Error Connecting to Update Server - SpywareBlaster won't update

From what I have read at various places the workaround works for some but not for others. I'm one of those that the workaround did not work. No matter what I try SB will not update.

I also wonder if there is more to this. Some of the ones having problems use AV other than Avira. I have seen some that are using Avast and Eset Nod32 having update problems.

 

I am running XP Pro with the free version of Avira Antivir, and was having the same updating problems. I ran the fix, rebooted once, and the problem is solved.

There is also another issue related to the latest Avira Antivr update as well, involving CCleaner. A weird "Unused File Extension" appears when you run a registry scan:

HKCR\{80b8c23c-16e0-4cd8-bbc3-cecec9a78b79}

I Googled that last week and apparently it is related to some recent Avira update secret file. The only way to get rid of it is to uncheck the same option that fixes the SB update problem. Apparently Avira is unwilling to disclose the exact nature of the "Unused File Extension" file according to people who have tried to figure out what it is. I don't care if they want to have secret files that show up in CCleaner. But I do care about updates that cause problems on my system.

I've also noticed some odd behavior that started happening around the same time that all these other problems appeared. (i.e. parts of IE pages suddenly disappear and can only be fixed with a reboot, problems with Spybot S&D's "Immunize" function suddenly dropping thousands of previously immunized items/inability to re-immunize them without rebooting the computer, and as mentioned by others, SB's protected items suddenly being dropped, etc.).

I thought maybe I'd gotten some virus or malware, but everything on my system keeps coming up clean. I thought I'd post it here just in case anyone else was noticing something similar. I've already verified the issue with CCleaner, and it's directly related to Avira Antivir. So it's a reasonable possibility that the other problems are related as well.

Update: I have another XP Pro computer that's also running Avira, that hadn't had the latest product update(s) installed, and there was no problem updating SB. But as soon as I ran the product update, 9 new files were installed, and immediately the problem with updating SB began. I unchecked the general/security box, rebooted once, and that fixed it.

 

I happen to have two computers: A desktop running Win XP-SP3 and a new Toshiba laptop running Win 7. The AV program on both is the latest version of Avira AntiVir. I experienced exactly what has been mentioned in this thread; i.e., SWB updates work on the Win 7 laptop, but not on the Win XP desktop. After changing AntiVir's configuration on the XP computer to NOT protect host files from manipulation, the SWB update process works perfectly. So this confirms that it's Avira's problem.

As an aside, this is not the only problem I've had with AntiVir version 10. Automatic updates work for 1 day, then cease to work. Thinking that something must have gotten corrupted the first time this happened, I uninstalled and reinstalled it. But the same thing happened; auto-update worked 1 time only. So I created a daily update in the Scheduler, which works fine. . . but why should I have to do that when the product purports to have automatic updates? I posted a message about this on Avira's forum, but have never gotten an acknowledgment from them that it was a bug and that they have or will fix it.

Adding these gafs to the AV review in the Jan. issue of PC World, which rated Avast the #1 free AV over Avira, is making Avast look a lot more attractive.

 

Ahhh, is anybody running Nod32 on xp sp3 or windows 7 64 bit having trouble updating SWB?

I am not. So where are these Nod32 issues?

 

Avira may have fixed this with the latest update.

Thanks to this thread
the sticky: Avira AntiVir Personal Bug Causing Issues on Windows XP
and the thread over at Avira which gave an extra step -
Post 5 in [SOLVED] Spyware Blaster updater

They called this a HotFix:

I managed to solve this unable to update issue.

BUT a few minutes later my Avira updated and notified me that for that update I had to restart.
(unusual as updates normally do not require a restart)

Right after the restart (@ Dec/15/2010 ~ 2pm EST) I went back into the
C: \ WINDOWS \ system32 \ drivers \
folder and checked
avipbb.sys.bak was still there as I renamed it -
BUT there was a new avipbb.sys

However the version is still 10.00.22.20 and 132Kb - same as the one I renamed

Could Avira have fixed the problem with this latest update?

 

It was on one of the forums I saw someone mention they were running Nod32 and were having the update issue. Also the Avira fix for the problem was for the free version. The premium version is on my computer and I have the update problem. I tried the fix anyway and had no luck with it. I ended up uninstalling SB and am using something else now with no problems.

 

Interesting, please provide the link to this forum so I can study the source.

 

Thank you "UnknownVT". The 4 step Hotfix you quoted above worked perfectly for my Windows XP SP3 32-bit system. As far as I'm concerned, this problem is resolved.
Thanks again,
Stu

 

If I run up on it again I'll be sure to post it. I looked through a lot trying to find out what the problem was so I don't right off remember where it was.

 

Not to sound smug or sarcastic, but I decided it was time to try a different AV and d/l'd and installed AVAST, after first uninstalling Avira. There are definitely differences between the two programs, and I miss a few things about Avira, but AVAST has some things AVIRA doesn't, and so far so good in terms of SB update, Spybot S&D, and no other anomalous behavior.

 

as i said before, i was experiencing the same problem, and i am running "antivir premium 10"..

i used antivir's "modify install" to uninstall antivir's "proactiv" and that solved the problem for me..

(to run a "modify install", go to add/remove, click "antivir", click "modify", to run a "modify install".. to uninstall "proactiv", when running the "modify install", untick the option for installing "proactiv" )..

 

This is a workaround IMHO not a fix.

What is really happening here is users are disabling an antivir security feature in order to allow another vendor's SWB to update and function.

When doing this does the user end up more or less secure? I don't know and users should NOT have to make that call.

A weakened AV doesn't seem wise to me. I would rather use a different AV not having to be "worked around".

I realize this is not what some want to read.

 

redwolfe_98: Thanks – your "fix" worked for me, though I have the same concerns mentioned by Escalader. Anyway, I think I found a solution I'm happy with – I'm jumping ship in favor of Avast! I wasn't familiar with that program before this morning, although I've heard good things, and have to say that my first impressions are very good ones. And while I could be mistaken, it doesn't seem to me that Avira is taking this SB issue all that seriously. In addition, I'm disgusted with their obstacles to posting in their forum.

I'm keeping Avira on a couple of the machines here for the moment, mainly out of curiosity to see how the SB issue is resolved; and of course, until I've had more time to evaluate Avast.

 

the avipbb.sys.bak workaround failed after updating antivir. avipbb.sys
was added... I went rename to it again...

 

Excellent point.

 

It looks like the latest download from Avira fixed things, and SB is once again updating on the two computers here that still have Avira on them.

 

Working fine for me too...

 

The latest update from Avira (10.0.0.609) updated C: \ WINDOWS \ system32 \ drivers \ avipbb.sys to 10.00.22.22 at the same 132Kb
- I believe this what has solved the problem for me.


Not that it matters now
over the weekend - I still had daily automatic update on Avira - the workaround posted above worked when implemented -
until Avira updates - as mentioned - it re-installs the avipbb.sys (old version 10.00.22.20) which was causing the problem.

If I had restarted as Avira suggested/insisted - SpywareBlaster would have faced the same prblems again - so instead I renamed avipbb.sys by adding a .BAK etc to it (I now have several .BAK, .BK1, BK2 etc all at version 10.00.22.20).

BUT today's update had updated avipbb.sys to 10.00.22.22. Which now seems to work fine with SpywareBlaster (4.4)

 

I resolved this by uninstalling Avira and installing Avast. Keep in mind that one must ensure that all of Avira has indeed been uninstalled. I also went to the program files and made sure no file(s) were left there as well. Products such as Revo help but not even it may rid one of all the left overs one has to check. Also be careful to not delete necessary files especially from the registry.

I am using WindowsXP SP3 32 bit, any other I know nothing about.

Thanks
Wildman

 

Yeap, same here. Three computers, one running XP Home 32 bit, another one running XP Pro 32 bit and a third one running Vista Ultimate 64 bit.

All running Avira free and the Vista machine was still updating Spywareblaster fine but in the last week or so the two XP machines had been giving me the Spywareblaster update error message.

This morning I updated Avira and Spywareblaster started to update just fine again.

 

I too was able to get the SB update a with no errors so apparently the Avira update worked. Hope it worked out for everyone. (For a review of my system/programs, refer to Post #40, this thread.) I’ve seen problems like this before on all sorts of software and it amazes me there aren’t more, especially with protection programs.

THAND YOU Javacool for the temporary “workaround”, it was pretty brilliant. I’ve been using Spyware Blaster for a long time and this is the first time there has been a problem for me. It’s a very good program and a lot of other people think so too; MajorGeeks has over 13,000,000 downloads for SB!

 

Update. Although I don’t get an error anymore it seems I cannot get an update. The last update was 12/18/10 and 14,030 items in the database. Also, the “workaround” does not work anymore. I disabled Avira while online (crazy, I know) and still cannot an update. It would be helpful if I knew when the last update was (I usually get them on Saturday on the west coast of the U.S.A.

I’ll move on the Avira forum and see what’s going on there. Or maybe just get another anti-virus.

 

The last update was 12/18/10 with 14030 items. I just updated to that version.
Edit: corrected date to read 12/18/10.

 

Thank you Thomasjk. I visited the Avira forum. Apparently they are working on the problem. So I guess I’ll just wait it out.

 

Information on the latest database version is available here:
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/downloads.html

(We just published a new database today, so please try checking again.)

Best regards and thanks,

-Javacool