After many days of frustration and unprotected WinXPsp3 I have finally narrowed
down my problem. The (temporary) solution is most likely to install Avast Premier version
18.3.2333. Where can I find a legitimate download of this installer? I have a valid paid
Avast Premier subscription and the current version (18.4.2338) does not work on my
machine. Version 18.2.2328, installer of which I happen to have, does work. I would like to
have the newest possible working version. Thank you.
have a look to MartinZpost
it’s for Internet security 18.3 but I think replacing “Internet_security” by “premier_antivirus” should do the job
do not forget before installing the old version to disable the automatic update of the program, otherwise the update to 18.4 is done very quickly.
Generally speaking, always download avast versions (offline) on your hard disk as soon as they are published, avast leaving only very rarely (except exception as on the link) the old versions available for download .
Thank you chris, the modified link (as afterwards posted by bob) worked and I am again running Avast Premier. Let it be known here that back in March I discovered and I think that Avast support confirmed that these “offline” installers still require internet connexion during installation on Windows XPsp3, something I found out the hard way. When there was no internet connexion , the installation just failed quietly without any error message.
Now I am wondering whether this non-functioning of version 18.4.2338 on my machine is because support for Windows XP is ending… Is it about to end? Soon it will be time to renew my subscription so it would be nice to know…
Now I am wondering whether this non-functioning of version 18.4.2338 on my machine is because support for Windows XP is ending... Is it about to end?
I do not think so, I have a pc with winxp SP3 and avast 18.4 working properly.
I think more than anything went wrong during the update for you.
Now that you can go back to v18.3, try to upgrade again to 18.4, or do a repair or at worst a clean installation.
Ok posting seems to work again so here is my message rewritten…
First of all thank you for the reports. I am glad that the new version works for you, for me it does not. I updated the Program from inside Avast and that lead again to “UI Failed to load” situation. So my plan now is to get 18.3 reinstalled, set program update to manual and stay on version 18.3 till it no longer works. During the past days I have lost count of how many times I have installed, uninstalled (using avastclear.exe), repaired, restarted, checked that services are running…
I have to correct my earlier statement about the installer failing quietly: the 18.3 installer, when used without internet connexion, fails with error message and a very informative (for software engineers at least) log file. That is very nice and a big improvement from version 18.2.
I now have a dilemma: Avast needs internet connexion for installing, I need that internet connexion to cease at the right moment so I can change the Program update to manual. Maybe there is a switch that could be used when installing that sets updating to manual so no disconnecting cables at just the right moment would be needed? If there is no switch, and given that I can monitor processes while installation is going on, when would be the right time to disconnect the internet cable? When a certain process appears/disappears? Oh how simple this would be if the offline installer truly was an offline installer even for Windows XP…
YES! I managed to revert to program version 18.3.2333. I did this by during installation randomly disconnecting the internet cable and reconnecting it until the avast icon appeared in the system tray. I then disconnected the net cable. I then right-clicked the icon, selected “About Avast”, selected “Update” from the left, then under “Program”, selected from the dropdown “Settings” menu “Manual Update”. After this I reconnected the net cable as the danger of disastrous update is over.
I hope the above helps at least some of my fellow XP sp3 users. For your information, my OS according to winver.exe is Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Version 5.1 build 2600.xpsp_sp3_qfe.171205-0622 : Service Pack 3
Avast please publish instructions on how to elegantly avoid instant program update during “offline” installation on Windows XP for the benefit of the XP users.
