I did the manual update. So, what’re you saying? You lost me.
There is no old version. What’re you talking about???
Look at your screenshot.
I’m posting the screenshot on the Software Updater to illustrate its strange behaviour of quoting Errors, because I’ve never encountered this before with the Software Updater. I do not need the Software Updater to tell me Error. Usually, what I see is the updater telling me ‘Update is Available’. And since I’ve set updating to manual, it will request me to fix it.
I can read, thank you. If you like to help me, be constructive please. Thanks.
In the free version, the updates are always manual.
You still don’t get it. I know the update is manual, because to Activate Automate Update for all those software, it is the paid version.
But I don’t need Avast to be the gate-keeper for me, if it is Automated Update, because it is a fallacy as most software will bring you to their own website to download their latest versions and sometimes, updating to a newer version will be chargeable. So, we don’t want automated update invoked, anyway.
What I’m trying to illustrate is that Avast Software Updater usually will prompt “Update is Available” and not that “Error” thing.
If this is normal for the Software Updater, then it is basically useless and I should disable it. I’m trying to find out if this is normal behaviour, or is my Avast Software Updater having some kind of internet connectivity issue preventing it from finding if an update is available or not. That’s all.
My main problem is still the “cannot connect to Server” when I tried to update my Virus Definitions and Program.
I am sharing all these screenshots because I’m not sure if all these problems are related to one another.
They aren’t related. Software Updater is a new feature for this version.
It’s also selectable and if you’re doing a custom install, you can bypass this feature.
If you do a repair, you can also uninstall this feature.
So how does this answer my question about “Error” shown instead of “Update Available”?
Back to my main problem, who knows how to solve my “cannot connect to Server” problem too?
Try this settings top right in gui,updates set vps to auto set progeam to manual, my computer is allways connected, proxy set to direct connection no proxy. Then try right click tray icon check for vps update.
I went to reset the Software Updater database and the Software Updater issue is resolved. 
http://i.imgur.com/3JJamf0.jpg
Now, I need to resolve the “cannot connect to Server” issue.
Sorry, don’t understand you at all.
hi bigspanner,
Have a look at the .jpeg attached below. Even tho the gui (program window) is from avast! Internet Security, the pic is from:
avast! program window>Settings>click Settings>navigate to Update. Make the changes suggested by Arizona by clicking the appropriate radio button. Close your settings window.
Right-click the avast! icon in system tray and try to update now. Or, try to update as you have been trying to do via the usual way.
(You can only see the .jpeg below if you are currently logged on to avast! forums.)
Thanks mchain,
This is where the problem is…
http://i.imgur.com/REiA9im.png
For my PC, it has to be direct connection for the updates to work.
Don’t have to touch anything else. What I didn’t understand from him is that there is no VPS icon or whatever in the control panel.
Anyway, Avast 8 is a dampener. Every time I change the proxy settings, Avast will break my internet connection by deleting my network device driver. I’ve experienced it a few times already and I was wondering how which software is making my network connection fail and no matter what manner of recovery I did, it still fail, until I roll back my system restore point to the last working configuration.
Now I know why.
If this intermittent failure of my network connection occurs too often when Avast updates its virus definitions or by some strange behaviour it is screwing my network connection, I may seriously consider dropping Avast. It’s getting to be a bloatware anyway. Really do not know what Avast is trying to achieve with all these upgrade from version 7 to 8, it’s becoming more and more unpredictable in its behaviour, especially deleting my network device driver. 
The Avast Control Panel for Update hides the Proxy setting under the scroll. And if we didn’t know the Proxy setting is scroll all the way down and open the arrow, we will never find it.
Why don’t just use direct connection without proxy in all instances? What is the usefulness of the proxy feature, I really don’t get it.
You can’t use a function that assumes the user has a direct connection, not everyone has a direct connection, though the majority probably do.
That is why the option is set to use the Auto detect (IE settings) and for many people that works just fine, in some instances avast is unable to retrieve that information from the IE settings.
In all my decades of using 1,000 over software that most of them are still installed in all my computers, I’ve never come across one that has problem in updating itself, when the updating function is there. Only Avast and Chrome.
No problems with IE, Maxthon, Opera, Safari, Adobe, Java, Microsoft, Avira, Anvir, Malwarebytes, etc, etc, etc.