Aviras AV just added some new features.

For anyone interested, a link to a free 90 day trial of avira premium security suite.

http://www.avira.com/en/evaluate/vnu.php

 

Yes, I only have the on demand scanner installed and until the update the umbrella was always closed in the systray. Now, even though I don't have the Guard installed the umbrella is always open. I don't care for that much. However, what you describe is worse. If you disable the Guard so you can install something, etc. and then you reboot and see the umbrella open...well, you may forget that you disabled the Guard.

As for your problem with your DVD burner, I guess I need to burn something to see if I have any problems. In the past, if I burned a CD with Nero6 Ultra and did not reboot immediately, Avira would access my floppy drive every ten seconds and no way to stop it except by rebooting. So, since I had that problem and I read about yours...I hope I don't have any problems that cause incorrect burning/reading.

 

Thanks for the link. Since I've been having trouble with FD-ISR snapshots taking far too long to create with KIS v7 installed on my Vista PC, I thought I'd give Avira a try.

I uninstalled KIS, rebooted, installed Avira Premium Security Suite, entered my license key (which was accepted) then rebooted. After connecting to the Internet, I attempted numerous times to get Avira to download updates. After about 1.5 minutes (with the progress always showing 0%), a message invariably appeared which said, "Internet connection failed." Reviewing Avira's report log, the final entry always stated "Critical error: Connection failed while downloading the file http://dl1.antivir-pe.de/upd/vdf_preload/vdf1.vdf.gz."

I ran GRC's ShieldsUp! port scan twice with Avira's firewall active and each time it reported ports 135 and 139 open, 445 stealth, and the others closed.

I thought I'd send Avira technical support a message only to discover home users are restricted to posting on a forum. Reviewing past responses (and non-responses) on Avira's forum did not motivate me to register.

I tried Avira on my XP PC several months ago and the program updated fine, but reported several false positives so I availed myself of the Systweak KIS offer at that time. This is the first instance in which I've had a program, especially anti-virus software, continually fail to download updates. There's nothing wrong with my Internet connection and the only active firewall is Avira's. I guess I'll have to keep looking for a KIS replacement.

 

Τhanks! I will try it!

 

Antivir always reported the guard as not installed when the service is disabled and stopped.
If there is any difference (I think there is not) Antivir doesn't know it.

 

with the new release it is removed from controllcenter when it is not installed. Seems to be the same when you disable the services from starting via services manager.
the only difference should be that when uninstalled the trayicon is open, when disabled the tray icon should be closed.

 

Re: Aviras AV just added & Removed some features.

I am seeing the same thing here, full Scan; All Local Drives listed on Reports and was done on Schedule.

If you run the Scan system now link on your Status page, then it will be listed. [just another bug ]

Major change for Classic users on Dial-Up Internet Service is that there is no longer any check-box for:

[_] Start job while connecting to the Internet (dial-up) On your Scheduler's Update job.

See AntiVir (English) Forum Thread No More AutoUpdate on DialUp

Time will tell if this improves the Classic's Server Clog.

 

I've been trying out the avira suite using the free license and i never had any of the problems you mentioned. Possibly the previous installation of KIS is causing a problem.
I was also trying out avira to see how it affects fd-isr creating snapshots. So far i've tried eset smart security and avira premium suite. With avira it took me 5:30 to update my snapshot, with eset it took 6:20.

 

Hi,

I think if you set the firewall to "high" versus the default medium, that will stealth all ports. I can pass the GRC test completely on the high setting. And yes, I took my pc off the stealth firewall router I have.

As far as Avira's support, I find it to be pretty good. Grisoft's support via email (for my AVG products) isn't exactly better!

 

Re: Aviras AV just added & subtracted some new features.

AntiVir Classic SysTray icon has failed to load twice (out of ten+) since *upgrade* to 268,
TaskManager showed avguard running and I have always had it set to "Restart" in Services; Recovery.

I do run One Hardware Profile with AntiVir Guard "Disabled" in this Profile in Services; Log On page.

One boot into this Profile and AntiVir loaded Two icons on SysTry, both 'umbrella closed'

 

In a different FD-ISR snapshot, I uninstalled KIS v7 and installed the latest ESS beta. ESS appears to be running fine on my Vista PC with, thankfully, none of the problems reported by many other members of this board. All ports show up as "stealth" on GRC's ShieldsUp! With ESS or NOD32 installed, FD-ISR creates/updates snapshots in one-third the time it takes when KIS v7 is installed. I hope Eset is able to get the debugged release version of ESS out soon.

When I'm finished running tests for Raxco/Leapfrog support, I'm going to reformat my PC in the hope of removing any vestiges of KIS v7. Then perhaps I'll give Avira another chance. I will miss KIS's registry protection feature. I won't miss KIS's firewall or long snapshot creation/update times.

 

I had a similar problem some months ago after installing Personal Premium - I would get partial updates, and then a similar error when Avira tried to update a file called (I think, from memory) "avcmd.gz". Anyway, I struggled with this for ages, and searched their forums - it seemed related to a possible issue with my ISP, where it may have been filtering certain files - other people have reported similar issues. The intriguing thing was that I was able to download this file using an encrypted proxy tool, as suggested on their forums - so that supported the view that my ISP or even my own router or firewall was filtering out the file.

Amyway, I was eventually able to download the file on one occasion - not sure why. I had asked my ISP to remove this file from any cacheing they might have in place, but they claimed that nothing was required on their end.

The other solution might be to download a manual update from Avira. This also worked for me. I think what was happening was that the original install file contained an old version of this problem file, and Avira would then immediate try to update this file on first connecting, causing the problem. If the manual update was downlaoded and installed, then subsequent updates would only include virus updates, or other updated files, and this particular problem file would not be included - so updates would be fine. I have not had a problem with Avira updates for months now, since that problem file was replaced. Perhaps a similar situation applies in your case - trying downloading a manual update and install it, then see if subsequent automatic updates run smoothly.

 

I rebooted into my Avira snapshot an hour ago and still couldn't get it to download updates and had the same unsatisfactory results on GRC's ShieldsUp! I tried to follow Thug21's advice but I couldn't find anywhere in Avira's firewall settings (either regular or advanced) to change the firewall's level. No "medium" or "high" appeared anywhere I could locate.

I just uninstalled Avira and replaced it with the trial of BitDefender Internet Security 2008. The good news is BDIS2008 downloaded updates fine and got a perfect score on ShieldsUp! The bad news is it's blocking most, but not all, of my programs from accessing the Internet without giving me any popups asking if they should be allowed. I can't log in to MSN or use Opera, but Firefox works OK (which is how I'm making this post). BitDefender allowed SpywareBlaster to check for updates (without asking my permission) but blocks AVG Anti-Spyware, SUPERAntiSpyware, Ace Utilities and TuneUp Utilities from accessing the Internet with no popups. Initially, I could click on BitDefender's system tray icon and its control panel would appear. Now, clicking on the system tray or Desktop shortcut icons does nothing.

 

If you ever want to give Avira a try again, the firewall "high" setting is visible if you click the "Firewall" tab at the top of the control center. It's not under configuration.

As far as updating, what kind of internet connection you have?

 

I to have had a little update trouble as slow as 4 KB on a high speed connection. This is not typical for me. Also using the free version. I did get it finally with out loss of connection or retry.

XP Home SP2.

 

I clicked the "Firewall" tab and sure didn't see it. I may try Avira again when I reformat my PC in a couple days if Raxco/Leapfrog support say they're done with me running tests for them.

My Internet connection is MSN "Premium" [guffaw] dial-up. Avira is the only AV which I've ever had any trouble getting to download updates. BDIS2008 which I'm trying right now updates fine. It won't, inexplicably, let most other programs access the Internet but BitDefender updates promptly. I hope a reformat will remove all traces of KIS in case some vestiges of KIS are contributing to the peculiar problems I'm experiencing. Wish I had some method to eliminate all traces of Norton which comes preloaded in HP PCs. Norton's Removal Tool not only doesn't get rid of all of them, it adds some new ones. While I'm wishing, I wish my new PC came with XP instead of Vista.

 

I've had this problem numerous times in the past. Begs the question: why dont they gradually distribute the program update to end users, instead of pushing it out in one big operation?

They should have proper procedures in place to control the load on their server and bandwidth available. In particular signature release should take priority and always be available.

 

It should be right there when you click the Firewall Tab. It's a horizontal slider.


As far as updates, there seems to be a bug in this release with regards to updating for dial-up users. Hopefully it will be fixed soon.

 

Thanks for the screenshot. It seems strange Avira's firewall level has to be raised to "high" to close all ports. Even XP SP2's and Vista's firewalls invariably "stealth" all ports, as does KIS's firewall set on "low."

I don't need any convincing to believe there a bug with Avira updating for peons such as myself on dial-up.

It took four reboots but BDIS2008 is now working fine on my PC. Since I plan to do a reformat in a few days anyway, I'm actually considering evaluating NIS2008. My only experience with Norton has been trying to eradicate all the residue from Symantec products which come preloaded in HP PCs. I've read so many positive comments about NIS2007/2008, however, I'm curious about it. I have a hard time envisioning myself giving money to the fiends at Symantec after they bought out Sygate and prevented my favorite firewall from ever being Vista compatible.

 

I use broadband (cable) and had the same problem as Karen -- "Internet connection failed" after nearly 2 minutes of waiting. Tried 3X more. Same crappy results.

My other AVs (on-demand) updated briskly, so I know it was NOT my connection but was, instead, a problem at Avira's end.

Avira's so-called "report" is totally uninformative as to WHY this update problem occurs.

Avira is a good AV, but I am totally out of patience with their evident inability to provide efficient update software & speedy connections, even for premium users. As to the 90-day freebie, I gave up on using it. It seems evident that even "free" is waaaay too expensive for any AV program with repetitive & inexplicable update problems.

I have uninstalled Avira & re-activated faithful DrWeb.

 

I have Avira's firewall set on High, but I still don't pass the ShieldsUp test at grc.com. All ports are stealth except port 0. It shows closed only. I've never had a firewall fail to stealth port 0, except for Avira's firewall. I'm not too worried about it, but it sure would be nice to have Passed in those big green letters show up on my screen.
Anyone else run into this situation?

 

Every major update I've gotten has felt like a beta. It took 3 days to get the update, and then the "bugs" came out! So as before, I'll uninstall with the intentions of trying again next year...

 

Smart move

 

I think avira is still in it's infancy contrary to opinion.

 

Oh finally. Someone else who recognizes this.