I’m just curious, when I use to use AVG it had updates every day but AVAST doesn’t.
Is there a reason why???
Pretty darn close to daily… maybe your settings? Firewall (as mentioned by Tech in a previous thread):
Into the firewall settings, the following programs should be allowed to connect:
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashWebSv.exe (avast! Web Scanner)
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashMaiSv.exe (avast! e-Mail Scanner Service)
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\Setup\avast.setup (avast! Update executable). This is a temporary file that just appears when an update (check) is about to launch, and disappears again afterwards.
Don’t need rights to connect:
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\aswUpdSv.exe (avast! Update Service)
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashServ.exe (avast! antivirus service). Although, ashServ.exe sends ping packets to find out if the Internet connection is alive. You can turn this off by checking the “My computer is permanently connected to the Internet” box in the avast Program Settings > Update (Connections) page.
Yes, almost daily as Reductase said. Some days we got more than 1 update.
You can also see updates here:
I have no problem checking for updates.
My last update was yesterday but I just started using AVAST yesterday
Well…on your first post you asked why avast didn’t have updates every day, and I showed you that avast almost have it every day, and the last update was yesterday, so do you have the update 4.10.2008 - 81004-0, then everything is just fine, that was the latest update.
Thanks for your help!!!
Its greatly appreciated!!! 
Whilst there is no specific schedule it is commonly every day and sometimes more than once a day and unlike the free version of AVG you aren’t limited to one update per day. I have in the past during periods of high virus activity had as many as 4-5 updates in a day.
avast checks for updates every time you connect to the internet and again after 4 hours if you remain on-line. Since I’m a dial-up user it checks for updates each time I connect.
One of the major reasons I jumped the AVG ship over four and a half years ago was the poor state of the update process.
Right clik on avast! icon in sys tray, select program settings, clik on update(Basic)
and make sure your auto update is checked.
Then, if you have a firewall, go into its’ allowed program settings and make sure that avast! is
allowed to connect. The program usually checks for updates as soon as your desktop boots up,
but I have noticed that if I decide to open my browser right away, it will check for updates in the background,
you should notice the icon spinning, which is a clue that the program is active and either checking your system, or checking for updates. I know that mine checks daily.
Hope this helps
When you have it set for auto update does it bog down your computer when its updating???
I had to shut down the auto update when I used AVG because it did this.
Hi :
Would be best to better define “bog” !?
And on this Forum we are concerned IF the previous AV has been
COMPLETELY REMOVED because IF has NOT been, that can effect the
performance of Avast . In the case of AVG, it would be wise to seriously
consider using the “AVG Remover” at www.avg.com/download-tools .
I did remove AVG with the remover. When I say BOG I mean the computer is going really slow.
When your surfing it there is a delay and if you have a screen saver on it starts and stops.
If you bring up the task manger you could see that AVG has a high CPU usage.
On the contrary, with the virus signature updates set to Auto there is a little trick that restricts the CPU % so as not to bog down other processes. If you set this to Ask or to Manual then this restriction isn’t applied as it is deemed you wouldn’t be starting an update if you were busy so no need to throttle the CPU usage.
The avast updates also differ in that they are incremental, and only the changes between the VPS version you have to the VPS version available are downloaded. So the avast VPS updates are measured in KBs rather than MBs and this makes a big difference.
Thanks for the info!!!
I have it set on ASK but I have never seen it work yet.
Also, what time should it be set on to check for updates???
Currently auto update is set to check every 240 minutes.
Do you really think the automatic brings you trouble? The updates aren’t that huge…
120 minutes is the minor value allowed for home version.
If you want less updates, set a higher value.
Thanks again for your help!!!
You’re welcome. Feel free to come back any time you need help or just to change experiences 8)
You’re welcome.
Ask, checks for updates and if there is one it will pop-up a notification in the bottom right of your screen that an update is available. It really is better set to Auto, Ask as I have said doesn’t restrict CPU usage so is more likely to slow other processes for a short time.
The Program updates are a different matter and they are set to Ask but default as they are likely to be much larger.
It really is best left at the default settings (like for most things as it provides the best balance between performance and protection), so based on the frequency of VPS updates commonly daily and occasionally more than one in the day, increasing the frequency of checking doesn’t really provide a better level of protection.
Sorry, but I have one other question. I had it setup to ask me when an update is available but I didn’t tell my brother. He saw the message popup but didn’t click on it because I forgot to tell him. Will it remind you again??? When I got home from work I checked for updates to get the one I missed.
No it won’t remind you until the next time it checks for an update, which is another good reason to leave it on the default Auto update setting.
The updates are incremental, if you miss one, when updating you’ll receive everything it’s needed to use the latest version. In other words, no problem if you miss one update, next will correct everything and bring your installation up-to-date.