Yes, I’m absolutely sure. I get a “Page cannot be displayed” page.
If you Google Norton Removal Tool you’ll find a lot of download links…
Have a quick peek at your hosts file
Windows XP = C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC
It’s an extentionless file called hosts. See if there is any reference to symantec.
All right, I found it somewhere on the web and downloaded it and it removed Norton. I’m attempting to run an update now. How long should they take, because this one has been trying to update one file for the past couple of minutes.
The avast updates VPS shouldn’t take to long (and I’m on dial-up) as they are incremental and only download what the difference between the VPS version you have and the current version. This would normally be measures in seconds rather than minutes for VPS updates (longer if it is a program update, unlikely if you have just installed).
There should be a pop-up window with progress bars to show it is downloading or installing, etc. do you see this ?
You previously mentioned you have a firewall and that avast was excluded, what is that firewall ?
What file have you excluded ?
It should be avast.setup, which only gets created when an update is available once complete that is removed.
Alright I got an error message that said, “The system cannot find the file specified” with the options OK and View Log. I’ll post the log.
08.10.2007 22:50:42 general: Started: 08.10.2007, 22:50:42
08.10.2007 22:50:42 general: Running setup_av_pro-413 (1043)
08.10.2007 22:50:42 system: Operating system: WindowsXP ver 5.1, build 2600, sp 2.0 [Service Pack 2]
08.10.2007 22:50:42 system: Computer WinName: (Name here)
08.10.2007 22:50:42 system: Windows Net User: (User here)
08.10.2007 22:50:42 general: Cmdline: /downloadpkgs /noreboot /updatevps /silent /progress
08.10.2007 22:50:42 general: DldSrc set to inet
08.10.2007 22:50:42 general: Operation set to INST_OP_UPDATE_GET_PACKAGES
08.10.2007 22:50:42 general: Old version: 413 (1043)
08.10.2007 22:50:42 general: SGW32P::CheckIfInstalled set m_bAlreadyInstalled to 1
08.10.2007 22:50:42 system: Computer DnsName: (Name here)
08.10.2007 22:50:42 system: Computer Ip Addr: 192.168.1.103
08.10.2007 22:50:43 internet: SYNCER: Type: use IE settings
08.10.2007 22:50:43 internet: SYNCER: Auth: another authentication, use WinInet
08.10.2007 22:50:43 package: Part prg_av_pro-413 is installed
08.10.2007 22:50:43 package: Part vps-77301 is installed
08.10.2007 22:50:43 package: Part news-4b is installed
08.10.2007 22:50:43 package: Part setup_av_pro-413 is installed
08.10.2007 22:50:43 package: Part jrog-15 is installed
08.10.2007 22:50:43 general: Old version: 413 (1043)
08.10.2007 22:50:45 file: SetExistingFilesBitmap: 1045->145->145
08.10.2007 22:50:45 general: GUID: e1927525-910c-4198-b935-6e80e08dc7b6
08.10.2007 22:50:46 general: Server definition(s) loaded for ‘main’: 166 (maintenance:0)
08.10.2007 22:50:46 general: SelectCurrent: selected server ‘Download76 AVAST server’ from ‘main’
08.10.2007 22:50:46 package: GetPackages - set proxy for inet
08.10.2007 22:50:46 internet: SYNCER: Type: use IE settings
08.10.2007 22:50:46 internet: SYNCER: Auth: another authentication, use WinInet
08.10.2007 22:50:46 general: Entered SetupProcessPro::Do( INST_OP_UPDATE_GET_PACKAGES )
08.10.2007 22:50:46 general: Entered SetupProcessWin32Avast::Do( INST_OP_UPDATE_GET_PACKAGES )
08.10.2007 22:50:46 general: Entered SetupProcessWin32::Do( INST_OP_UPDATE_GET_PACKAGES )
08.10.2007 22:50:46 general: Entered SetupProcess::Do( INST_OP_UPDATE_GET_PACKAGES )
08.10.2007 22:50:46 general: progress thread start
08.10.2007 22:50:46 general: progress start - 1
08.10.2007 22:50:46 general: progress start - 2
08.10.2007 22:50:46 package: ERROR:GetInetFile, CreateFile( “C:\DOCUME~1\PAULDI~1\LOCALS~1\Temp_av_proI.tm~a02728\dld1.tmp”) returned 0x00000002
08.10.2007 22:50:46 package: ERROR:GetInetFile, CreateFile( “C:\DOCUME~1\PAULDI~1\LOCALS~1\Temp_av_proI.tm~a02728\dld1.tmp”) returned 0x00000002
08.10.2007 22:50:46 general: InvalidateCurrent: invalidated server ‘Download76 AVAST server’ from ‘main’
08.10.2007 22:50:46 general: SelectCurrent: selected server ‘Download85 AVAST server’ from ‘main’
08.10.2007 22:50:46 package: GetPackages - set proxy for inet
08.10.2007 22:50:46 internet: SYNCER: Type: use IE settings
08.10.2007 22:50:46 internet: SYNCER: Auth: another authentication, use WinInet
08.10.2007 22:50:46 internet: while trying to get file ‘servers.def.vpu’, error 0x00000002 has occured, try 1
08.10.2007 22:50:47 package: ERROR:GetInetFile, CreateFile( “C:\DOCUME~1\PAULDI~1\LOCALS~1\Temp_av_proI.tm~a02728\dld1.tmp”) returned 0x00000002
08.10.2007 22:50:47 general: InvalidateCurrent: invalidated server ‘Download85 AVAST server’ from ‘main’
08.10.2007 22:50:47 general: SelectCurrent: selected server ‘Download937 AVAST server’ from ‘main’
08.10.2007 22:50:47 package: GetPackages - set proxy for inet
08.10.2007 22:50:47 internet: SYNCER: Type: use IE settings
08.10.2007 22:50:47 internet: SYNCER: Auth: another authentication, use WinInet
08.10.2007 22:50:47 internet: while trying to get file ‘servers.def.vpu’, error 0x00000002 has occured, try 2
(I took out a huge chunk here where it tried 164 servers to get the file ‘servers.def.vpu’ and getting the same error)
08.10.2007 22:56:25 internet: tried 166 servers to get file ‘servers.def.vpu’, but failed (0x00000002)
08.10.2007 22:56:25 file: GetNewerStampedFile:GetFileWithRetry failed: C:\DOCUME~1\PAULDI~1\LOCALS~1\Temp_av_proI.tm~a02728\onefile, servers.def.vpu, error: 0x00000002
08.10.2007 22:56:25 package: Download servers.def, servers.def.vpu failed with error 0x20000011.
08.10.2007 22:56:25 package: ERROR:GetInetFile, CreateFile( “C:\DOCUME~1\PAULDI~1\LOCALS~1\Temp_av_proI.tm~a02728\dld1.tmp”) returned 0x00000002
08.10.2007 22:56:25 package: ERROR:GetInetFile, CreateFile( “C:\DOCUME~1\PAULDI~1\LOCALS~1\Temp_av_proI.tm~a02728\dld1.tmp”) returned 0x00000002
08.10.2007 22:56:25 general: InvalidateCurrent: invalidated server ‘Download84 AVAST server’ from ‘main’
08.10.2007 22:56:25 general: SelectCurrent: unable to find any suitable server in ‘main’
08.10.2007 22:56:25 internet: while trying to get file ‘servers.def’, error 0x00000002 has occured, try 1
08.10.2007 22:56:25 internet: tried 1 servers to get file ‘servers.def’, but failed (0x00000002)
08.10.2007 22:56:25 file: GetNewerStampedFile:GetFileWithRetry failed: C:\DOCUME~1\PAULDI~1\LOCALS~1\Temp_av_proI.tm~a02728\onefile, servers.def, error: 0x00000002
08.10.2007 22:56:25 package: Tried to download servers.def but failed with error 0x00000002.
08.10.2007 22:56:25 general: progress end - 1
08.10.2007 22:56:25 general: progress end - 0
08.10.2007 22:56:25 general: progress thread end
08.10.2007 22:56:25 general: Err:The system cannot find the file specified
I added avast.setup to the exceptions on the firewall (it is just the generic Windows Firewall found on all XPs). I tried running the update again and got the same error message as previously noted (The cannot find file specified one).
This pretty much is the problem Alan explained in reply #9 of this topic, http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=30775.msg255623#msg255623.
Like Alan, I have no idea why this happens and I can’t see a way round it as the update isn’t being blocked by your firewall as it is getting out to check the download servers but failing.
Now I’m probably clutching at straws here also but the ccleaner mentioned in an earlier post could have a hand in this as at the end of your log are several entries for files not found in the Temp folder.
C:\DOCUME~1\PAULDI~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\_av_proI.tm~a02728\onefile, servers.def, error: 0x00000002
I have seen this in another post where ccleaner was set to clean temp files on boot and avast had at that point already identified a connection and was starting to check for updates before ccleaner started its clean-up of temp files. So if you are using ccleaner in this way add the 48 hour rule not to remove files unless they are over 48 hours old or disable that clean on boot and see if that helps.
Though this shouldn’t be a factor if your are trying to do a manual update from the avast ‘a’ icon ?
Windows XP firewall does not block the outbound connection to update avast.
It’s not a firewall problem.
The problem seems to be in an incorrectly downloaded file C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\Setup\servers.def. You can try and download the servers.def file, http://files.avast.com/iavs4x/servers.def and replace the one in the avast setup folder.
@DavidR: CCleaner is already set to delete Temp files after they get 48 hours old. 
@Tech: I think it’s working now. I got this: Information about current update:
Total time: 5:43
EDIT: That’s strange. It appeared to work with the manual update, but when it started doing an automatic update, it didn’t work.
EDIT2: It’s not working now. I get the same error.
If CCleaner is set to run on system start, Avast auto updates will fail. Having CCleaner delay cleaning Windows temp files for 48 hours will not solve this problem, which I first experienced in July when Avast updated the program to version 4.7.1029. CCleaner also had a program update around the same time. Admittedly, some people have reported this problem earlier than July. CCleaner is deleting or blocking something that Avast needs to auto update.
Until this issue can be pinpointed and solved, there are three options …
#1 To run Avast with auto updates, run CCleaner manually (uncheck run at system start).
#2 If CCleaner must be run automatically on system start, Avast must be updated manually.
If you want Avast to update automatically and you want a file cleaner to run automatically, the third option is to uninstall CCleaner and download and install IE Privacy Keeper (free program with many of CCleaner’s options and it also works with Firefox). IE Privacy Keeper has secure deletion and gets rid of IE’s index.dat files. Configure it to run at system shutdown (which you can’t do with CCleaner) and there’s no conflict with Avast auto updates.
http://www.browsertools.net/IE-Privacy-Keeper/index.html
Hope this helps someone.
d50