Error on Update

system · 2007-07-30T09:48:24.000Z

(Vlk asked me to start a new thread thus this duplication:)

Why do I get this Update Failure fairly frequently on two machines? (Avast Home).

It happens when the machines are switched on for the first time in the morning and there is an update available. Both machines are wireless and I suspect it’s caused by a delay in the network connection being fully established, thus I’ve used the ‘troubleshooting’ option in Avast Settings - delaying the loading of Avast services. Could it also be that the Update function needs to be told explicitly that it’s a permanent connection to the Internet rather than trying to ‘auto-detect’ via IE? I’ve never had a problem with that kind of update setting before though…

Vlk · 2007-07-30T10:37:31.000Z

Please post the tail (last ~100 lines) of the file \setup\setup.log (or generally the section that has the unsuccessful update attempt in it).

Cheers
Vlk

system · 2007-07-30T11:05:14.000Z

Too much to post here, thus attached as a copy of all today’s entries.

Vlk · 2007-07-30T11:31:58.000Z

Is there a temp file cleaner that might be constantly purging files/directories in the C:\Windows\Temp folder installed on your machine?

Thanks
Vlk

system · 2007-07-30T11:42:02.000Z

Well yes - it’s CCleaner, but I have the options set to only clean temp files older than 48 hours. As attached…

Edit: CCleaner cleans automatically on start-up. Could it be ‘bumping into Avast’ in some way? Still can’t see why it would cause a problem with the ‘48 hour age restriction’ in place, but just a thought…

Vlk · 2007-07-30T12:20:50.000Z

That would explain it (even though, as you pointed out, the ‘only older than 48 hours’ should prevent this from happening).

According to the log, it seems that the avast updater creates a temp folder, and then, when it tries to download some files to it, is doesn’t exist anymore…

Try disabling CCleaner for a while and see if it resolves the problem.

It seems that we could also “fix” this on our side – by creating a file in the folder and opening it so that no process could delete it (and so the folder itself, too).
That’s what we’re doing e.g. in case of the WebShield temp folder.

Thanks
Vlk

system · 2007-07-30T12:46:35.000Z

Vlk post:6:

That would explain it (even though, as you pointed out, the ‘only older than 48 hours’ should prevent this from happening).

According to the log, it seems that the avast updater creates a temp folder, and then, when it tries to download some files to it, is doesn’t exist anymore…

Try disabling CCleaner for a while and see if it resolves the problem.

It seems that we could also “fix” this on our side – by creating a file in the folder and opening it so that no process could delete it (and so the folder itself, too).
That’s what we’re doing e.g. in case of the WebShield temp folder.

Thanks
Vlk

OK, it would be useful if you could fix it as you described - thus consistent with the way you do it for the WebShield folder, as you say. In the meantime I’ll uncheck ‘Temporary Files’ in CCleaner.

Thanks

system · 2007-07-30T13:56:21.000Z

auto update.
have nothing to worry about.
attention:do not delete the avst`s temp folder careless ;D

system · 2007-07-30T14:01:34.000Z

xiaochugang post:8:

auto update.
have nothing to worry about.
attention:do not delete the avst`s temp folder careless ;D

CCleaner is a well regarded, useful program that’s doing it’s job. You will note the Vlk acknowledges that it shouldn’t be happening due to the settings I’m using - which is not careless, and this is something that Alwil can fix. In other words, it’s as much down to the way Avast is creating the Temp folder as it is to user control.

alanrf · 2007-07-30T18:57:38.000Z

Just adding a little reality check here.

Jem, you told us back in January of this year that you were running CCleaner on startup to clear temp files. Have you changed the way CCleaner runs recently?

Have the startup problems been happening all this time or have they appeared more recently?

system · 2007-07-30T20:09:51.000Z

alanrf post:10:

Just adding a little reality check here.

Jem, you told us back in January of this year that you were running CCleaner on startup to clear temp files. Have you changed the way CCleaner runs recently?

Have the startup problems been happening all this time or have they appeared more recently?

I’m still running CCleaner as I was - nothing has changed in that respect. But, I ‘took a break from Avast’ - did the rounds, wasn’t satisfied and came back to Avast just very recently. So, yes, I had the update issue on the laptop then if I remember rightly, but now I have the problem on two machines, and more frequently than before. Two things may also have changed:

The number / type of taskbar apps I load at start-up is probably different - maybe more.
Can’t be sure without checking the CCleaner change log but there have been modifications to that over that time.

I think in the end Vlk’s answer makes sense. CCleaner is clearing files that ‘should not be required’ (the 48 hour restriction should ensure that temp files required on reboot are not removed). Other apps I have that use temp files as a matter of course do (as Vlk suggests) protect them and prevent them from being deleted. So, to be honest, even if CCleaner / timing issues thereof are exacerbating the problem, it is a fix that should probably come from Alwil in the way Vlk suggests.

Anyway, having taken a break from Avast, small ‘glitches’ aside, I’m happy to be using the product. I have workarounds, as suggested, that I’m happy with until Vlk (or someone else) comes up with something better.

Thanks

alanrf · 2007-07-30T20:29:43.000Z

More frequently?

How frequently? Does this happen on every startup every day ? Can you update VPS manually?

I did quite a bit of testing on exactly this error a year ago (I raised CCleaner as a possibility then … nothing much has changed since in avast’s handling of the problem) and still we see reports of it.

I’ve since come to the conclusion that CCleaner is probably not the problem; I doubt that CCleaner was deleting files for the three minutes in the log you posted every time avast created them. Lots of people use CCleaner and avast and we do not see all of them reporting the problem.

I do have a couple of suggestions that may help … but I need the answer to the above questions first please.

Vlk · 2007-07-30T20:32:25.000Z

Not every three minutes – I’d rather say that the FOLDER where the files were to be created did not exist (the folder is created when avast.setup started).
This seem like an easy “fix” on our side (that is, not really a fix, rather a work around) - let me see what we can do…

Thanks
Vlk

system · 2007-07-30T20:46:42.000Z

alanrf post:12:

More frequently?

How frequently? Does this happen on every startup every day ? Can you update VPS manually?

I did quite a bit of testing on exactly this error a year ago (I raised CCleaner as a possibility then … nothing much has changed since in avast’s handling of the problem) and still we see reports of it.

I’ve since come to the conclusion that CCleaner is probably not the problem; I doubt that CCleaner was deleting files for the three minutes in the log you posted every time avast created them. Lots of people use CCleaner and avast and we do not see all of them reporting the problem.

I do have a couple of suggestions that may help … but I need the answer to the above questions first please.

Hard to be exact: I can only say that over the last couple of weeks, whenever I start the machine(s), if there is an update ‘waiting’, it always occurs. Yes, I have always been able to update manually with no problem.

system · 2007-07-30T20:48:56.000Z

Vlk post:13:

Not every three minutes – I’d rather say that the FOLDER where the files were to be created did not exist (the folder is created when avast.setup started).
This seem like an easy “fix” on our side (that is, not really a fix, rather a work around) - let me see what we can do…

Thanks
Vlk

Thanks…

alanrf · 2007-07-30T20:51:55.000Z

While the avast team thinks …

Try the recommendation in this post (you may want to try 120 seconds as the delay).

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=29564.0

Let us know if it makes any difference.

alanrf · 2007-07-30T20:53:51.000Z

Vlk,

some time ago in the forum I made a similar suggestion to that you are now considering. It was not well received.

system · 2007-07-30T22:03:02.000Z

alanrf post:16:

While the avast team thinks …

Try the recommendation in this post (you may want to try 120 seconds as the delay).

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=29564.0

Let us know if it makes any difference.

I had no AlwaysConnectedWaitSeconds entry in avast4.ini so I added it as below. Is this correct? Do I leave the other entries ‘as is’?

If I don’t respond any further to this thread it’s because I’m away for a week with no web access. Let me know tonight on the avast.ini question if you can, otherwise I’ll catch up next week.

Thanks

DavidR · 2007-07-30T22:17:45.000Z

Well I would say No it isn’t correct mainly because one seems to contradict the other (but I could be wrong, often ;D), AssumeAlwaysConnected=0 effectively says you don’t have an always connected internet connection, so I don’t know if it would then ignore the AlwaysConnectedWaitSeconds=120 command.

I would say AssumeAlwaysConnected=1 (yes/on) would be correct.

The trick would be monitoring when the check is made. Since there are quite frequent VPS updates if you set that to Ask rather than auto update for VPS you would see the notification of update. When you see that check the duration you have been on-line it should be greater than two minutes.

system · 2007-07-30T22:30:19.000Z

DavidR post:19:

Well I would say No it isn’t correct mainly because one seems to contradict the other (but I could be wrong, often ;D), AssumeAlwaysConnected=0 effectively says you don’t have an always connected internet connection, so I don’t know if it would then ignore the AlwaysConnectedWaitSeconds=120 command.

I would say AssumeAlwaysConnected=1 (yes/on) would be correct.

The trick would be monitoring when the check is made. Since there are quite frequent VPS updates if you set that to Ask rather than auto update for VPS you would see the notification of update. When you see that check the duration you have been on-line it should be greater than two minutes.

I agree (I think…!). Always connected is now ‘on’ in ‘Settings’, checked avast4.ini and that line now reads ‘1’ as expected. I’ll see what happens…

Announcements