avira free isn't updating

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busy lately and not on my laptop much and when I just got on here the windows message popped up that my antivirus is out of date.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.

 

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.

 

It might be a good idea to perform a manual update, if you're on broadband that is. Avira manual update procedure.

 

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)

 

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.

 

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

 

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.

 

That's really a great idea

 

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. 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.

 

where ^^^ please?

 

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

 

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 .

 

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.

 

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

 

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

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

 

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 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.

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 .

 

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

 

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.

 

My Antivir hasn't updated in 5 days 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.

 

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?

 

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