I am a new avast! user and have just run into a problem that does not make any sense to me. Here is a portion of the log file:
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19.04.2005 20:19:17 general: Entered SetupProcessWin32::Do( INST_OP_UPDATE_GET_PACKAGES
)
19.04.2005 20:19:17 general: Entered SetupProcess::Do( INST_OP_UPDATE_GET_PACKAGES )
19.04.2005 20:19:17 general: progress thread start
19.04.2005 20:19:17 general: progress start - 1
19.04.2005 20:19:17 general: progress start - 2
19.04.2005 20:19:18 general: Server definition(s) loaded for ‘main’: 19 (maintenance:0)
19.04.2005 20:19:18 general: SelectCurrent: selected server ‘Download9 AVAST server’
from ‘main’
19.04.2005 20:19:18 general: Invalid value (1)
19.04.2005 20:19:18 general: Invalid licence: 0x0000A4A6
19.04.2005 20:19:18 general: progress end - 1
19.04.2005 20:19:18 general: Err:The license key for this product is invalid or
expired.License is valid until: 07/01/06Current date: 04/19/05
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Basically, I was attempting to do a program update (set to automatic), and had the program do a critical stop because my license key has expired - even though it has not come close to expiring as can be seen in the log. Any ideas on what I should do to fix this?
Sounds strange ??
Maybe your clock is set to wrong year.failing that try re-registering and entering a new reg key.if that fails repair your installation , must be online and go add/remove programs then when you hit delete you get the option to repair.
If none of that works let us know.
Haven’t changed the clock. Avast! Home version 4.6.652. Reg key without checksum is: W4952163H1800A1106
This is a new install of avast!, as of 10 April, and haven’t done anything else with the PC since then (no new software, no deletions, etc.). PC is an AMD Althon 64 with 1GB RAM. Windows XP with SP1 and all hotfixes (up to but not including SP2). I have an external firewall/NAT, but that hasn’t slowed down the updates before today - previos program and sig files have downloaded and installed fine. I’ve just now re-reged with my original key and tried the manual update which worked with no errors. Looks like the problem has been solved, but I have no idea what caused it or how it was fixed. Very strange.
I am bumping this up, because I have had a rash of this problem lately. I have recommended Avast to most of my Home clients (hoping to get it into their office eventually – I am sick of ccapp.exe crashes).
I have two HP/Compaqs (different owners) that seem to be loosing their mind (clock). These people have been getting new avast keys, not realizing that the old one was not invalid just needed to be reinstalled.
I personally have a old IBM Laptop that has no CMOS battery…even if I set the clock close to real time/date is wipes avast on boot. e.g. I set the clock to April 1st, 2005 yesterday and got the reg error on boot.
Does anyone know of some spyware/adware exploit that is maliciously advancing the clock to expire things? The to Hp/Compaqs get to 2008 in a few days of use.
I understand the whole home user key rational, but does it have to be so sensitive to the system clock? I assumed that the home key is time coded and goes “bad” eventually. The worst time for an avast key to die is on a reboot when the computer is infected with a downloader trojan…I think that is what happened to me about a month ago, at the time I attributed the avast crash on the malware.
Into avast4.ini file (click Settings in my signature) you can configure the expiration warning. It’s not ‘on the day’… avast! will warn you in advance.
Anyway, you can download avast! Cleaner (standalone application), run it and try to clean your computer.
If you add the new key for that installation, won’t avast! be started, updated and could clean your infection too?
I think you misunderstand the “invalid” keys are brand new and are not expiring (the ini file concerns expiring keys).
1). I got a new key for my laptop…it required a reboot which changed the date. Before it had re synchronized with the time servers Avast had already invalidated the key. Yes the CMOS Clock is bad on this laptop. I will have this problem every time I boot.
2). I had a client whose machine had a Trojan, it had invaded the lsp stack so they no longer had internet connectivity. I did bring a avast vps update on disk, but I found that avast had been disabled (due to system date change by the Trojan) and the update would not take. They used WEB mail so I was unable to retrieve the key or download the virus cleaner.
It just seems that giving the user an opportunity to fix the system date before invalidating the key would make more sense.
I have been using Avast! for a while and everything was alright so far. But then we had an electric storm on last week and my PC’s configuration was lost. I had to reset the CMOS to fix the problem. Now the problem is solved but the Avast! keeps warning me about my license which has expired. ???
So I came here and read some postings and I realized that the PC’s clock has to do with it. When checking the clock I found it was set to year 2002 !! ;D
Ok, Now I know what happened. What do I have to do next? :o
That is the problem I am talking about. If you have you Reg Key handy…you can right click on the little Avast ball>>>select about Avast!>>>> and you will find the license key button.
Your old key is not invalid or expired…so you can just re-enter it. It is not to bad unless you have a machine like mine that always says it is 1999 until the OS is loaded and synchronized.
Technical…you still don’t understand that the keys are fine. I have a client who taking your advice has registered 7 keys for the same computer in the last month.
That just makes a mockery of the whole registration process, not to mention a drain on Avast resources.
I’m talking about a working and clean computer…
If you will only able to synchronize the date & time after booting, the better will be become clean before using avast! cleaner or on-line scanning (if you could connect in anyway…).
Only after that you could use the Registration Key that has, for antipiracy reasons, the expiration date feature…
Sorry, I can’t help you more than this…
would it be possible for Redmond to de-activate Avast out of the auto-startup list temporarily until he can get a new battery and manually start Avast after clock is reset. (Im presuming that you are not permanently connected online). Is this a possibility?
Hate those crashes too. Kind of reminds me of the ashDisp.exe errors I get sometimes while shutting down.
Just can’t win with any antivirus. Wish it was built-in to the OS. :-\
The laptop is a “lightning strike” computer that I salvaged from a client, so a battery will not fix it.
I tend to run it in “suspend” mode rather than turn it off…but I think you would have to set the Avast service to disable and then start it after the time is set.
I do in fact have always on wireless broadband.
As I am with my client’s:
The client has Avast on their home systems(s), but I was pushing to put the Pro(paid) on their 12 new Business Dell computers that are about to have Norton expire.
The home computer was infected with TIBS, that downloaded all forms of things. It had disabled most of the spyware/adware scanners through the host file and had “expired” others by changing the date (Avast included).
They only called me when the dialer knocked them off line (Verizon DSL uses a “dialer” to connect to broadband).
My point of posting here was not for help cleaning a computer.
The expiration date of the installed keys where less than 12 months from the wrong system date, yet Avast noticed the small system date change and invalidated the key.
This seems unnecessarily strict anti-piracy policy.
My client does not understand why/how Avast became disabled, but does blame it for letting them down (the fact that they clicked on a dodgy web link and got TIBS on their system does not seem to matter).
I really like avast, because it gives the end user a very secure feeling with its friendly updates and spinning icon. The error message on this problem indicates an invalid or expired key, not a system date change. So they tried 7 new registrations in one month, never realizing that their system was infected. That is not a good enduser experience.
