Avira Antivir Update Hangs [Fix]
News about an Avira Antivir update have been appearing on the Internet lately by users of the antivirus software Avira Antivir. These users reported that they encountered update problems. The description was always similar. The Avira Antivir update would hang causing a permanent failure in the process which would break the update capabilities of the software.
Luckily though Ghacks reader Dante found a solution for the problem which he send in as a tip to share here at the website. The Avira update problem seems to only affect the automatic update of the antivirus software. What is not affected at all is the manual update process.
To fix Avira Antivir Update problems a user would therefor need to aquire a new virus definition file and update the software manually with it. This fixes the broken automatic update in Avira Antivir:
- Download the latest antivirus definition file for Avira Antivir at Softpedia.
- Bring up the Avira Antivir interface.
- Select Update and there Manual Update
- Use the file browser to select the downloaded updated definition file
- Wait until the update has finished.
The manual update of the antivirus software will fix the broken automatic update in Avira so that it can be used again afterwards. Thanks go to Dante for sending in the tip.
Update: The issue has been resolved in an update shortly after it was first reported to Avira and on the Internet. It is still something that users can remember should they ever come into a position where their antivirus solution shows a similar updating issue.
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Don`t works for me, update still hangs, and counts time elapsed endlessly.
I posted this in the freeware NG,hope that’s all right.
The hangs were the main reason I left AntiVir for Avast, which updates itself nicely.
Same experience as zemaitux. Not inspired by Avira’s failure to fix this problem with some urgency. May follow Mike J’s suggestion. Avast works fine on another pc.
To “zemaitux”: did you do an “Start Update” or “Start Product Update” afterwards? I found the “Start Product Update” continues to have hiccups in a few cases. So I just did the easy way out: send my friends the downloaded zip update file from Softpedia once every 2 months and tell them to update the product.
As to Avast. Could you guys please post some follow ups on it? I was thinking of Avast too. But got scared off by two guys who uses Avast. These two have a 100% track record in making the wrong decisions all the time (I don’t mess with a track record this good, I can’t beat it). And they won’t tell me if the decision to go to Avast was theirs or if someone knowledgeable had told them to.
To DanTe: i`ve tryed both- and just “Update” from the main Avira`s page and from the menu in system tray, and i`ve done a “Prodyct update”. Nothing helps, update still hangs. My suggestion, mayby it`s because i`m using it on Windows 7 ?
This is not a FIX, it’s a manual update, an actual fix would be making the automatic update work again. So, while this is a valid method for keeping avira free updated the title is wrong.
DanTe, I really like Avast. You have to register (email addy & submit a number) after 40 days (then good for over a year), but no daily nag screens or anything. I try to follow the lab test reports on antimalware apps & AntiVir is consistently at the top (better than most commercial AV’s) in freeware, but Avast is right up there & always gets a rec.NB, the “Program Update” must be done manually (every few days), but it will upgrade your version without a separate download when needed.Avast doesn’t seem to slow my system down appreciably.
Scans are pretty fast in my experience.It looks for rootkits and adware and such in addition to viruses and trojans.
To “zemaitux”: I can honestly say it’s not Windows 7. I have a few people with Vista that has your problem – I started asking around when you mentioned your headache.
And “MikeJ” thanks for the review. But I hate giving out my email address for freebies – bad spam experiences in the past.
DanTe, I cant say Ive gotten spam as a result of this. But you can always set up a webmail account just for this purpose.
Correction: updates for “Program” can be made automatic in Avast’s “Settings.”
This update hang is happening with me for more than a year now. I have resorted to manual update since then. Its NOT a fix, its just an alternative. To my surprise, manual update file is ALWAYS 25MB. While automatic update, it used to 2 or 3mb!!!
u cant blame avira.coz million ppl uses it and it updates many time a day comparing avast updates one time per day…its proffessional versions update is just immidiately with maximum speed of ur ISP.
Perfect! Worked Great!
My avira updates work great..both auto and clicking on start update, even start program update works without a problem. try uninstalling with revo uninstaller and reinstall avira