I just did a manual update- worked fine
thanks again
HI all
back to updates not working again
auto update has not for a while
after a reboot autoupdate updated- that was the 3rd
nothing since then
manual update - no response- as before
I went to settings and when I tried manual update settings crashed (not responding)
when I closed blue ball disappeared from taskbar
on loading from start-programs it showed that resident protection was disabled
Settings
Avast
mailserver
webserver
show in active tasks (not exact names)
which is what is usually running
tried to manually enable resident but still shows as disabled in simple user interface
update (basic) is set to automatic for virus database and manual for program
this time clicking update now got some disc accesses but then nothing
I’m thinking firewall
avast web scanner is not checked as allowed all rest are checked
let’s see if that makes any difference
nope- nada
I’ll uncheck update in firewall and let it re-enable
hmmmm update is there twice
nope jsut disc accesses as before
removed asherv
cancel
reboot time
more hacking later but I need to get AV back up
Confirm it isn’t a case of amnesia by Zone Alarm.
Go back into the ZA Program Control and delete the entry for avast.setup and try a manual update.
I’m thinking firewall
avast web scanner is not checked as allowed all rest are checked
let’s see if that makes any difference
nope- nada
I’ll uncheck update in firewall and let it re-enable
hmmmm update is there twice
nope jsut disc accesses as before
removed asherv
cancel
here’s where we left off before the reboot
removed two cases of avast.setup
still no response and ZA did NOT ask for permissions
With Avast AWOL I rebooted
Avast loaded
resident protection is loaded standard settings
ZA asked for permissions- checked persistent
one case of avast update (setup) with two check marks shown in ZA program control
and downloaded 6-6 update
I’ll see if autoupdate works for the next couple of days as last try with manual (may or may not have) deactivated Avast (task manager reported not responding
Thanks
may have been some amnisia by ZA but do not know how I got two instances of update - only one now after deleting the two and reboot
let’s see if problem reappears
You’re welcome.
ZA is infamous for for that (there are many, many posts on the forums where it has done this) even when the application is listed as allow it doesn’t get through and the only real way to recover it is to delete the entry and force ZA to ask again.
Why this seems to happen frequently in ZA is beyond me, but I haven’t used it in many years and wouldn’t any longer even the pro version. There are other better free firewalls than ZA IMHO.
Hi- and thanks
Today’s available update did NOT still on 0606
manual update NG although the a just spun quite a bit later for some reason, and again
removed avast update from za (setup)
manual update still AWOL a still spins every once in a while something is trying to run
shutdown ZA
update successful
update runs again
and again
evidently queued
restart ZA
INTERESTING Avast update has reappeared
perhaps I did not complete deletion when I removed update from ZA
I do not see any confirmation for REMOVE in ZA but will double check
will try this again tomorrow
You’re welcome.
I just know if I was having this much trouble with my firewall it would be history.
I gave up on ZA some years ago: too buggy, too bloatware, very poor support (to say none…), bad interaction with other security programs.
You can try Comodo or PCTools, imho.
absolutely correct
wife’s computer so I’ll talk with her about it first of week
I had to reboot for another issue
ZA asked for trusted zone for Avast update eventhough it was already there
but I ended up with only one entry
go figure
AVG also reinstalled itself in ZA permissions so instead of removing I XX it
AVG must leave a dll somewhere or maybe autoexec.bat file for its DOS scan
Check C:\WINDOWS\System32\config.nt (you can open it into Notepad). Make a backup before changing it!
no config.nt likely on this machine 
however manual update is now working just fine
tried it twice several hours apart
???
let’s see if auto update works for next few days
auto update worked in the past
but at least we know where the problem lies
the avg dos scanner was running from autoexec.bat
that’s WAS
there was also a large dat file in C: root
It could be hidden…
Which is it name? If it belongs to AVG you can delete it.
I deleted it also plus a whole lot of Host backups etc
yesterday autoupdated to 0608 definitions
this morning manual update is again balky
shut down za and update completed - ran immediately on ZA shutdown
do you think there may be a pattern here
What I did on my summer vacation
changed firewalls
ps .nt suffix is not likely on 98-SE
but I’ll double check about show hidden files and foleders
thanks again
we’re mostly into FYI territory here
What? ???
The config.nt file? Why did you do so? You won’t be protected at 16bits (dos) applications…
HI tech
the deleted items were the AVG dos scanner command line from autoexec.bat- which was giving an error message “can’t find” at boot
and the AVG database
I did not see any .nt file and so did not delete any
does Win 98 have the .nt file?
search for config.nt gives a can’t find message
Win98 wouldn’t have a config.nt only newer OSes which are NT based, like winNT, win2k, winXP, etc.
Right
Tech must have missed that this box was on 98SE
hope his pulse rate has returned to normal
Thanks Tech for making me double check everything
back on topic
ZA FYI
It seems that if i do NOT do any manual search for updates ZA is happy
auto updates seem to be keeping me current
however if I run a manual update I can do it once
next time nothing till I shut down ZA
then the previously requested manual update runs a queued
when ZA is restarted all is wonderful until someone- (that’s me) hacks at it
note to self
leave wife’s computer alone- just check avast>about every so often to see if autoupdate is current
do not run manual updater
Sorry :-[ :-[
NO problem
better to double check everything
system autoupdated to 06/03
keeping my hands off manual update
funny syndrome
I’ll post back if anything else funny happens