Hi all. Yesterday avast did not make the automatic update and an error message appeared: “unable to connect to download46.avast.com” . So I downloaded the servers.def file. After some time, the automatic update was back. But today, the same error message appeared and avast did not update.
I use:
Win98
No firewall.
Ad-Aware SE and a-squared free.
avast! home edition.
What can I do?
There was no need to download the servers.def file as that is only required when the file is corrupt, in which case you wouldn’t have see the “unable to connect to download46.avast.com.” I think it was just co-incidence that later it worked, more likely to be a bad connection.
As to what you can do, first get a firewall your system could be completely compromised without one. 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.
What is your connection method, dial-up or broadband, etc. ?
When does this error happen, directly after boot, etc. when ?
I’m very confused… when I turned on my computer again and connected to the Internet, the update has functioned normally. Maybe my computer or even my connection is causing the problem… Do you know some GOOD firewall that works in Win98?
I have ADSL connection. It occurs the most of the time, connected or not.
As I said probably just a bad/poor connection at the time, they can happen with broadband also. It shouldn’t happen if you aren’t connected, avast only checks for a connection, not establish one. The reason I ask about shortly after boot, some broadband connections are always on and the start the connection almost immediately, but can take some time to get fully established, if during this time avast checks the update may fail. So you may need to delay the avast update check.
Zone Alarm free http://www.zonelabs.com works fine with avast and has a reasonably friendly user interface. There are others, Jetico, Sunbelt Kerio, etc.
See some firewall tests for comparison, some are freeware but many are paid for versions http://www.firewallleaktester.com/tests.php. Also see http://www.thefreecountry.com/security/firewalls.shtml
However, I don’t know if the latest version of Zone Alarm supports win98, the longer in the tooth win98 gets the more difficult it will become to find one. You will have to check the ones mentioned above and in the links to see if they support win98.
Thank you very much!
I’m going to install a firewall. Thanks for the tips!
I’ll have to live with error mesages 
The latest version of Zone Alarm firewall does not support Win98 (I looked at various firewalls for my daughter’s computer). Sunbelt Kerio latest version also does not.
Free firewalls that DO support Win98 include Jetico, Outpost free, and Sygate free (Sygate free can be downloaded from Filehippo). Jetico appears to be the only one of these three that is current.
EDIT: Filseclab and R-Firewall also support Win98, but I have heard little about Filseclab and nothing about R-Firewall.
Jetico also does well in the firewall leak test results, although the results page refers to win2k/xp.