avira free isn't updating

[nikonmama]

Hi. I have been using the free version of avira for a long time and have been very happy with it. I have been busy lately and not on my laptop much and when I just got on here the windows message popped up that my antivirus is out of date. I checked and the last update from avira was 2 days ago. I have tried for over 30 min to force it to update but nothing happens at all. Usually when you hit update now the little box pops up that shows the progress of the update, but nothing at all is happening. Has this happened to anyone else? Any suggestions? If I can't get it to update i am not sure if I should keep it on my laptop. What other free antivirus programs are as good as avira.

[progress]

That's the major drawback of Avira free I think ::)

[nikonmama]

-{ Quote: "That's the major drawback of Avira free I think ::)" }-
yes i have read about people having trouble updating but honestly in the year I have using it this is the first time I have ever had any trouble. It is very disappointing b/c I have been very happy with it up until this point.

[CorbinDallas]

It might be a good idea to perform a manual update, if you're on broadband that is. Avira manual update procedure. (http://www.avira.com/en/support/kbdetails.php?id=95)

[tipstir]

Mine updates daily as shown below. Some of you shouldn't have these issues unless proxy server or some other item is blocking the software from updates. Eventhough I run RIS2010 still some systems have AVIRA PE and Comodo CIS (no AV)

[nikonmama]

Mine finally updated.......took over an hour. I have never had any updating trouble before. It always does it automatically or instantly if I hit start update. I guess their servers were just SLOW today. Hopefuly that won't become a trend.

[tipstir]

-{ Quote: "Mine finally updated.......took over an hour. I have never had any updating trouble before. It always does it automatically or instantly if I hit start update. I guess their servers were just SLOW today. Hopefuly that won't become a trend." }-

Servers can go down, but if you have the same issues daily you need to see if you have their servers being block. If not could be limited number of server updates access being the software is technically free.

[the Tester]

When I had dialup the updates for Avira free could be brutal, especially the larger updates.
Avira is a good program overall though.

[tipstir]

-{ Quote: "This is getting to be a real habit lately haha. Yes, servers have been slow in the last 24-48 hours, because of some bigger update.

EDIT: http://techblog.avira.com/en/
"The update servers for our free Avira AntiVir Personal are currently under heavy load due to a huge update that gets delivered. Even if we are delivering with 8 GBit per second – whereof up to 1 GBit per second is used by IPv6 traffic alone! – this results in a slow update process for many of the free AntiVir Personal users. The situation should get better over the weekend, it already got better this night for a few hours.

We already increased bandwidth and made further optimizations to our servers. Also we’re working on a permanent solution to better serve the users of our free Avira AntiVir version – this may take a few weeks though.

Users of our Avira AntiVir Premium and Avira AntiVir Professional products are not affected by this issue."" }-

That's crap for them to say.. The old dial-up days you could get their update fast under the free version. I guess no one is seeing the nags so let's slow down updates to force the nag lifters to buy the software. Could be a plan with them or not.

[progress]

-{ Quote: "I guess no one is seeing the nags so let's slow down updates to force the nag lifters to buy the software. Could be a plan with them or not." }-

That's really a great idea ::)

[Sportscubs1272]

They have a promo (tenth anniversary of free Antivir) if you buy a year's license and you can get additional 10 months free. I already have two licenses and I was able to get an additional year (12mths) for free. :D I will have to renew again in October and November of 2011!

I would say try another free anti-virus if you don't like the slow servers or the nag screen. Plenty of choices these days. You could wait a few more weeks and see if they improve on the update servers. $26.95 for the paid version isn't that bad at all in my opinion.

[zfactor]

where ^^^ please?

[Sportscubs1272]

Here's the page explaining it: http://www.avira.com/en/company/free_antivirus_is_turning_10.html

[mrfargoreed]

I've tried to install Avira Free several times over the last couple of weeks and every single time I do, the updates just don't happen, or if they do, they come down at a pathetically low speed and it takes at least an hour. I know it's a good prodcut and I know it's free, but this is slow by anybody's standards. All this does, instead of making me want to pay for the Premium version, is find an alternative and makes me so angry that I want to scream at them, so I think they're losing out. I'll gladly accept that the Premium version has more features than the free, but such incredibly bad servers really isn't a selling point. One less customer here I'm afraid :( .

[Brocke]

for being free for 10years it would be nice and neat if they would add web shield or something to make it better. i dont know just would be kool.

[hsobrevilla02]

-{ Quote: "...All this does, instead of making me want to pay for the Premium version, is find an alternative and makes me so angry that I want to scream at them, so I think they're losing out. I'll gladly accept that the Premium version has more features than the free, but such incredibly bad servers really isn't a selling point. One less customer here I'm afraid :( ." }-

I think if you would like to pay for avira premium version it would be better to try first the avira premium trial instead of avira free so you could experience if the premium version has update problems at all.
Maybe for the free version there is an update glitch, but in the premium version MAYBE there is no problem.(correct me if I'm wrong)

Harold

[cqpreson]

The update of Avira Premium is better than that of Free.

10th year,will Avira improve??will it have better feature release?

[bonedriven]

My experience is that I could rarely update successfully with the default auto update schedule. But if I delete it and add one schedule myself,I have never had a problem for once.

It's strange but true.....

Hope it works for you.

[mrfargoreed]

-{ Quote: "I think if you would like to pay for avira premium version it would be better to try first the avira premium trial instead of avira free so you could experience if the premium version has update problems at all.
Maybe for the free version there is an update glitch, but in the premium version MAYBE there is no problem.(correct me if I'm wrong)" }-
I think you are quite right - the update in the Premium version, from what I've read here at Wilders, sppears to be absolutely fine as it uses the premium servers.

-{ Quote: "My experience is that I could rarely update successfully with the default auto update schedule. But if I delete it and add one schedule myself,I have never had a problem for once." }-
Ok, I will give this a go if I decide to try it again. If it works I will probably keep it. Thanks for the advice :thumb: .

[cqpreson]

-{ Quote: "My experience is that I could rarely update successfully with the default auto update schedule. But if I delete it and add one schedule myself,I have never had a problem for once.

It's strange but true.....

Hope it works for you." }-

I added a update schedule by myself and deleted the default update schedule.It works well.Your situation is strange indeed.

[blacknight]

I had not any automatic update since 15 of September, I'm updating manually.

[tipstir]

-{ Quote: "I had not any automatic update since 15 of September, I'm updating manually." }-

You have issue there. You might want to uninstall the software, then run some registry cleaner like ccleaner. Reboot the system. Install a fresh copy. I always uninstall software for testing and etc.

This software is great but lacks the web shield feature. Should be noted that after 10 years of being free good to support the software but they could add the web shield and have maybe a few dedicated servers for updates for the free say 10 for being 10 years now.

[FastGame]

My Antivir hasn't updated in 5 days :o the solution ? 28MB manual updates daily ? ::) nah.....

The Avira forum is riddled with the update problem, I think it's the worst I've ever seen.

[JohnnyDollar]

I think it is part of their strategy, just like PCTools spyware doctor starter edition, it will do the same thing. This issue keeps coming up, I think it is the main drawback to having the free product. If it is indeed their strategy to do this (I am not saying for sure it is) to goad the user into buying the full product then, if it was me, I would just get ticked off at them and use another product vs upgrading. Correct me if I am wrong but, I don't think AV Comparatives ever test the free version, it would be interesting to see just how well it performs against the paid. As far as I know the engines are the same but, the free version is missing a few components right?

[progress]

-{ Quote: "As far as I know the engines are the same but, the free version is missing a few components right?" }-

Yes, but the detection difference should be < 1 % as far as I know :)

[moshaboy]

I have been waiting for 3 days for the Avira free to auto-update and have tried to manually update to no effect..i uninstalled the free anti-virus programa dn then re-installed another free avira file d/l from cnet incase the ''version'' had been replaced [this happened to me with the free AVG before the free! yes free trial ran out..which it does do eventually!!]....but the newly installed Avira free wouldn't update either....so

i manually updated and kept an eye on my 'firewall' inbound/outbound data to see if the server in Germany was awake??..it was altho it seemed to switch to a proxy server..

***IMPORTANT BIT!!!***..after 25 mins of watching for the Avira 'box' to signal a file d/l..it did eventually d/l 11 files in total [this includes previous days files i suspect?] ..so thing to do to all of you waiting for auto updates is to manually update but WAIT & watch as the updates should arrive as mine did....very slowwwwlllllly!!! [eventually] and i have 6-8meg speed BB [and i live in the U.k and not a squillion muiles away from germany..]

however we must all realise that Avira free is erm...''free'' .... this is the 1st time i have encountered a problem as i have found Avira works great with 'online armour' free firewall..Tis sooooo much better than AVG or .dare i say ''Norton''!!? and defo more light on computer resources than is B****y McAfee!!?..

keep on keepin on!!...be good!!...from me :o

[zfactor]

-{ Quote: "Here's the page explaining it: http://www.avira.com/en/company/free_antivirus_is_turning_10.html" }-

any way of getting the three pc lic with the free extension?

[tipstir]

-{ Quote: "I think it is part of their strategy, just like PCTools spyware doctor starter edition, it will do the same thing. This issue keeps coming up, I think it is the main drawback to having the free product. If it is indeed their strategy to do this (I am not saying for sure it is) to goad the user into buying the full product then, if it was me, I would just get ticked off at them and use another product vs upgrading. Correct me if I am wrong but, I don't think AV Comparatives ever test the free version, it would be interesting to see just how well it performs against the paid. As far as I know the engines are the same but, the free version is missing a few components right?" }-

Free versions are the real deal just features are disabled in the code. Just like the old shareware days. I always develop full version first then disable features for shareware. Today you get a free version with nags screens I made them in the shareware version. But in any case developers like myself want you to buy the full program. They really don't make money with the free stuff. If you upgrade then they will and give you better support.

[Sportscubs1272]

No, special deal for three computers. At least I have an extra year off for both of my machines. A competitor only charges 40 bucks for a two license deal.

[bonedriven]

-{ Quote: "
Ok, I will give this a go if I decide to try it again. If it works I will probably keep it. Thanks for the advice :thumb: ." }-

You are welcome. :)

Let us know if it works for you too.

[Kerodo]

The update issue happens periodically, or has thru the years. I just put Avira Free on a brand new XP install today, waited 5 minutes while it didn't even connect for an update, then gave up. I installed my Premium instead, and all went fine. What that all means, I have no idea, except that it's not really anything new with Avira.

[tipstir]

Wireless laptops that run the AVIRA PE when they are turned on the update runs.

[cqpreson]

Free Version has been normal.But its updater downloaded the definition slowly.It cost 2 hours to update yesterday.

[prairie dog]

-{ Quote: "The update issue happens periodically, or has thru the years. I just put Avira Free on a brand new XP install today, waited 5 minutes while it didn't even connect for an update, then gave up. I installed my Premium instead, and all went fine. What that all means, I have no idea, except that it's not really anything new with Avira." }-

Free version uses different servers, obviously not quite as good as the paid versions

[Fuzzydice45]

Updates are taking ages to complete, but i've got mine set to update every 2 hours so in the end it's still up to date most of the time.

[mrfargoreed]

-{ Quote: "It cost 2 hours to update yesterday." }-
I used Avira Premium for a year and I'm not bashing Avira here, but this is, by any standards, a ridiculously long time in the days where many of us have fast braodband connections. I was looking to try a new AV in this last week, tried Avira free, had this ridiculously long wait myself, and now I'm left thinking, 'Never again am I using that', which can't be a good thing for Avira. All it actually does is make me angry that the free version's updates are so poor, forcing me to buy the Premium version if I want faster updates. It's a great product, for sure, but I feel that I'm being bullied into buying the Premium version. It doesn't leave a nice taste in the mouth, so to speak. I'm now trying Avast free which amazingly manages to update all by itself at normal speeds :) . Avast will have to have some pretty major flaws for me to even consider Avira now.

[SammyJack]

mrfargoreed:

Does the relative infrequency of Avast! updates put you off?

As i remember Avast seldom updated more than once in twenty four hours.
With Avira I could set as many updates as I wanted,and normally they seem to have around five per day now.
Down a little from the six or seven in version eight.
That is of course when you do not hit a rough patch like this,where you seem unable to update at all.
A look at the Forum at Avira should make one thing clear.
they view the update problem,(like the nag Screen) as part of the "price"
for the free version,And do not intend to implement a meaningful fix.
It is fine with me,as I only use it on demand within Returnil,and never download it to my real disk. If the update sticks,Que Será Será,on to the next
on-demand.

[mrfargoreed]

Hey SammyJack!

No, the update frequency with Avast doesn't really bother me. As much as it's nice to have a product that continually updates, I so rarely (if at all, come to think of it) get any infections since using SandboxIE that it doesn't make much difference to me.

And with the latest trial with Avira free, I don't think there's enough time in the day to download six or seven updates with the speed it takes ;D .

I understand that they don't intend to fix the update problem and it's just part of the free version - I've got no problems with that, but I just haven't got the pateince to wait two hours for a simple update. I often turn my laptop off after an hour or so, so at this rate Avira would never get an update downloaded in time ::) .

[mrfargoreed]

Typical! I've just installed Avira free twice to test and both times it's updated quickly, after weeks of not updating at all. Oh well, now it's installed I might as well keep it for a bit.......;)

[tipstir]

Servers on the internet vary at times but euro and usa connections seem to be different for everyone who gets the updates and some who do not. I never had issues but seems a lot of you do. Oh well. Free or paid it's up too you to decide what to use. Either way I am sure you'll be happy in the end.

[rogervernon]

I have Avira Free, with splash & nag disabled, set in the scheduler to update daily at 2 hour intervals (!) i.e it updates every 2 hours each day and according to the events log it's updating perfectly OK when the computer is on.

[mrfargoreed]

-{ Quote: "I have Avira Free, with splash & nag disabled, set in the scheduler to update daily at 2 hour intervals (!) i.e it updates every 2 hours each day and according to the events log it's updating perfectly OK when the computer is on." }-
That's odd - the version I'm using (9.0.0.407) won't let me set updates every two hours - says I can only set them at a minimum of 1 day :( .

[SammyJack]

Hi, mrfargoreed:

Open the GUI,click administration,then scheduler.
right click below the last scheduled entry,and choose "insert new job".
Name the job in the dialog box,(normally just the time of the update),
click next,choose update from the drop down menu,hit next,choose "daily"
from the drop down menu,hit next,choose update time,press next,choose if you want minimized,
invisible or maximized.
Repeat for each update you want to add.

[tipstir]

-{ Quote: "I have Avira Free, with splash & nag disabled, set in the scheduler to update daily at 2 hour intervals (!) i.e it updates every 2 hours each day and according to the events log it's updating perfectly OK when the computer is on." }-

Yes nag is disabled too, but I never bother with the scheduler I leave it set to defaults and it updates every time I turn on either a laptop or desktop.

[Osaban]

Avira claims to have more than 1 million free accounts, if that's true it is an awful lot to feed new updates. I must admit I bought the premium more as a contribution to research but also knowing that I was going to get a faster update service.

For those who might be interested, for the next 8 days they are offering the premium version valid for 22 months for the price of 12 (basically you are getting a 2 year subscription).

[bonedriven]

-{ Quote: "Typical! I've just installed Avira free twice to test and both times it's updated quickly, after weeks of not updating at all. Oh well, now it's installed I might as well keep it for a bit.......;)" }-

Don't you think we should stop blaming it on the difference between "free servers" and "premium servers"? ::)

[Boost]

-{ Quote: "We already increased bandwidth and made further optimizations to our servers. Also we’re working on a permanent solution to better serve the users of our free Avira AntiVir version – this may take a few weeks though." }-


Source: http://techblog.avira.com/2009/09/18/update-servers-under-heavy-load/en/ ~ Fixed Link~

[mrfargoreed]

-{ Quote: "Open the GUI,click administration,then scheduler.
right click below the last scheduled entry,and choose "insert new job".
Name the job in the dialog box,(normally just the time of the update),
click next,choose update from the drop down menu,hit next,choose "daily"
from the drop down menu,hit next,choose update time,press next,choose if you want minimized,
invisible or maximized.
Repeat for each update you want to add." }-
Thanks SammyJack - sorry, I didn't realise you were repeating the job. I thought you were able to actually set it under one day and that I couldn't. I see what you are doing now :thumb: .

-{ Quote: "Don't you think we should stop blaming it on the difference between "free servers" and "premium servers"? ::)" }-
I thought that this is the reason why Avira free updates slower than Premium. The official website says one of the advantages of the Premium version is: 'Fast Premium update server'. I'm just basing my view on the facts. But hey, it appears to be updating normally now so everything is okay at the moment and everyone's happy :) .

[Boost]

-{ Quote: "I guess Boost either missed this, or has me on his ignore list haha." }-

Nope, I just dont hang around these forums all day long like you do ;D

[Boost]

-{ Quote: "I think it's more accurate to say that you don't read the entire thread before posting (and therefore are more likely to repeat things that have already been said).

It's all good though. This is important and positive information and should be repeated haha." }-

Whatever gets you through the day.

[prairie dog]

Back to normal here as well. Using the free version on XP sp3;D

[NoIos]

I'm not able to update the last 24 hours.

[scott1256ca]

From the looking at the Avira reports, my last several updates have all been successful, but the last one (earlier today) was over 4M and took more than 1/2 hr. to update. The last 7 or 8 updates before that were all < 700k, with only a couple over 250k. So it looks like another relatively large update is in play, and will cause slow or failed updating.

[waters]

No updates here so i have ditched it.Not worth the trouble and i have used it for years.Changed to Microsoft and like it so i will stick with it

[renegade08]

-{ Quote: "I think those people who rely on Avira would be glad to see you ditching it - the more people who ditch it, the less likely Avira's servers will over-load like this haha." }-

Interesting point of view. ;D
I think that people from Avira should consider about their servers.
At day is always hard to get update, but at night update is flying.
Although Premium version has always update normally.

ssj100, And i bet if you change you signature to MSE instead of Avira AntiVir Personal even more people will go for MSE and servers will be much faster. ;)

[NoIos]

Just updated 2 PCs...10 to 20 minutes to update...

[NoIos]

Another pc has just passed the hour of downloading...it's the first time the abort button has become so interesting and tempting.

[Morro]

Well i let the Updater run last night after i did not get the update yesterday. Guess what when i got up this morning the update still hat not started downloading, that is around 8 hours later!! :(

Now if this was the first time i got this update problem then i would not mind...but it is not the first time so it is becoming extremely annoying to me.(And any one else who suffers from this problem i guess. ) Mind you though i am not saying i will switch to another AV...but i am getting tempted more and more with each of these update problems.

[FRug]

-{ Quote: "Avira claims to have more than 1 million free accounts, if that's true it is an awful lot to feed new updates. " }-

It's not "more than 1 Million" it is more than 100 million free users. With an update size of 4MB that amounts to ~380 Terabytes of Traffic for this update alone.

[Osaban]

-{ Quote: "It's not "more than 1 Million" it is more than 100 million free users. With an update size of 4MB that amounts to ~380 Terabytes of Traffic for this update alone." }-

You are probably right, what I read in one of their e-mails was "their million-selling products".

[s23]

you guys noted a product update? here mine is 9.0.0.410 and new categorie appeared under the "extend threat categories" - fraudulent software.

[IceCube1010]

As much as I hate to say it, but if avira limited the updates for the free version, there probably would never be an updating issue. Many people like to setup schedules to update every hour on the hour and this causes massive problems on avira's end. With their heuristics module on and limiting only 1 or 2 updates daily, this would benefit the end users and avira.

Just my .02 cents, please don't flame me,
Ice