I made a mistake and now it can't install updates...

[WJJ]

Alas, I've made mistake.

I have windows XP and one day it asked me if i wanted to allow avast! to access the internet.  it had asked me that before and I always allowed it but for some reason that day I didn't.  Now I have no idea how to re-allow it to access the internet.  I am so sorry if I am missing something obvious here, but any help would be greatly appreciated!

-WJJ

[radicalb21]

First let me welcome you to the forum. Are you talking about windows firewall or another firewall? Can you be more specific.

[WJJ]

Thanks for the welcome!

Honestly I have no idea.  It worked for a few days before I told it that it can't connect to the internet.  If I try to go to "update" through the actual program rather than allowing it to do so on it's own it says that it cannot connect to the server.

Thanks a lot!

-WJJ

[Eddy]

Open your firewall settings and change the permission for Avast.

[WJJ]

My firewall is not enabled.  ugh.

Any other suggestions?

-WJJ

[Lisandro]

I have windows XP and one day it asked me if i wanted to allow avast! to access the internet.

Who is it here? Windows XP does not 'ask' for permission and you say:

My firewall is not enabled.  ugh.

So, which program (firewall) asked you for permition... Is it the same that know is disabled? Are you sure it's disabled?

[Eddy]

Well something was asking if you wanted to allow Avast or not. And in 99.9% of all cases it is a firewall that asks you that. Maybe you don't know it, but it seems to me you have one. And my guess is you have the windows firewall running without you knowing it.

[Lisandro]

And my guess is you have the windows firewall running without you knowing it.

Eddy, the Windows Firewall on SP1 did not ask for permition. I think (I could be wrong) that in SP2 it only asks for 'Inbound' connections and not 'Outbound'  

[JoeK]

Well something was asking if you wanted to allow Avast or not. And in 99.9% of all cases it is a firewall that asks you that. Maybe you don't know it, but it seems to me you have one. And my guess is you have the windows firewall running without you knowing it.

Eddy, the Windows Firewall on SP1 did not ask for permition. I think (I could be wrong) that in SP2 it only asks for 'Inbound' connections and not 'Outbound'

Eddy and Technical,
since Eddy doesn't know what actual program or event caused the question, coudn't it be so that (for some reason) just a simple cookie-block in IE or where ever causes this problem? I have seen strange things under WinOS  

[Lisandro]

Coudn't it be so that (for some reason) just a simple cookie-block in IE or where ever causes this problem? I have seen strange things under WinOS  

Strange, I thought updates were not related to cookies.
To be at forums we need a session cookie but to update? I think not.
There are other threads about firewall blocking the update (http://forum.avast.com/index.php?board=2;action=post;threadid=7396)