Avira will not update

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Hi….Frequently a pop appears from the Sys Tray warning me that it is over 7 days since the prog was updated but when I click on the Update tab it just disappears & nothing happens. Likewise when I click on the “Scan system now” & “Start update” tabs, nothing happens. If I click on the Update tab on the menu bar a message pops saying the VDF update kit is corrupted. This despite having uninstalled the existing prog and re-installing the lastest one. Advice please….. Regards Dave.

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Hi….Frequently a pop appears from the Sys Tray warning me that it is over 7 days since the prog was updated but when I click on the Update tab it just disappears & nothing happens. Likewise when I click on the “Scan system now” & “Start update” tabs, nothing happens. If I click on the Update tab on the menu bar a message pops saying the VDF update kit is corrupted. This despite having uninstalled the existing prog and re-installing the lastest one. Advice please….. Regards Dave.

Dave,
How did you uninstall the prog?

If you use something like Revo Uninstaller, it will remove all traces of the old program. Some uninstallers, particularly ones supplied by the program writers will not remove all of the pieces, so maybe you have some remnants leftover.

Also, go into Windows Explorer and drill down to where the old program was and see if indeed the folder is removed. Then try reinstalling.

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Dave,
How did you uninstall the prog?

If you use something like Revo Uninstaller, it will remove all traces of the old program. Some uninstallers, particularly ones supplied by the program writers will not remove all of the pieces, so maybe you have some remnants leftover.

Also, go into Windows Explorer and drill down to where the old program was and see if indeed the folder is removed. Then try reinstalling.

Hi Bob. Yes I did use Revo Uninstaller knowing it is noted for purging out all remnants of unwanted progs and sure enough it is not visible when I open Revo neither is it shown in the Add / Remove programs in the tool box BUT – and this puzzles me – there is still a folder with that name in the Programs folder so how do I get rid of it please? One of the attachments shows the result of a search for “Avira” whilst the other confirms it is still lurking in the “Programs” folder. Regards Dave.

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Hi Bob. Yes I did use Revo Uninstaller knowing it is noted for purging out all remnants of unwanted progs and sure enough it is not visible when I open Revo neither is it shown in the Add / Remove programs in the tool box BUT – and this puzzles me – there is still a folder with that name in the Programs folder so how do I get rid of it please? One of the attachments shows the result of a search for “Avira” whilst the other confirms it is still lurking in the “Programs” folder. Regards Dave.

AS BigAl said did you set Revo to do a thorough scan, not the default scan?
And you can always go to the folder(s) in Windows Explorer and right click>delete it.

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AS BigAl said did you set Revo to do a thorough scan, not the default scan?
And you can always go to the folder(s) in Windows Explorer and right click>delete it.

To be quite candid I can’t remember which depth of cleaning I chose gentlemen but I usually DO select the “In Depth” option. I opened Explorer and did as you suggested Bob but (as the attachment shows) it refuses to budge. I resorted to the Avira help files to see what they had to say and -as is sometimes the case- the directions given seem to conlfict with my set-up in that [see att.] when I click my way to the control panel, there is no “Software ” option.?????? Finally, whilst I have always been aware that only ONE firewall should be installed, I had never read that the same applies to AV progs & seeing I have SuperantiSpyware on the computer, do I take it there is nothing to be gained from having Avira too – but that it is in fact – not expedient to have them both installed? Further help is required it seems!!! Kind regards. Dave.

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To be quite candid I can’t remember which depth of cleaning I chose gentlemen but I usually DO select the “In Depth” option. I opened Explorer and did as you suggested Bob but (as the attachment shows) it refuses to budge. I resorted to the Avira help files to see what they had to say and -as is sometimes the case- the directions given seem to conlfict with my set-up in that [see att.] when I click my way to the control panel, there is no “Software ” option.??????

Their help is incorrect. It should say to open Control Panel, then Add or Remove Programs.

Finally, whilst I have always been aware that only ONE firewall should be installed, I had never read that the same applies to AV progs & seeing I have SuperantiSpyware on the computer, do I take it there is nothing to be gained from having Avira too – but that it is in fact – not expedient to have them both installed? Further help is required it seems!!! Kind regards. Dave.

I thought it was a BAD idea to run multiple AV programs. It could slow down your computer a bit more than running only one AV program. It you have real-time protection, then each AV program would check every EXE / DLL that you open.

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To be quite candid I can’t remember which depth of cleaning I chose gentlemen but I usually DO select the “In Depth” option. I opened Explorer and did as you suggested Bob but (as the attachment shows) it refuses to budge. I resorted to the Avira help files to see what they had to say and -as is sometimes the case- the directions given seem to conlfict with my set-up in that [see att.] when I click my way to the control panel, there is no “Software ” option.?????? Finally, whilst I have always been aware that only ONE firewall should be installed, I had never read that the same applies to AV progs & seeing I have SuperantiSpyware on the computer, do I take it there is nothing to be gained from having Avira too – but that it is in fact – not expedient to have them both installed? Further help is required it seems!!! Kind regards. Dave.

Dave,

Revo has the lighter clean version as their default method. Use the one listed underneath the default button which is the “In depth” method.

It’s never a good idea to have multiple firewalls, AV progs or malware progs running CONCURRENTLY. One of each is fine but not all at the same time. You CAN use more than one if you run them manually and not run in the background.

So far as getting rid of the stubborn files like the one you list ( aebb.dll ) your best bet is to install UNLOCKER. It will run in the background or be available automatically or on right clicking the file. It will offer to unlock and delete, rename or move a file like that one. It’s an excellent program and many Loungers recommend it.
http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

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Dave,

Revo has the lighter clean version as their default method. Use the one listed underneath the default button which is the “In depth” method.

It’s never a good idea to have multiple firewalls, AV progs or malware progs running CONCURRENTLY. One of each is fine but not all at the same time. You CAN use more than one if you run them manually and not run in the background.

So far as getting rid of the stubborn files like the one you list ( aebb.dll ) your best bet is to install UNLOCKER. It will run in the background or be available automatically or on right clicking the file. It will offer to unlock and delete, rename or move a file like that one. It’s an excellent program and many Loungers recommend it.
http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

As ever, thanks guys; I thought there must be something amiss regarding the Avira directions for deleting a prog. Futhermore, it mystifies me why Avira is still in the Programs folder but is not listed in either the “Add Remove Progs” list or that populated by Revo Uninstaller. As advised I downloaded Unlocker but can’t seem to achieve the goal of deleting Avira – SORRY GUYS. I note the functions it was said Unlocker will perform but apart from the option to Delete in the bottom left menu which I have clicked, I can’t get the hang of Unlocker despite reading the brief Help notes which seem so straight foreward. I note also that Revo Uninstaller has a “Run Hunter Mode” option, will this root out the gremlin and how do I use it please? Please give me the step by step actions to achieve the deletion of this program which I will stay well clear of in future as I have SUPERAntiSpyware installed. Thanks Dave.

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As ever, thanks guys; I thought there must be something amiss regarding the Avira directions for deleting a prog. Futhermore, it mystifies me why Avira is still in the Programs folder but is not listed in either the “Add Remove Progs” list or that populated by Revo Uninstaller. As advised I downloaded Unlocker but can’t seem to achieve the goal of deleting Avira – SORRY GUYS. I note the functions it was said Unlocker will perform but apart from the option to Delete in the bottom left menu which I have clicked, I can’t get the hang of Unlocker despite reading the brief Help notes which seem so straight foreword. I note also that Revo Uninstaller has a “Run Hunter Mode” option, will this root out the gremlin and how do I use it please? Please give me the step by step actions to achieve the deletion of this program which I will stay well clear of in future as I have SUPERAntiSpyware installed. Thanks Dave.

Dave ,
While some uninstaller programs delete their .exe files and some others, they sometimes leave other files like config files or settings files so that you can reinstall them and retain the original setup. Personally, I would want them to delete everything, not just some of their files.

With Unlocker:
You go as far as you show in your screenshot, with delete as the choice, THEN click on “unlock all” to dump all at once or just “unlock” to do one at a time. Unlocker will then show a small message box saying something like, ” file has been deleted”. It really works fine. Try it gain.

You can also just delete everything from Windows Explorer that says Avira, files and folders.

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Dave ,
While some uninstaller programs delete their .exe files and some others, they sometimes leave other files like config files or settings files so that you can reinstall them and retain the original setup. Personally, I would want them to delete everything, not just some of their files.

With Unlocker:
You go as far as you show in your screenshot, with delete as the choice, THEN click on “unlock all” to dump all at once or just “unlock” to do one at a time. Unlocker will then show a small message box saying something like, ” file has been deleted”. It really works fine. Try it gain.

You can also just delete everything from Windows Explorer that says Avira, files and folders.

Hi Viking…. Using “Unlocker”, when I get to the stage (as shown in post 21) and click on the “UnlockAll” the only thing that happens is the word Delete in the left menu reverts back to “No Action” and a message like “file has been deleted” which you say should appear, does not. Sorry to be a pain but when things don’t appear that are supposed to -like I experienced with Avira’s help message mentioned above- it makes me feel like a jerk especially when you say (and I quote) “It really works fine…..”. Not really critical is this next small matter but still related to Unlocker…. when I click on the Unlocker shortcut on the desktop, unlike every other shortcut I have ever had there, it does not open the prog…. should this be the case or does it suggest something is amiss? The photo of the donkey
(att 3) pulling a new kind of road vehicle, was simply used as a backdrop to show the Unlocker shortcut on the desktop. New to us in the west obviously but not to people living in India. No wipers; no lights; no radiator but does come with air conditioning it seems. Sorry this thread is dragging on but this prog seems to have dropped anchor for good. You assure me that Avira should delete quite simply in Explorer but it won’t either. (1st att) When I open the Avira folder in explorer and try to delete all the files the message in (att 2) appears.
Regards Dave….ps even as I was typing this post Avira triggered a pop up (att 4) telling me it is more than 7 days since I updated it so it must be still active somewhere despite me having disabled it.

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Dave,
I’m trying to keep these screenshots straight but Unlocker should work this way. Say you are in Windows Explorer and you want to delete that Avira file. You right click and click delete. Still not using unlocker yet.
Whatever it is that is protecting the file will pop up that first window saying it can’t delete it OR unlocker will take over and offer to delete or rename it for you. That’s the second screenshot. You drop down the options menu on the left and click delete. If Unlocker can’t do it right then and there it will show you the third? screenshot, showing the simplified menu this time. You again click the drop down and highlight delete and click OK. It will either delete it or offer to delete on the next reboot. One way or another, it should get rid of it.

Another point. When you click the desktop shortcut icon, it will probably just create a Quick Launch icon down on the right side.

Still another point. If you right click on any file, there should be a drop down menu and among other things there should be a Unlocker choice there. This really eliminates the need for a desktop shortcut.

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Dave,
I’m trying to keep these screenshots straight but Unlocker should work this way. Say you are in Windows Explorer and you want to delete that Avira file. You right click and click delete. Still not using unlocker yet.
Whatever it is that is protecting the file will pop up that first window saying it can’t delete it OR unlocker will take over and offer to delete or rename it for you. That’s the second screenshot. You drop down the options menu on the left and click delete. If Unlocker can’t do it right then and there it will show you the third? screenshot, showing the simplified menu this time. You again click the drop down and highlight delete and click OK. It will either delete it or offer to delete on the next reboot. One way or another, it should get rid of it.

Another point. When you click the desktop shortcut icon, it will probably just create a Quick Launch icon down on the right side.

Still another point. If you right click on any file, there should be a drop down menu and among other things there should be a Unlocker choice there. This really eliminates the need for a desktop shortcut.

Hello Bob. many many thanks for your patience and staying with me on this one. Your last point first; yes I am aware that there is no need to click on the desktop Unlocker short cut as right clicking the Avira (or for that matter) any folder, brings up a menu with Unlocker as one of the options. I have therefore deleted that shortcut icon. (period…as you say over there.) Now the penny has just dropped with me & it is something that puzzled me right from the start. Namely, that when I select the “Delete” option to the left of the box there is no “OK” tab to click on as I expected so the only option that seems logic to me is that of “Unlock All” but as I have indicated previously, if I click on it that menu option simply reverts back to “No Action”. Where is that “OK” tab you refer to for as the final 2 att’s show, whether the menu shows “No Action” or “Delete” the same four tabs show namely : – Kill Process- Unlock- Unlock all- Quite; I hope that sheds some light on my dillema. Thanks Dave.

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Hello Bob. many many thanks for your patience and staying with me on this one. Your last point first; yes I am aware that there is no need to click on the desktop Unlocker short cut as right clicking the Avira (or for that matter) any folder, brings up a menu with Unlocker as one of the options. I have therefore deleted that shortcut icon. (period…as you say over there.) Now the penny has just dropped with me & it is something that puzzled me right from the start. Namely, that when I select the “Delete” option to the left of the box there is no “OK” tab to click on as I expected so the only option that seems logic to me is that of “Unlock All” but as I have indicated previously, if I click on it that menu option simply reverts back to “No Action”. Where is that “OK” tab you refer to for as the final 2 att’s show, whether the menu shows “No Action” or “Delete” the same four tabs show namely : – Kill Process- Unlock- Unlock all- Quite; I hope that sheds some light on my dillema. Thanks Dave.

Hello Guys…. Nearing desperation point with this darned Avira I decided to look at their forum and was amazed to find here Avira forum numerous desperate plees for help in digging out the roots of this program. Having read some of the many posts it soon became obvious that it is not something one should rush to install on their computer & when I eventually came to a post with a suggested solution (see here) Solution I felt I need to get further advice as it seems one has to cast their line in the registry which -as regular readers of this forum may know- I am loath to fish in. Please can someone cast their eyes over the directions suggested by one of the MVP’s of the Avira forum and put my mind at rest regarding how to proceed? Many thanks again Dave.

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Hello Guys…. Nearing desperation point with this darned Avira I decided to look at their forum and was amazed to find here Avira forum numerous desperate plees for help in digging out the roots of this program. Having read some of the many posts it soon became obvious that it is not something one should rush to install on their computer & when I eventually came to a post with a suggested solution (see here) Solution I felt I need to get further advice as it seems one has to cast their line in the registry which -as regular readers of this forum may know- I am loath to fish in. Please can someone cast their eyes over the directions suggested by one of the MVP’s of the Avira forum and put my mind at rest regarding how to proceed? Many thanks again Dave.

I once had Avira installed on my system, so I DL that registry Cleaner to give it a try. Easy to use and it found 25 old Avira or AV keys in the reg. However, 4 of those were for the Avast AV that I’m currently using. Seems they used *anti virus as one of their search items. Most WERE for Avira, so I just unchecked the Avast items and let it delete the others.
It does not have you actually dig into the reg yourself, so I wouldn’t be too “leery” of using it, if that’s what concerns you.

I think if you Carefully follow their instructions and do all of the steps they suggest, you should be OK. Worst case scenario, you still have those files around.

Give it a try.

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I once had Avira installed on my system, so I DL that registry Cleaner to give it a try. Easy to use and it found 25 old Avira or AV keys in the reg. However, 4 of those were for the Avast AV that I’m currently using. Seems they used *anti virus as one of their search items. Most WERE for Avira, so I just unchecked the Avast items and let it delete the others.
It does not have you actually dig into the reg yourself, so I wouldn’t be too “leery” of using it, if that’s what concerns you.

I think if you Carefully follow their instructions and do all of the steps they suggest, you should be OK. Worst case scenario, you still have those files around.

Give it a try.

Thanks Bob….. will ponder on your advice and maybe give it a go as the constant pop-up from the sys tray is rather anoying. …..will report back in due course and let you know how things went. Dave.

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Thanks Bob….. will ponder on your advice and maybe give it a go as the constant pop-up from the sys tray is rather anoying. …..will report back in due course and let you know how things went. Dave.

To bring this thread to a close I am glad to report that using Revo’s “In Depth” tab option as Al suggested I seem to have got rid of every trace of Avira. As I mentioned earlier, when I first used it to purge the programme, it did disappear from the Revo list as well as that of “Add / Delete” but remained in the “C” Progs folder. In ignorance & grasping at straws I thought that maybe if I tried to download it again it might somehow rectify the problem but it still refused to update so I wrote off to Avira and they initially suggested I use their Reg Cleaner and run it but I had not luck so wrote again and they recommended Revo (which I already have) so remembering Big Al’s point (as indicated) I selected the “In Depth” tab and because I had reinstalled Avira, it was again visible in the Revo list of progs. NOW the question is guys, do I stay away from Avira and maybe use AVG or is there some other free pog I can opt for?

Many thanks Dave.

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… the question is guys, do I stay away from Avira and maybe use AVG or is there some other free pog I can opt for?

I’ve used Avast![/url] (free) successfully for a couple of years now and have it on XP, Vista and Windows 7. It updates at least daily, sometimes more often, doesn’t seem to me to be a resource hog and (knock on wood) I’ve not had any problems other than a false alarm or two but even that was a long time ago.

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I’ve used Avast![/url] (free) successfully for a couple of years now and have it on XP, Vista and Windows 7. It updates at least daily, sometimes more often, doesn’t seem to me to be a resource hog and (knock on wood) I’ve not had any problems other than a false alarm or two but even that was a long time ago.

Thanks Al….. flipping freezing here in the UK, fit to freeze the lugs off a donkey…(as we say over here). Will bear in mind your praises for Avast …. have read about it in a Magazine I get called “Computeractive”….seems to have good reviews. Have you ever used AVG…. I did for quite a long time and found it OK but nothing is set in concrete so that’s why I asked for suggestions.

THANKS Dave.

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Thanks Al….. flipping freezing here in the UK, fit to freeze the lugs off a donkey…(as we say over here). Will bear in mind your praises for Avast …. have read about it in a Magazine I get called “Computeractive”….seems to have good reviews. Have you ever used AVG…. I did for quite a long time and found it OK but nothing is set in concrete so that’s why I asked for suggestions.

The last several releases of AVG prior to version 9 seemed to have gotten slower and more resource intensive as some new capapbilities were added. I do not know about the latest release AVG Free – AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition as I have given up on AVG for my personal use. I now use the free Virus, Spyware & Malware Protection | Microsoft Security Essentials[/url].

AVG claims significant improvements in scanning the “Program Files” and “Windows” folders. You can read the release notes for the free version of AVG 9.0 at AVG Forums – AVG 9.0.709 Free – Release Notes.
Joe

--Joe

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The last several releases of AVG prior to version 9 seemed to have gotten slower and more resource intensive as some new capapbilities were added. I do not know about the latest release AVG Free – AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition as I have given up on AVG for my personal use. I now use the free Virus, Spyware & Malware Protection | Microsoft Security Essentials[/url].

AVG claims significant improvements in scanning the “Program Files” and “Windows” folders. You can read the release notes for the free version of AVG 9.0 at AVG Forums – AVG 9.0.709 Free – Release Notes.
Joe

I have several Windows XP machines that seemed to get slower with successive AVG releases during 2008. I migrated all of them to WebRoot Spy Sweeper with AntiVirus, which fixed the speed problems. The bad news is that WebRoot is not a free program – but it does work very well.

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You may not have allowed Revo to go “deep enough” in getting rid of files, folders and registry entries.

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Hey everyone!

Lots to say on this topic since you’ve all covered a bunch of interesting approaches. Firstly, though, it needs to be noted that Avira was recently going through problems with their update servers for the freeware version, that got particularly annoying in the past 2 months (Oct. & Nov.), but appears to have been fixed. This software has become the top download for anti-virus utilities, as evidenced by all the major software download sites, and this popularity may have exceeded the company’s ability to satisfy the demand for the constantly evolving definition updates that make this so useful and valuable in the first place. Every computer that I work on gets this installed, set to update and scan on regular schedules – which is a welcome, though unusual, feature of any freeware, let alone one of this stature, and a necessary one, as most users won’t ever bother to do either on their own. This program also has a configurable “active shield”, but for the most part the defaults are way adequate. Anyway, when unable to connect to the update servers, all sorts of problems occur, not the least of which were the annoying pop-ups telling you that your version was out-of-date (duh-ya think?!?), and I kept thinking I had a corrupt install. So I ran the installer again from a fresh download (I use filehippo.com for the absolute latest versions available) and selected the “repair” option. Same result, which meant a different issue, confirmed as an update one when unable to update any of my other machines. Finally found the answer where I should’ve looked first: Gizmo’s Best Freeware [The founder of this is now an editor at WindowsSecrets, the new home for most of us followers, who also still maintain a fierce loyalty to the original freeware concept.]

Click the link above to get to the home page, then click the “Security” tab in the middle column. On the next page, click “Best Free Anti-Virus Software” and read through the excellent analysis, paying close attention to the links provided in the section on Avira Antivir. One of these takes you to a page that explains how to get around update problems by going to a SoftPedia site for a definition update file that you manually install. Another link takes you to a site where you learn how to disable the pop-up ad page that tries to sell you the paid version – an understandable annoyance, but one you don’t have to continually endure.

After reading that information, you may decide to try a different antivirus utility, but my experiences with Avira compel me to recommend it above any of the others mentioned, and even a few commercial ones to remain nameless.

But I wanted to also comment on other things that previous posts brought up:

[*]RevoUninstaller: When using this powerful tool, the software uninstaller that’s built into the one you’re trying to remove will usually tell you that you need to restart the computer to complete the uninstall – ignore this! and choose the option to restart later! If you don’t, you lose the use of Revo’s registry and file removal, which is why you employ this tool in the first place! Then you can reboot.
If you messed this up, or there are still files remaining, you’ll need to re-install whatever you just got rid of, and take a “do-over” with Revo in its strongest removal option (as you already discovered). Some stuff might still be left behind, but will mostly be insignificant and benign and therefore safely ignored; the exceptions are mostly nasty installs I hope you’ll never encounter!

[*]Unlocker: Outstanding utility. You don’t need it to start with Windows for it to be available in the right-click menu options, so turn it off with either StartupCPL or WinPatrol (don’t have either? For shame! Get them both…) Not an awful lot that can’t be deleted with this, so you do need to be a bit cautious…

By the way, running Avira along with SuperAntiSpyware is fine; there may be some overlap in coverage but only if you’re using the paid version of the latter, as the spyware shield is only available with the commercial product. Keeping it as a scanner to be run occasionally is a great idea, and here also you don’t need it to start with Windows (unless you got the paid version) so uncheck that option under the “preferences” tab. I also use Malwarebytes in the same manner and rotate which one I scan with, and between the “Quick” and “Complete” choices in each one.

You can find more details about all of this on Gizmo’s website, if you need to; but definitely bookmark it for future reference…

Hope you got something out of all my “random ramblings”.

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