Free Avast GUI

[Marzbar]

XP SP3 Avast free Version 7.1474.  Have noticed the GUI/Maintenance tab has new program update available Version 7.0 1483 for this past week, it previously showed 8.0 1483, (which I had decided to err on the side of caution and wait a while before getting it, as is my habit from years of experience). I had read the previous post on this forum about this anomoly a week ago in the GUI and presumed it would be fixed by now. Have always used the GUI update method for new Program/builds before over several years of using Avast with no problems

My question is: Is it safe to update the program to latest correct Version 8 via the GUI or not with this apparently non existent version 7.0 1483 still showing in the GUI.

[Asyn]

My question is: Is it safe to update the program to latest correct Version 8 via the GUI...

Yes.

[Marzbar]

Thanks for reply but somehow I'm not entirely convinced. The blue notification pop-up is now appearing with this erroneous version also.

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=118012.0
 Can someone from Avast please explain why the gui is showing a spurious version still and what has caused it?
I imagine there must be a great many Avast users seeing this who will not be aware of the possible implications of a corrupt install by responding to the notification to update through the GUI.

[DavidR]

I don't know why there is this corruption of the version and build numbers, but I'm an avast user just like you. Have you tried the avast Repair which is suggested in the topic you gave the link to (as it worked for the topic starter, AronPreece) ?

[Marzbar]

Thanks for reply David. Are you suggesting that I should try to do a repair before attempting to update through the gui to version 8? I'm still on version 7.0.1474.

[DavidR]

Yes (it won't hurt and its quick), control panel, add remove programs, avast, uninstall/change, repair, reboot after the repair.  That frequently resolves out of sync issues. As for some reason it is incorrectly reporting the update available and not reporting version 8.0.1483.

I would then proceed with the update.

[Marzbar]

Thanks. Followed your instructions and did repair/reboot. Received blue notification pop-up on boot up with same spurious version and Gui/Maintenance tab showing same so it appears that repair did not fix the problem.

Latest virus definition showing is 130315-1. Presume this is correct as of now?

[DavidR]

The virus definitions are unrelated to the avast version be that avast 7 or 8 as they both use the same virus definitions updates.

You can check http://www.avast.com/virus-update-history on occasion this has been updated after the update, but mostly it is updated at the same time.

[Marzbar]

Yes, I understood this to be the case. I have the latest, thanks for the link. Only mentioned it because I'm not absolutely sure I've been getting the pop-up with the ladies voice just lately when booting up in the morning, just the blue pop-up instead. Will check that out tomorrow to be sure. Cheers.

[Marzbar]

Re my last post. I since checked with a friend who I know is running Avast Free 7.0. 1474 still on an XP SP3 machine.  She had not had the computer on for a few days and when she booted up today at my request sure enough she got the blue notification to update to the spurious version 7.0.1483 only. The virus definitions updated silently to the latest version however.
The lady with the pleasant voice announcing the 'virus data base has been updated' pop-up has disappeared it would seem so I hadn't imagined it. Has anyone else noticed this recently?

[Klinker]

Re my last post. I since checked with a friend who I know is running Avast Free 7.0. 1474 still on an XP SP3 machine.  She had not had the computer on for a few days and when she booted up today at my request sure enough she got the blue notification to update to the spurious version 7.0.1483 only. The virus definitions updated silently to the latest version however.
The lady with the pleasant voice announcing the 'virus data base has been updated' pop-up has disappeared it would seem so I hadn't imagined it. Has anyone else noticed this recently?

Add two more PC's showing same faulty update notifications exactly as you describe.

Will continue to monitor this thread for solution.

[Marzbar]

The only suggested solution I've seen elsewhere on the board for people reporting this particular anomoly, who are keen to upgrade, is to go through the rigmarole of downloading the 106mb setup installer for V8, uninstall V7 etc etc. In other words the inference being, that updating through the GUI updater is not guaranteed to produce the desired result in all cases.. for some unknown reason. Meanwhile the program   continues to deliver the blue pop-up notifier exhorting users to do just that, every few hours. Ridiculous situation IMO
Hopefully Avast team will take notice eventually and offer some advice if enough people keep plugging it on the board.

[cooby]

Marzbar,
 I've reported it earlier as well, and it's still confused. You're not the only one if it's any consolation
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=118278.0
I can't, for the life of me, understand why the primary suggested solution is to do a local avast repair, when all we want is to know what to use and be 100% sure that it will not break what now works. I'm kind of miffed about the whole thing.

[Puberpukkel]

I may be somewhat late in this discussion, but if Avast does not load at start-up, the following may help, probably for both version 7 and 8 en probably also for all Windows systems from XP up to Windows 8. The description below is for XP, but in the newer systems the procedure is similar.

The first thing to do is to see if the start-up command is still present in the registry. Open Regedit and go to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current version\Run. There should be a string named avast of type REG_SZ with a value something like "C:\Program Files\AVAST Software\Avast\avastUI.exe" /nogui. The quotes included. If this string is lacking, there is a good chance that the procedure below will work. If the string is present you may nevertheless try the steps below. Close Regedit.

First of all it is wise to make an image of your C-disk with a program like Macrium Reflect, Norton Ghost or similar.

Then open the Avast user interface and click the "settings" button in the right upper corner of the screen. A window will pop-up. Click "Maintenance" in the left pane and click "Backup settings", then "Continue" and choose a safe place to store the settings file, which has the extension "avastconfig". Close the Avast user interface.

Then open Add/Remove programs from the control panel and click avast!Free antivirus. A pop-up window will open and then choose "Repair". Run the repair routine. When ready close Add/Remove programs.

Now go back to Regedit and see if the string as indicated above is there. If it is where it first was lacking, you probably have solved the problem. Close Regedit.

Go back to Avast>Settings> Maintenance> Backup as described above and restore your settings from the saved file. Now reboot. If the procedure worked for you everything should be back to normal.

Hope it helps.