I am unprotected due to the virus definitions are not uo to date.

https://www.avast.com/download-update#pc

I uninstalled and reinstalled Avast Free and yesterday I updated to the latest version. For the moment I no longer see the red writing in the definitions which seem to be updating.
So I suggest uninstalling Avast, doing a manual cleanup of both the registry and the remaining PC folders and reinstalling it again.

Has the bug fixing in version 23.12 eliminated this behaviour at last?

It appears to have been resolved.
Furthermore, in the Geek area I have reduced the time interval for checking updates from the standard 4 hours to 1 hour. Because in any case the impact during the update phase on my PC (even if a little old) is not relevant.

https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=325571.0