I clicked “install update” from 8.0 and let it update itself. The process was definitely unusual. It wasn’t clear what was happening nor how to proceed. It required 2-3 reboots. IIRC it first updated to 8.0.1500, then went backwards to 8.0.1200, or some such(?). Computer wasn’t very responsive and I really didn’t know what it was doing. I was surprised when 9.0 finally appeared to be installed. However the next reboot hung the computer while shutting down. I waited patiently rather then hit the power button and it took 5-10 minutes to recover.

Now 9.0 finally appears to be installed completely and computer is rebooting normally… (sigh)

It kept my old settings OK, including my tweaks to the avast5.ini file. I ran a quick scan of my system drive, which definitely wasn’t quick (took 20-30 minutes) and detected nothing. I also took a fast spin with my email client (Outlook Express) and browser (Firefox) and they seem to be working. It will take awhile to develop much confidence.

Yes that was a strange update behaviour you explained, did you happen to be running a version 8 Beta as that might explain the odd update behaviour ??? slow shutdown problems on XP have been reported here http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=136879.0

hI JohnnyBob one of the things that I would suggest in the future when installing a new version over a an old version it is always a good idea to first off uninstall the old version of avast or antivirus first with the Uninstall Utility and then do a clean install of the new version of the antivirus whether it is avast or another antivirus. This prevents or may prevent problems or issues with installing a new version of avast over an old version. I just thought I should give you some advice for future consideration.

Have an eye to the numbering system: under 8.0.1497 the verison 9.0.1500 is available – but after you install it, you have 8.0.2006 installed (program desing is still as 8.0) – and update is not over; again program update available: version 0.0.0 …

I did not yet do second updating, but have another problem: looking at the time of the last update attempt for virus engine, it was on 01.01.1970 at 00:00:00 – and when trying to update the engine manually, nothing happens – the progression bar still remains at zero …

A clean reinstall should fix it.

So basically if your GUI shows version 9.0.1500 is available on your XP DO NOT UPDATE through the GUI and only do a clean install or you’re asking for problems.

The same damn thing happened with V7 to V8 with the bogus update available errors. There were numerous users posting in multiple threads back then sending logs and begging for assistance and there was zero response from Avast. Obviously whatever was wrong then is getting repeated again now, but then of course this happening again because no one from Avast responded to this ongoing problem. Yes, I know a clean install is a work around and advisable, but if you don’t know not to update manually or if it is set to auto update, I guess you’re just screwed. On my machine I’ve seen this version update error 3 out of the last 4 times, a spectacular 75% rate of error.

OK, thanks for the advice … I’ll then install avast 4.8 - still working and always updating … :smiley:

Does 4.8 still get updates ??? I’t should have been canned already so there cant be much life left in it.

Klinker you can download the new version and install straight over the top of the older versions.

Yep … 4.8 is absolutely not dead! Just some minutes ago again it was updating virus engine; but the program itself still remains on 4.8.1368 and won’t get any updates anymore, and you get some nag screens telling you to update … it works even smoother than versions 5.x and above … and you also can register it in the normal way on the webpage; you can install the pro version and then register with a code for the free versions (as for version 5.x and above; just get a code on the webpage that you receive by mail, and enter it), and get one year with the features of the free version.