Extracting .vps from vpsupd.exe

[arakelov]

Hello!

I have a PC where avast is NOT installed, although I need to get the last .vps file. The reason is that I have a live version of Windows, called miniPE-XT, from which you can boot the PC and look for viruses/spywares in case of system infection/disaster.

This miniPE comes with avast! 4 Home Edition compiled in the ISO; you can run it from the CD, it loads into memory and before starting the scan you can point the program to a .vps file. I have the vpsupd.exe downloaded from avast pages, but when I try to run it fails saying "avast! 4 is probably not yet installed or the installation is broken. Download full install package and reinstall, please."

Is there any way to "extract" the .vps from the .exe or get it in any other way, without having to install all the software?

Thanks a lot in advance. Kind regards.

[kubecj]

No.

[arakelov]

Quick and clear 

Thanks a lot, regards!

[arakelov]

Hi again!

Well, after investigating a little bit I found that this URL gives you the last .vps: http://files.avast.com/files/latest/400.vps

Cheers

[kubecj]

That's not guaranteed to work and avast may replace it with the original vps sooner or later. Use vpsupd.exe. Maybe for non-rewritable media it may temporarily work, but we won't guarantee you, that the 400.vps will stay there (in fact, there are plans to remove it completely in not so far future).

[Lisandro]

Beside, miniPE-XT seems a hack/crack utility... Am I wrong?

[Vladimyr]

Hi arakelov

Is there a reason you can't just install avast! on the PC, update the vps automatically or by using vpsupd.exe, and then when you boot off the live cd, point avast! to the vps location on the hard disk?

[arakelov]

Beside, miniPE-XT seems a hack/crack utility... Am I wrong?

Well, its purpose is not hacking/cracking (at least it's not MY purpose), but helping to recover your system from an infection by booting from a clean media. I see it more like a Linux Live CD.

Is there a reason you can't just install avast! on the PC, update the vps automatically or by using vpsupd.exe, and then when you boot off the live cd, point avast! to the vps location on the hard disk?

We must assume that, maybe, the system is so damaged that a possible avast! installation on it is no longer working. But you're right: avast! can be installed into another clean machine, perform the update with vpsupd.exe, copy the .vps into the infected disk and boot with the Live. And this will be the procedure I will follow when the "400.vps URL method" doesn't work

Thanks and regards!

[Lisandro]

I see it more like a Linux Live CD.

For me, no problems... It's just M$ who does not allow to use the XP license to do that...