avast update freezes computer

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

Hello.
My first message!
Whenever I get a new update for avast 4.8, my computer freezes whilst the update is being installed. This can take up to 5 minutes. is this normal or can it be corrected? I use WindowsXP
elgnarc

2

Do you mean program update or just virus databases ones?
Did you have any other antivirus in the past in this computer? How did you uninstall it?

3

What hardware configuration does the machine have?

4

This happens whenever the virus database is updated.
Not sure about the hardware question

5

You have posted this in the avast 4 Server Edition, so the question is I guess, a) are you using a server OS and if so, b) what OS and what hardware, e.g. RAM, CPU, etc.

6

Hello.
My first message!
Whenever I get a new update for avast 4.8, my computer freezes whilst the update is being installed. This can take up to 5 minutes. is this normal or can it be corrected? I use WindowsXP
elgnarc

7

Apologies! I guess that I posted this on the wrong forum! I use a stand alone computer.
elgnarc

8

Hi, how often do you update? Is it set to automatic or manual? If you update infrequently it will take longer than if you update every day. 5 minutes seems like a long time though. If you update infrequently it might cause your system to slow to a crawl or stop if your processor is slow or if your RAM is low. If you have a laptop you should have some kind of power management, you might double check your processor setting and see what it’s set on.

9

I would this this topic to lay dormant as a new topic has been created in the correct forum.

10

I merged to topics, so there’s just one now :wink:

11

Sounds like lack of ram in your computer. As mine is an IBM 600E old laptop pentium 2 with ram upgrade to 288mb ram maxed out. Xp likes at least 256mb of ram to run smooth anything less Xp will be slow and sluggish.
My computer will pause for around 6 seconds when updating just before the voice on the updates have been updated. 8)

12

Thanks to all and apologies for posting in wrong forum.
Update is automatic - when I first switch on. I’ve got 256mb of RAM
elgnarc

13

I’d go further than bobo 1 and say that with many of today’s’ programs, 256Mb on XP is not really enough. Especially noticeable if you have a lot of applications starting with Windows. (And by default, with a lot of installed applications, there are.) Most need configuring to not start with Windows if you want to make the most of limited performance. And your computer, which was probably near state of the art 5 years ago, definitely falls into that category.
Have a look at your startup list in msconfig. (Let us know if you need help doing that.)
There could be some stuff that can be trimmed back a bit, but really, it’s just putting off the inevitable: more RAM, at least.

14

elgnarc, 256MB RAM is barely sufficient to run XP so you need at least another 256MB and 512MB would be better.

You can run the scan application at crucial.com to see what your upgrade you need:
http://www.crucial.com

You don’t have to buy from Crucial but a local PC shop can upgrade your system easily plus provide a good warranty.

15

Thanks, I’ll try both of these and see what happens.
elgnarc