New auto startup program just detected

[Abigman]

Winpatrol has just detected the following new auto startup program to be run every time the machine is booted.  No message from Avast as to what it is.
Does anyone know what it is and is it OK for me to let it run?
I am running version 2014.9.0.2006 on Windows 7 64-bit.
Thanks.

[Eddy]

As you can see at the bottom left of the image, it is the avast emergency updater.

A new feature — allows us to push out critical product updates in case of some big issues where the main avast service is not able to start / crashing. Such situations, till this new version, meant the user had to reinstall avast as there was no way for us to fix such problems from remote.
With this new mechanism, we can push out fixes even to such issues

[Abigman]

Thanks Eddy.
I realised it looked like an emergency update which I can't remember ever having before but I just wanted to know what it was for.
Although I realise that had I not been using Winpatrol I would probably never even know about this I don't like allowing things without knowing what they are.
Do you know what this is for?  I couldn't find anything on the Avast website, probably missed it!

[Nawach]

Hi there,

Same thing for me this morning (winXP sp3 + WinPatrol + Avast 8.0).

It's happened quite regularly over the years and I always thought it was a bug from my system.
Never realised it was an auto-update feature.

How come it updates independently from the program?

[mchain]

hi Abigman,

'Tis the learning curve you are going through.  Computers are much more complex in the way they operate and run than by just simply turning them on would imply.

Sometimes this complexity can be a bit overwhelming.  So, there are programs that look into that complexity and sometimes they report things that even baffle me for a while.

avast! introduced this feature for cases such as the McAfee meltdown where XP systems would not boot after being shut down for the night.  This failure was traced to an error in the previous day's virus database update.  Emergency Updater allows avast! to fix this issue as soon as they are aware of it, and thus minimize the impact of such an error.  'Pushing' out an emergency update means that no user interaction is required, all one needs to do is be connected at the time of the push.  This feature will be used rarely, and only for situations such as the one that affected McAfee.  It's the bug-fixer of all bug fixers, as it were.

[Eddy]

Let me try to say it in a simple way:
It loads when Windows boots and checks if avast is loading/working.
If avast is loading/working without a problem at boot time, emupdate will close after checking.
If it is not, emupdate will try to make avast work.

Nawach,
you are using a old version of avast.
I suggest you use Reyzor's tool to uninstall the current version and install the latest version.

PS:
the quote comes from the avast website.

[Nawach]

Nawach,
you are using a old version of avast.
I suggest you use Reyzor's tool to uninstall the current version and install the latest version.

Hi Eddy,

I know I do.
To be honest, I keep postponing the upgrade ... seeing that it does not seem to go exactly flawlessly for the majority of users (I only have one PC and work from home. Can't afford for things to get wrong.).
But thanks!

[Abigman]

Eddy, I am confused now!
From your post it seems that this emergency update is a general routine to check whether Avast is working or not and is not to correct a particular issue in the Avast program.
I thought that it was to correct a particular issue until the user updates the program thus saving the user from updating immediately to cure the problem.
I have just updated Avast to 2014.9.0.2008 and the emergency exe file is still there which could of course mean that the emergency update applies to 2014.9.0.2008 as well.
So is it a general routine or is it a routine to correct a specific issue? tia

[mchain]

@ Nawach,

No, 'tis only the users that have issues that come here for help.  So the many who do not have issues do not come here to complain/get help.  Last I looked avast! was supporting more than 200,000,000 devices now in use.  Don't see that here.

[Nawach]

Hi mchain,

I see your point. but you can't know if you're a "winner" before you play unfortunately.
I'll do it eventually, when I'll have the time and enough energy to keep my fingers crossed all the way during the operation

Thanks.

[Eddy]

Nawatch,
as I said, use Reyzor's uninstall to remove your current version then install the newest version.
This should work without any problems.
In the rare case it doesn't... You know how to find us here :-)

Abigman,
it is basically both. It is a (kinda) "general routine" that checks for specific possible problems.
Don't brake your head over it.
Just allow it to run and let it do it's job.

[Abigman]

OK will do Eddy, thanks.

[Nawach]

@ Eddy,

I don't want to be a pain, but I'm not too sure what you mean by Reyzor's tool... or where to get it.
avastclear.exe is not enough?

[mchain]

Reason you can't find this advanced uninstall to is because the name is misspelled.

RejZor is the user name and the tool can be found here:  http://rejzor.wordpress.com/avast-cleanup-tool/

This is an advanced tool and removes more stuff left behind than the standard aswclear.exe.  So, if anything could interfere with proper operation of the newest version, this will remove those left-over remnants for you.

Computers are funny like that, terminology and spelling must be exactly right to find whatever, else it cannot be found.

[Jimmy10]

Why does this show on msconfig as start up item 20131121 and manufacture "unknown"?
I did a reinstall of avast after having trouble with ie10 immediately after I originally installed
it
This 20131121 stayed on msconfig startup after I uninstalled and is still there after reinstall
Sorry don't want to hijack the thread but it is the same subject
Thanks