my avast! home edition is unable to update in its own. it is always saying that “unable to connect to server”. i already updated to the matest version but still it doesnt update. it always gives me the red alert saying that avast was unable to update. its been like this for months now. i thought that avast was just doing some upgrades themselves…
can anybody help?thanks for reading 
Can you give a full text of the error message please ?
What is your firewall ?
Does it allow access to avast.setup ?
here’s a snapshot on what avast is always telling me
btw i am using the standard firewall of windows SP1
XP’s firewall doesn’t provide outbound protection, so I would advise a firewall that does offer this protection. Although I can’t see how it would block the avast update, perhaps something else. Have (or did) you have another AV installed in this system, if so what and how did you get rid of it ?
Any malware that manages to get past your defences will have free reign to connect to the internet to either download more of the same, pass your personal data (user names, passwords, keylogger retrieved data, etc.) or open a backdoor to your computer, so outbound protection is essential.
Your Operating System XP, if SP1 is correct it is well out of date, SP2 plus numerous security updates have been released since then. SP2 also allows for an update to IE6 SP2 further improving security and reducing your vulnerability to exploit.
As a temporary measure you could download the avast! VPS Update - Manual Download.
davidr…i was reading this topic and noticed you said zone alarm free works well with avast!..when i tryed it before comodo personal firewall…when i installed and ran zone alarm free…avast! gave me a pop up saying there was a conflict between zone alarm free and avast! web shield…it’s been couple of weeks ago and i can’t remember the exact message…correct me if i’m wrong(thanks for your help on my previous topic you answered)have a good one avast! world ;D 
8) :
There isn’t any conflict between avast and Zone Alarm free.
If you use Zone Alarm Pro you should ‘disable’ the Privacy features of the firewall in order to get WebShield to work properly.
Check this link http://www.avast.com/eng/webshield_issues.html
[i]avast! Web Shield compatibility dialogue - Install/Update Question - YES or NO
If you are using ZoneAlarm Free you should click NO, because privacy features are not present in ZoneAlarm Free this will not turn off webshield transparent mode proxy.
Use a text editor and edit the avast4.ini file, the default installation location is C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\DATA\avast4.ini (I would advise you copy avast4.ini before editing it, just in case).
Locate the line containing ZoneAlarmCompatibility= and delete that line. Save the edited avast4.ini file.
If you are using ZoneAlarm Pro and Privacy Control in ZoneAlarm is set to High and if you click YES in avast comptability dialog box the transparent mode proxy in webshield will be turned off you have to manually configure browser to access internet. To manually configure your browser watch instructional video[/i]
Thanks,I was wrong…At least I admit it,Not everybody knows everything,Somepeople think they do…Not going to zone alarm since i have comodo now-------Just was curious of the conflict and how it would be fixed or repaired,Thanks Tech,Have a good one!!! 8) ;D
It doesn’t have any problems with the free version, as Tech said it is the ZA Pro privacy controls that cause issues.
avast reported the problem to Zone Labs and even offered a patch to resolve it I believe. We are still awaiting it to be incorporated into ZA Pro as far as I know.
thanks davidr for the comeback…have to go now into the “REAL WORLD” out there!!..have a good one!! :o ;D