AVG Free Upgraded to 8.5.278

Sometimes I get this fault on various machines: "Update Manager - The connection failed".

Are the AVG Free servers overloaded like the Avira Free servers?

[robinb]

i have seen this also- because so many are downloading the new version the update servers are probably overloaded. Just keep trying
robin

[JRViejo]

ance, as robinb stated, the AVG Free servers have never been speed kings to begin with and when a new update/upgrade comes out, they become notoriously slow. Nothing we can do but try and try again.

[JRViejo]

FYI. Here's a little more info from an AVG Team member. Re: AVG Update Failed - update servers availability.

Yes, scheduled update WILL retry in certain intervals.
But we are investigating this update server issue, we have already increased bandwidth significantly but same servers are now serving both virus updates and the new 8.5 update so probably the increase was not sufficient. Working on it, sorry about the problems

Thank you, it seems that AVG Free 8.x has a lot of users (1,784,230 downloads on download.com)

[DougCuk]

The default settings for update messages in AVG v8.x have always been annoying - you get system-tray popups for every attempt and every failure of the update process. I soon got bored with this level of feedback and altered the default settings to remove Update messages. AVG will still warn if the anti-virus or anti-spyware databases are out of date - which is all one really needs to know. This was actually the default response with AVG v7.5 as far as I remember.

The settings you need to alter are as follows:

Select the "Tools" menu
Then "Advanced Settings"
From the menu tree down the right-hand side of the display select the following two sections:

1. "Appearance"
Untick "Display tray notifications about update"

2. "Ignore faulty condition"
Tick "Update Manager"

AVG Free only automatically updates once per day (but retries until it succeeds) so IMO the loss of feedback is not really a problem. If there is some ongoing problem the Databases Out of Date warnings kick in after a couple of days to alert you.

[JRViejo]

FYI. If you are not planning to upgrade to the Paid version, in order to get rid of the AVG Hide Notification area in the Free 8.5 version, follow the procedure listed in this avg free advert is annoying post, plus find and rename avgfree_us.mht to avgfree_us.mht.bak. You can always undo this step by removing .bak from all 3 files.

[clocks]

Thought this version was supposed to be lighter? Using over 70meg on my Win7 32bit machine. I'll try another reboot.

[JRViejo]

clocks, for comparison purposes, on a WinXP SP2 system, 2 GB RAM, without installing AVG's LinkScanner & Toolbar, disabling Auto Updates & Scans, plus Scan on boot disabled, here's what Task Manager reports on my 8.5.278 version for Mem Usage (0% CPU Usage on all processes):

13,828K - avgcsrvx.exe (AVG Scanning Core Module - Server Part)
1,844K - avgwdsvc.exe (AVG Watchdog Service)
3,872K - avgtray.exe (AVG Tray Monitor)
500K - avgemc.exe (AVG Email Scanner)
184K - avgrsx.exe (AVG Resident Shield)

Originally Posted by JRViejo

in order to get rid of the AVG Hide Notification area in the Free 8.5 version, follow the procedure listed in this avg free advert is annoying post, plus find and rename avgfree_us.mht to avgfree_us.mht.bak. You can always undo this step by removing .bak from all 3 files.

Thank you very much!

[JRViejo]

Originally Posted by ance

Thank you very much!

ance, you are welcome! Glad it worked for you. Take care.

[clocks]

Originally Posted by JRViejo

clocks, for comparison purposes, on a WinXP SP2 system, 2 GB RAM, without installing AVG's LinkScanner & Toolbar, disabling Auto Updates & Scans, plus Scan on boot disabled, here's what Task Manager reports on my 8.5.278 version for Mem Usage (0% CPU Usage on all processes):

13,828K - avgcsrvx.exe (AVG Scanning Core Module - Server Part)
1,844K - avgwdsvc.exe (AVG Watchdog Service)
3,872K - avgtray.exe (AVG Tray Monitor)
500K - avgemc.exe (AVG Email Scanner)
184K - avgrsx.exe (AVG Resident Shield)

Try process explorer, as I believe it is more accurate. I installed without linkscanner, toolbar, & daily scans.

[JRViejo]

Originally Posted by clocks

Try process explorer, as I believe it is more accurate. I installed without linkscanner, toolbar, & daily scans.

clocks, here's with Process Explorer today (Mem working set in bold red) and still close enough for government work:

13,828K - avgcsrvx.exe (AVG Scanning Core Module - Server Part) 15,668K
1,844K - avgwdsvc.exe (AVG Watchdog Service) 2,224K
3,872K - avgtray.exe (AVG Tray Monitor) 3,576K
500K - avgemc.exe (AVG Email Scanner) 1,028K
184K - avgrsx.exe (AVG Resident Shield) 172K

What are your specs with Win7?

[clocks]

One of the modules, I believe the resident shield, takes 50-65meg on it's own. The other models are very small, probably similar to what you are reporting.

[JRViejo]

clocks, that's huge! Perhaps it's because AVG is not fine tuned for Win7 yet, heck, the 8.5 version is not even being deployed via the normal update as well. I would say that if that module is at 0% CPU Usage, then nothing to worry about, for the moment. Thanks for replying. Take care.

[JRViejo]

FYI. New User Manual Update (version 8.5.2) - March 17.

[JRViejo]

FYI. FileHippo shows a 8.5.283 version today, March 19th. The AVG Installation Files page shows the same download, but with a March 16th date. The AVG Updates page still shows 8.0.237 and the AVG Free Forum (scroll to bottom) details the change as of today:

Improvements
Core: New version of polymorphic virus Win32/Virut is now detected.

This new version has not come through my normal update as of the time of this posting.

[robinb]

Originally Posted by JRViejo

FYI. FileHippo shows a 8.5.283 version today, March 19th. The AVG Installation Files page shows the same download, but with a March 16th date. The AVG Updates page still shows 8.0.237 and the AVG Free Forum (scroll to bottom) details the change as of today:
This new version has not come through my normal update as of the time of this posting.

It has not come through mine yet either but AVG is still sending out the upgrade to its Pro versions. Some of my clients still have not seen the upgrade yet. They informed me until all their Pro clients upgrades are sent out they will not send the upgrade to the free yet.

When you download it from one of these sites, and it shows the earlier 8.237 version once you install it you need to check for updates again because there are 2 more module upgrades to the newer 8.5.283 version- so you need to do this 2 more times.

Also if you are running 8.0 and you download the version 8.5, when you go to install you will get 3 options:
add/remove components
repair compoments
uninstall componments

you need to pick repair compments (this is what AVG is recommending you to do- I did this on 25 computers so far with no problems) and if you do not want the toolbar you can uncheck it when it gets to that part of the installation.

It will remove the 8.0, ask you to reboot the computer and inform you prior to the reboot that you will need to do an update once it reboots.
Again you will need to do at least 2 more if you pick up the earler 8.5
robin

[JRViejo]

Originally Posted by robinb

When you download it from one of these sites, and it shows the earlier 8.237 version once you install it you need to check for updates again because there are 2 more module upgrades to the newer 8.5.283 version- so you need to do this 2 more times.

robinb, both FileHippo and AVG shows the file as avg_free_stf_en_85_283a1450.exe. Are you saying that when you try to install this file, it reverts back to 8.0.237 (the 8.5 series never had a .237 version - see here) and have to update twice before one sees 8.5.283?

If so, that sounds weird to me. I guess I'll wait until 8.5.283 shows up during normal update.

[robinb]

Originally Posted by JRViejo

robinb, both FileHippo and AVG shows the file as avg_free_stf_en_85_283a1450.exe. Are you saying that when you try to install this file, it reverts back to 8.0.237 (the 8.5 series never had a .237 version - see here) and have to update twice before one sees 8.5.283?

If so, that sounds weird to me. I guess I'll wait until 8.5.283 shows up during normal update.

no, it doesn't revert back to .237. You said on some sites like cnn.com it showed only the 8.5.237 version not the 8.5.283. If you pick it up on those sites you need to update at least 2x (click on "Updates" to get it up to the newest version. If you get it on a site that already has the 8.5.283 you will not have to do an additional update.

robin

[JRViejo]

Originally Posted by robinb

no, it doesn't revert back to .237. You said on some sites like cnn.com it showed only the 8.5.237 version not the 8.5.283.
robin

robinb, it's good to know that it doesn't revert back, but I said cnn.com? I think you have me confused with someone else. LOL

[Nuke]

I have computers on my network that are using this free antivirus. Should we wait or do the update to 8.5?

[JRViejo]

Nuke, I assume that you're using 8.0.237 and not knowing the features that are enabled on each computer, I would suggest to wait until the normal update comes through. Yet, if you are the adventurous type, you could try the new version in one computer and see how it goes. Keep us posted.

[Nuke]

Originally Posted by JRViejo

Nuke, I assume that you're using 8.0.237 and not knowing the features that are enabled on each computer, I would suggest to wait until the normal update comes through

You are correct (8.0.237). I did get a prompt from AVG to upgrade to 8.5. I selected "Remind Me Later" because it was after 10 PM. Two of my employees are using 8.0.237 (who are on my network) and I told them to hold off on the upgrade for now.

Thanks for the feedback.

[JRViejo]

Nuke, you are welcome! Yes, they are better off waiting than risk an installation, via the Repair Components option, which could be confusing to some. Take care.