System: Windows XP
Previously installed Avast Version: 8.0.1497
Settings: ask before updating (both virus engine and program)
Offered Update from inside Avast: 9.0.1500
Updating … … … then new Version is Avast 8.0.2006
Offering update from inside Avast: 0.0.0
And that was it: last update attempt was 01.01.1970 – 01:00:00 – and any updating (both virus AND program) does not start – progression bar remains at 0% – program is pretendig to be fully up to date and updating fully automatized would be active even if that is not true … see attachements
[*]In the Select Product to Uninstall dropdown choose the version of Avast that is on your system.
[*]Press Uninstall
[*]Once complete reboot your system to Normal Mode
[*]Reinstall Avast
Somebody needs to let users know that they can’t update manually through the GUI if the new Avast 9 version shows 9.0.1500 (or anything other than the correct current version) and that they need to follow the uninstall/clean install procedure. I ( and others) have pointed out this persistent issue with XP machines dating back to when Avast 7 to Avast 8 update occurred. Whatever was wrong then is still coded wrong now.
Can any of mods sticky a note or whatever to alert users of this issue because the Avast team has not addressed this? It would save a lot of people from this update issue if they knew about this problem before they try and update through the GUI.
I updated both my machines from AIS 8.0.1497 to AIS 9.0.2006 thru the AvastUI manually, when the UI showed the available update as 9.0.1500. Both machines updated successfully, and are running fine.
Not all XPs have that problem. On other XPs, also the version 9.0.1500 is declared available – and then update directly to version 9 – even with maual updating. A warning and advice how to do if the problem occurs is mandatory!
But Avast 4.8 is still running very smoothly without any flaw (not like 5 and above) – and is still getting updates …
I Installed Avast 9.0.2006 on 3 different XP Machines and they gave 3 different kind of problems: One wouldn’t shutdown, one wouldn’t start al all, not even into BIOS, and one hung at the desktop: No startbutton or taskbar became visible.
Well aside from avast 4.8 being positively ancient in security/AV terms, the writing is already on the wall for support of it. So getting VPS updates could well be cut without notice, not something you should count on.
Now that avast 9 has been released and it uses a different optimised virus definitions database and update stream, that makes 3 different virus definition streams, I can’t see that continuing for too long.
The behaviour of Avast 8 was in such an unacceptable way slowing down and blocking entire PCs for tens of minutes that in any way v4.8 was to prefer. But let’s see if v9 does better (first tries look promising; but there are still some (other) flaws. And it also needs to to better than v8 with small RAM (512MB among 32MB unusable (shared memory for graphics) and only 480MB usable).
But back to topic: I now deinstalled old avast with aswclear.exe and then reinstalled 8.0.1497 again, did NOT update the virus definitions (I wanted to know if that’ll work after update), but only updated the program from within. And it worked …
Btw: I would not exclude that HD-space on boot-disk was not enough – causing the fail.
There is also positive news about the new Avast. After solving the first problems, (PC wouldn’t start at all) i noticed that a special program I wrote for coding and decoding files is much faster than before with version 7 or 8. Originally it took about 60 seconds to complete, now with version 9, the same program finishes in about 5 or 6 seconds. 10 times as fast…
On slower PCs (still fully working) I had sometimes had to wait 20 or even 30 minutes (!!) to be able to work again! Avast 7 and 8 were unacceptably slow!
Now Avast 9 seems to be better – but still not flaw free: it’s unable to check for updates and pretending to be up to date – even if that is not the case …
That’s not the point! The point is that it should ANNOUNCE when an update is ready (so that you can update it at next occasion); but if you are told “your system is secured – everything is up to date” even if virus database is outdated, then something goes wrong! But that’s not topic in this thread here – that’s topic in THAT thread: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=137344.0
There are quite a few negatives being expressed regarding the new 2014 update.
First let me say, that with Avast being the leading AV for many years, I don’t think they would jeopardize their reputation by loading us with a new crappy version, after all they’re in a very competitive market and a ruined reputation is something one hardly ever recovers from.
Secondly, change is constant, and most of us sometimes get stuck in a rut and feel comfortable with what we’re accustomed to or are afraid of change simply because we have to learn new things in order to adapt to the change. Ok, so at first glance the new UI on the 2014 update doesn’t look like the the previous version…so what ? Does one sit around looking at a user interface all day or does one want to know that the product does what they want it to do?..after all, it’s not a bling thing like a new ring or bracelet that you want to show off to your friends. Personally, I was a bit taken aback when I first saw the interface, but after exploring the program, was delighted that it still did everything I wanted. I eventually found the Site Blocking (Settings>Active Protection>Web Shield), and I reinstalled my saved settings from the previous version without having to totally reconfigure the program. I trust Avast and have upgraded both my desktops, my laptop and my son’s desktop.
Just be patient and I know the Avast Team will look critically at all our comments and try to strike a compromise on all the little quirks those of you have been complaining about. …and if you don’t have patience , try fishing!
Bonjour à tous,
J’ai actuellement la version 8.0.1497 d’Avast sur mon PC avec Windows XP. Aujourd’hui on me propose la version 9.0.1500 que j’ai installée. L’ordinateur redémarre et bloque. Seul moyen de s’en sortir : démarrer en mode sans échec et restaurer l’ordinateur à une date antérieure. Cela étant fait, il redémarre normalement et fonctionne bien. mais est revenu à la version 8.0.1497
… … sure – and I know that it looks a bit rude with all the problems that occured – but they (the avast programmers) also need to know how the stuff behaves – to fix all the flaws that alwas come with a major change. And it’s not forbidden to ask for the good things that were before – even if it was back in the version 4.8 (that I still prefer) …
