Avast WEBforum
Consumer Products => Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security (legacy Pro Antivirus, Internet Security, Premier) => Topic started by: John_E on June 04, 2008, 07:31:35 PM
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I've just installed the latest version of Avast! on a new Vista (SP1) machine running in administrator account. I've noticed the VRDB has not been created yet and it was set to "screen saver". It is possible not enough time elapsed for VRDB to complete so I chose to "Generate Now". Ran for 45+ minutes and had still not completed. Is this normal?
The install itself seemed to go fine and Avast! seems to be running normally. There are about 40GB used on a 250GB drive, most all came installed with the HP laptop (lots of junk applications).
Thanks for any suggestions.
John in STL
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I would say everything is OK!
I don't know how VRDB works exactly, so I cant tell you what it does in this long time, but on my computer it also takes quiet long...
yours
onlysomeone
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For me the same... VRDB is not being automatically generated on Vista :P
I'm using VRDB at screen saver time and my screen saver is avast (+ Webshots).
I have to manually invoke VRDB... what's going on?
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Tech,
Always nice not to be alone!. When you do manually invoke "Generate VRDB" how long does it take to complete? I don't even know what it's backing up and have to assume the operation is machine specific dependant upon what's installed and the OS?
John in STL
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When you do manually invoke "Generate VRDB" how long does it take to complete?
I'm doing now... but it's difficult to compare as a lot of background applications/services are running right now on the computer. For sure, it will be some hours in my case. I have tons of applications installed (RevoUninstaller counts 241 applications).
I don't even know what it's backing up and have to assume the operation is machine specific dependant upon what's installed and the OS?
It depends on which executable files are present. It stores the necessary info to restore executables (*.exe, *.com) files.
VRDB is not a backup system, the stored information is very small (not the whole files).
Besides, only Win32 executables are processed.
The VRDB data are stored in <avast>\Data\Integ\avast.int
So it's not a bakcup utility, but a restore feature of avast.
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Hours! Unless it's the first time only I'd think kind of tough on the drive. If you don't mind, let me know how long it took when it completes, as maybe there is nothing wrong here after all. I just don't recall avast 4.7 taking that long on XP. For now I have VRDB disabled.
Thanks,
John in STL
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Hours! Unless it's the first time only I'd think kind of tough on the drive. If you don't mind, let me know how long it took when it completes, as maybe there is nothing wrong here after all. I just don't recall avast 4.7 taking that long on XP. For now I have VRDB disabled.
Thanks,
John in STL
I'm going to bed and will let the VRDB being generated... indeed, 5 hours and it does not finish yet.
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On my XP SP2 machine it took just over an hour
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Mine took less than one hour
Winxp sp2
P4 w/clock set at 3.5
2gig memory
HDD C+D about 170Gig total
Seems to me to just be a simple restore point feature.
It should not interfere with anything else.
I am wondering if the 5+ hours run time might be related to the amount of files running or loaded/installed?
it was my understanding that this is sort of a file restore point/reference to help avast clean nasties. hmmm?
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Quite a variance in creation times, so, probably no big deal.
Having said that, after Tech posted his was still going after 5 hours, I gave it one more shot by selecting "generate VRDB". It took only 40 minutes to complete and properly shows the last creation date and time. Wonder if it knows where it left off no matter how you set the creation method?
Anyway, I've set it to "idle" and will see what happens in the next couple of weeks. Thanks to all who provided input on this issue.
John in STL
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7 hours and a half...
For me the same... VRDB is not being automatically generated on Vista :P
I'm using VRDB at screen saver time and my screen saver is avast (+ Webshots).
I have to manually invoke VRDB... what's going on?
Why isn't VRDB working automatically on Vista?
My question remains...
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My XP-Home SP3 system has about 5 gigs of files (naturally I haven't a clue what portion of them the VRDB generator is "interested" in). Set for screen saver mode (I don't use one), Generate Now typically takes about 15 minutes.
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I've had an interesting experience with the VRDB generation time too on Vista x64. It took well over an hour (I think it was an hour and a half actually) to complete even though I barely had anything installed and had nothing else running which was kind of concerning (this was done after a clean install and update). The odd thing is that it almost always takes 15-45 mins max on XP systems that have lower performance than my computer, so I guess there's something either going on with 64-bit support or Vista in general.
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Yesterday, I reinstalled Avast 4.8 after trying another anti-virus product. I did not select "Typical" when installing, I selected the item underneath it, which was to have installed the same as "Typical", except for the skins.
The VRDB has not yet generated, nor do I have the (i) icon next to the clock. The (a) icon has been present since it was reinstalled.
To avoid issues, I installed Avast while Windows was in Safe Mode and am running Windows XP SP 2.
I do not see a selection anywhere that allows for a manual creation of the VRDB, since I do not have the (i) icon on-screen.
The reason why I chose not to install the skins was because the CPU is 500 MHz (a little slow by today's standards) and with a previous installation with skins, once the Avast interface was displayed it ran unusually slow.
Is there a way somehow, to manually create the VRDB, and was it a mistake to install Avast in Safe Mode?? Should it also be re-installed, due to the lack of the (i) icon?? The system has been for a total of three hours between yesterday and today and the VRDB has still not generated.
Thank you for any help.
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I have now reinstalled Avast a total of THREE times and have the exact same results, whether I install it with or without the skins and in Safe/Normal Mode.
I go into the Update settings, click Details, the program immediately hangs. I open the Task Manager, Avast is listed twice with both processes "not responding" and I still did not have the (i) icon for the VRDB, after all three installs. It also shows 100% CPU usage at the time.
Avast is the only product that I've seen that scans outgoing mail on port 587 which is what my ISP uses, as well as newsgroup messages. I would like to use Avast, but I'm having too many problems with it. :(
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did you always use the same installation file?
probably its broken - or did you try to download a new installation file?
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did you always use the same installation file?
probably its broken - or did you try to download a new installation file?
I downloaded a new installation file each time. The log file itself is too large to be quoted in a message, so I am attaching it as it is, from the point of the latest installation. As I am modifying this message, an indication that the software updated, was displayed. But I still do not have the VRDB (i) icon next to the clock.
Further info on the update that just occurred:
Information about current update:
Total time: 24:02
- Vps: Updated
(previous version: 080611-1, updated version: 080719-0)
Server: download940.avast.com (74.54.25.98)
Downloaded files: 42 (2,943.65 KB)
Download time: 38 s
I can understand it taking 38 seconds to download the updates, but a total time of 24:02???
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Avast is the only product that I've seen that scans outgoing mail on port 587 which is what my ISP uses
on the contrary - avast does not scan port 587 which is almost always used for a secure connection. If you try to force avast to scan port 587 it will fail and prevent the connection.
If you want avast to scan mail delivered via secure email connections then you (at least for now) then you need to use a free third party program called STunnel to manage the secure connections and past the mail to/from avast for scanning. You can use the search function in the forum for more details on STunnel use.
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Avast is the only product that I've seen that scans outgoing mail on port 587 which is what my ISP uses
on the contrary - avast does not scan port 587 which is almost always used for a secure connection. If you try to force avast to scan port 587 it will fail and prevent the connection.
If you want avast to scan mail delivered via secure email connections then you (at least for now) then you need to use a free third party program called STunnel to manage the secure connections and past the mail to/from avast for scanning. You can use the search function in the forum for more details on STunnel use.
4.8 does scan Port 587, once it is added to the settings. 587 is Authenticated SMTP, it is not an SSL port. I sent a test message through Port 587 to myself and when the e-mail was retrieved, there were two Avast references attached to the end of the message, first was the outgoing information, then the incoming.
Secure (SSL) SMTP is port 465 and Avast does not scan that, nor the Secure POP3 port (995).
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I have since rebooted Windows and the (i) icon now appears next to the clock. Not sure what happened, but it looks like it's working now. :)
When I first tried Avast some months ago, it would take an hour just to get the updates, I hope that doesn't happen again.
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Four hours now and still waiting for the VRDB to finish generating.
How long should this take?
My system has a 500 MHz AMD K6-2 processor with 512 Mb of RAM (PC100).
Update: I changed a Windows system setting to force the PC to run more optimally, turning off all the snappy graphics. After doing so, the VRDB finished what it was doing within 10 minutes or so. :)
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That sounds like a more reasonable figure.
But with a system with such a low spec it is difficult for us to guesstimate just how long things like this would take. So what you have done settings wise is good and also shutting down non essential applications would help increase system resources.
On my old system it used to take about 9 minutes and that was a lot more powerful than yours, so not a huge difference. It also depends on how much you have on your system .exe, files, etc. as that is what it is checking.
On this new system I haven't timed it to see how long it would take, just started one off and even though it is a fairly powerful system (see signature) it is hardly using any CPU % at all. Just completed in under 4 minutes and it never peeked at over 20% CPU.
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Just by turning off the XP graphics and desktop, it now looks like the old Windows 9X and it is running 1,000% better than it did previously.
Everything loads and runs faster: Internet Explorer, SeaMonkey, Avast ;D, Outlook Express and the audio doesn't skip when I play a music CD.
Avast also no longer hangs when I click the Details icon in the Update (Basic) settings window.
Tomorrow, I will do a full system virus scan. Now that the system is running considerably faster, I want to see how long it takes Avast to do a full scan. With all of the graphics previously turned on, other anti-virus products would take a good 2 hours to perform a virus scan, this was after SP 2 was installed. With SP 1 installed prior, it took the same software only 45 minutes to perform the same scan.
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I mentioned in another topic that I discovered helpsvc.exe was using 100% of the CPU resources until it shuts off. A hotfix applies to XP SP 2 but not SP 3. I have gone into the System Configuration Utility and turned off the Help & Support service, which is that file.
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Things seems to be improving.
After I reinstalled Avast! again yesterday (Wednesday evening local time), I set the VRDB generation to occur when the screen saver was on.
Today, it generated a new VRDB and I'm happy to report that it took no where near the last reported attempt of five hours. Although I do not know how long it exactly took, I am guessing that it probably took a little more than one hour to create this time around.
Turning off all of the XP graphics (making it look like Windows 9x) and other things that were in the systray that I never accessed, it appears to have sped up the K6-2 system a bit. :)
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You may have an issue with another antivirus program installed on your PC. Check your Control panel/add remove programs display for likely suspects. You might also try a registery scan with Windows Safety Center(free) between installs.
http://safety.live.com/site/en-US/default.htm
Under full scan>customize select just the registry scan ...
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All remnants of old antivirus software have been removed from the system, including old registry keys. It's been running better.