Avast5 with Win2K has many quirks

[Diehard Win98]

With the demise of Avast4.8, I installed Avast5 (actually 5.1.889) on my Win2K build. This was not easy since Avast5 has many quirks.

Installation went smoothly, but virus definition updates were a problem.  I had to manually configure my firewall to allow avast.setup. This is a EXE file disguised by it's name that exists only during a update.
 
When the virus definitions are updated the prior definitions are not deleted until the next reboot.  The definitions are about 250Mb, so after a few updates this uses lots of disk space. You get a sharing violation error if you try to delete them manually.   I don't reboot my Win2K build often, instead I go into hibernate.

If you run vpsupd, it reports the definitions were updated, but Avast maintenance doesn't report the new virus definitions until the next reboot.  Probably Avast5 continues to use the prior definitions until the reboot.
 
Exclusions only allow you to exclude folders, not individual files.

The animated tray icon feature doesn't work.

Was any of this fixed in Avast 6, 7, or 8?

[DavidR]

I think that you are going to have problems getting answers to your questions as there are very few avast users on these forums who would have been using avast 4.x or 5.x. And then to remember what their functions were.

As far as excluding files, you can either copy and paste the location and file name from explorer and copy it into the new exclusion field. Or you can change the /* to /file-name.exe in the exclusion created for the folder.

I can't recall when avast did housekeeping to remove old versions of the VPS - to manually delete it you would have to disable the avast self-defence module.

Avast 6 would I believe be your better bet (than avast 5), but I don't know if avast 7 & 8 supported win2k - that may be restricted to winXP SP2 or higher.

That is all I can com up with from memory from so long ago using these builds.

[Eddy]

https://blog.avast.com/2015/05/06/support-for-older-avast-windows-consumer-version-will-end/
https://www.avast.com/download-update

It all doesn't matter much as VPS updates will be stopped for the old version soon.

Going to XP SP3 is not worth doing either.
Microsoft has stopped support for it, including the extended support.
But next to that, XP can't handle the new(er) encryption (SSL/TLS) protocols.
It only support them up to SHA1.

It's time to put at least Windows 7 on it (or FreeBSD/Linux) if the system can handle it.
If not possible, convert the system to a router, aquarium or something like that.

[Diehard Win98]

[/quote]

As far as excluding files, you can either copy and paste the location and file name from explorer and copy it into the new exclusion field. Or you can change the /* to /file-name.exe in the exclusion created for the folder.

....This seems to work OK, thanks....

I can't recall when avast did housekeeping to remove old versions of the VPS - to manually delete it you would have to disable the avast self-defence module.

....The sharing violation happens even when self-defense is disabled. This leads me to believe the new VPS is NOT effective until the next reboot.  This is bad, and I can't believe nobody complained about this when these versions were current  ....

Avast 6 would I believe be your better bet (than avast 5), but I don't know if avast 7 & 8 supported win2k - that may be restricted to winXP SP2 or higher.

....I tried to install three different Avast6 builds (updates).  Each setup immediately gave a message saying the setup is old, and proceeded to download Avast7.0.1474.  So it appears Avast has chosen to disallow Avast6, it must have had some serious bugs

Avast7 has the SAME problems I previously described for Avast5.1.  And I couldn't get online update to work: It kept trying to download server.def.*  Finally, I copied these files from my Avast5.1 \setup folder, then Avast7 did an online update OK.
Avast7 slows down my Win2K build much more than Avast5.1 so I'll probably stick with the latter

Avast7 reports that the latest update is Avast9.0.1506.  I doubt this would work for Win2K.  Avast5.1 reported the latest update is Avast8x....

That is all I can come up with from memory from so long ago using these builds.

...I hope there are some old-timers out there who still remember working with these Avast5 thru Avast7 versions that can help with this update bug.  Having to reboot after every update is a pain....

[/quote]

[Eddy]

I sure remember working with them, but not on W2k.

It is time for you to move on and put a much more recent OS on that system.
The old avast versions only give you a fake feeling of security as they can't detect nowadays threads as most can't be detected by signature.

[Asyn]

Last version for W2K sytems was 8.0.1497, IIRC.

[Diehard Win98]

After the last online virus def update I read setup.log.  There was one error:

13:09:09 min/pkg  vps: can't open event Global\vpsNew.sig, error code: 0x00000005

I searched my system drive, this file doesn't exist.  Is this something setup is trying to retrieve from the internet?
The update was otherwise OK.  Is this the reason I have to reboot after every update?

[DavidR]

Error code 5 means Access is denied, which seems a bit strange.

So I would tend to believe this was a local location, which may be locked and after the update is done the file is removed.

Personally I keep my nose out of the log files unless:
1. I have a hard error displayed to the screen.
2. I wouldn't look even on the first instance of an error displayed to the screen.
3. Only if this were to become a regular error (displayed to the screen), would I then investigate.

What do you mean by "After the last online virus def update" ?
e.g. Downloading the full virus definitions file or just running a manual VPS update from the user interface.

[INGBEAN]

Last version for W2K sytems was 8.0.1497, IIRC.

Correct, this is the latest version for Windows 2000.
I would de-activate the "streaming updates" -> this helps to increase performance of PC.

I use Notebook B offline and perform updates via vpsupd.exe form USB-stick.
Please give me some hardware details of your Windows 2000-PC (CPU, RAM, ...)!

INGBEAN

[Diehard Win98]

Error code 5 means Access is denied, which seems a bit strange.

So I would tend to believe this was a local location, which may be locked and after the update is done the file is removed.

Personally I keep my nose out of the log files unless:
1. I have a hard error displayed to the screen.
2. I wouldn't look even on the first instance of an error displayed to the screen.
3. Only if this were to become a regular error (displayed to the screen), would I then investigate.

What do you mean by "After the last online virus def update" ?
e.g. Downloading the full virus definitions file or just running a manual VPS update from the user interface.

This was an incremental update, not vpsupd (this is an offline update even though you had to go online to get it)

[Eddy]

Is there a specific reason to hold on to W2K ?
If not, I would upgrade the OS and avast version.

[DavidR]

A manual virus definitions update from the UI is an incremental update (with some conditions), it is an on-line update (can't be done off-line).
The condition being if you haven't had any auto-updates for some considerable time it will down load the full and install the full database.

In any case I don't believe the error written to the setup.log, I don't see as a serious/fatal error or I would have expected the error to be displayed to the screen.

I would reboot if you haven't already done so. Now check the VPS version displayed when you use the About Avast right click option on the avast tray icon. If that is showing a VPS version equivalent to the day you updated it or today's date, then it would appear to have completed successfully.

[Diehard Win98]

Last version for W2K sytems was 8.0.1497, IIRC.

Correct, this is the latest version for Windows 2000.
I would de-activate the "streaming updates" -> this helps to increase performance of PC.

I use Notebook B offline and perform updates via vpsupd.exe form USB-stick.
Please give me some hardware details of your Windows 2000-PC (CPU, RAM, ...)!

.......My Win2K build is bare-bones because the machine is not very powerful: Pentium 3 550Mhz, motherboard limits RAM to 256Mb which is what I have.  I also use vpsupd from USB mostly because an incremental update for more than a day is actually slower.  I download vpsupd in the background so there's no worry about how long it takes.  I run my Win2k build about once a week.  I use the newer operating systems as well and more often:  WinXP, Vista, and Win7 on faster machines

Comment to Eddy:  In time, probably no anti-virus program will be sufficient.  With the hackers using 'fileless viruses' anti-virus programs that scan files will be less and less useful.  Heuristics and behavior algorithms will become more important.  I think the best defense is to clone your hard drive periodically because there's going to be a virus that the anti-virus programs can't catch and can't fix.  When that happens, boot up the clone that has a build before the virus hit.....

INGBEAN

[Diehard Win98]

I am reviving my prior thread since I am still using Avast5.1 free with my Win2K machine.

The license key expired today.  I tried the methods I've read in other threads but they don't work.

When I press Register Now there is supposed to be a screen offering Avast Free or Internet Security(?) the paid version, but nothing appears.

When I press Registration Form my browser shows the Avast announcement that registration is no longer required and that older Avast versions will continue to work past their expiration date.  This is not true,  all components of Avast5.1 have  shut down.  I can't do an online virus update because the license has expired:  I kinda thought this might have included an program update fixing the license key issue. I don't want to do a program update to Avast8 cuz my machine is too slow.

Anybody know any other tricks?   It seems I need a new license key, but there is no way of getting it.

Avast2017 free on my Win7 machine hasn't expired yet, so I haven't tried the methods in the threads.

Avast4.8 (with the final virus database) on my Win98 machine continues to work after license key expiration

[Asyn]

See Reply #5/#8. With V5 you're probably out of luck.