XP Security Center glitch

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

I have a second computer running Windows XP Home SP2 that has been using Avast Home Edition for about a year now with no problems. This morning, after the computer booted up, XP’s Security Center reported Avast may be out of date. That can’t be, because it’s definitions are dated February 9th, 2007. I rebooted the computer and the warning returned. First time I’ve ever had this glitch with Avast. Is there anything I can do?

2

Not a glitch with avast, but probably your system date is incorrect.

Check your system date, double click the time in the system tray, ensure the day month and year are correct, if not correct it.

3

Thank you! The date was ahead by one month. After correcting this, and rebooting the PC, the XP Security Center is now showing all clear.

Is there a program one can download that will alert you if your Windows clock is incorrect? That would certainly be handy. It is my understanding that Windows has an internal clock that always knows the correct time.

4

You can synchronize your clock to a time server on the Internet Time tab in Date and Time Properties.

5

I’m familiar with XP’s Time Server synchronization. It is already enabled and checks once a week. So eventually this program would have automatically corrected my system time?

6

There are programs that synchronise your system clock with one of the atomic clocks, but for it to be a month out is way bigger than just a slow or fast clock. Perhaps someone was checking a calendar date and forgot to reset the correct month, this is the most common reason for this type of discrepancy.

I use a little program called About Time, there are others, importantly it can run on-demand, I don’t want another program running in the background and periodically connecting to synchronise (why I disabled XPs time check). I prefer to every now and again do a manual update/synchronisation.

7

The person who uses our 2nd computer admitted she probably changed the date and forgot to correct it. This has happened before.

8

Yes, the usual suspects, came in again, someone checking a date and failing to reset it.

Perhaps you should have them use a calendar program ;D

9

And tell them that they will not gonna be any younger, just because they change the date :wink:

10

Or tell them ‘they won’t get any older if they do it again,’ as in you will kill them ;D