FAQ
AVG 8.0 Free Edition FAQ » Update
To update AVG 8.0 Free Edition, please open AVG User Interface and click the button "Update now". Alternativelly, you can open menu "Tools" and select the option "Update", or "Update from directory", based on you preferred update method.
If you try to update AVG Free and the error Update failed, Connection with update server has failed is displayed, it can be caused by one of the following reasons:
Connection to AVG Free update servers is blocked
In case you are using any Firewall or Content filtering applicaiton, please make sure that it is not preventing AVG Free from connecting to Internet. If you are using Windows Firewall, AVG Free will allow itself automatically during the instalaltion, however this is not possible for all other Firewall or Content filtering solutions. You can temporarily disable any such program to verify whether it is affecting AVG Free, or add AVG Free files and servers to its exceptions. The list of files used by AVG Free, and servers to which is AVG Free connecting are available in
Your Internet connection is not fully functional
Your Internet connection to AVG Free update servers may stop working in some cases, although standard Internet browsing works correctly. Proceed as follows to rectify such situation:
- Open menu Start -> (Settings) -> Control Panel.
- Double-click on Network connections.
- Right-click on Local area connection and select Repair.
- Try to update AVG Free.
Your Internet settings are not correct
Even if your Internet connection is working correctly, incorrect DNS servers may be filled in, affecting AVG Free update. This can be caused e.g. by some virus that was previously on your computer.
- Open menu Start -> (Settings) -> Control Panel.
- Double-click on Network connections.
- Right-click on the connection you are using and choose Properties.
- Double-click on Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) item on the General tab.
- Please check (and modify if necessary) the settings of IP address and DNS servers according to your Internet Provider settings or choose the Obtain DNS server address automatically option.
- Confirm the settings by clicking on the OK button.
- Close the window.
You are using dial-up connection
In case you are using dial-up connection, you should configure AVG Free to use this connection.
- Open AVG Free by double-click on AVG Free icon your Desktop, or in system tray.
- Open menu Tools -> Advanced settings -> Update -> Dial-up.
- Tick the option Use dial-up connections.
- Save the settings using OK button and try to update again.
The "Database is outdated" message is displayed, when the database is older than one week. To resolve this situation, please proceed as follows:
- Try to update AVG Free
- Open main AVG Free window by double-click on AVG Free icon on your Desktop or in system tray.
- Click button Update now.
- If a list of available updates is shown, click Update.
- If the update proceeded correctly but your AVG Free still reports outdated virus base, continue with step 2.
- Check your system date and time
Windows XP or 2000- Either double-click on the time display in the lower-right corner of the screen.
- Or open Start - Settings - Control Panel - Date and time.
- Make sure the date and time are set correctly.
- Either click on the time display in the lower-right corner of the screen and select Change date and time settings.
- Or open Start - Control Panel - Clock, Language, and Region - Set the time and date - Change date and time.
- Make sure the date and time are set correctly.
In case AVG Free can not be updated due to issues with connection to our update servers, please refer to
If you want to update AVG 8.0 Free Edition from local storage (CD, directory on HDD, USB Flash disc) you can do it this way:
- Open AVG User Interface
- From top menu "Tools" select "Update from directory" option
- Navigate to the folder where AVG update files are stored and click "OK"
AVG update files can be downloaded from:
http://free.avg.com/update
If you are using proxy server for connection into the Internet, you need to modify configuration of AVG 8.0 Free Edition update process this way:
Launch AVG Free User Interface -> from top menu "Tools" select "Advanced settings" option -> in the left navigation tree select "Update" -> "Proxy"
From the combo box menu located on the right hand side of this dialog select whether you want to:
- Use proxy
- Try connection using proxy and if it fails, connect directly
The proxy server settings can be configured either manually or automatically.
Manual configuration:
If you select manual configuration (check the Manual option to activate the respective dialog section) you have to specify the following items:
- Server – specify the server’s IP address or the name of the server
- Port – specify the number of the port that enables Internet access (by default, this number is set to 3128 but can be set differently – if you are not sure, contact your network administrator)
The proxy server can also have configured specific rules for each user. If your proxy server is set up this way, check the Use PROXY authentication option to verify that your user name and password are valid for connecting to the Internet via the proxy server.
Automatic configuration:
If you select automatic configuration (mark the Auto option to activate the respective dialog section) then please select where the proxy configuration should be taken from:
- From browser - the configuration will be read from your default internet browser (supported browsers being Internet Explorer, Firefox, Mozilla and Opera)
- From script - the configuration will be read from a downloaded script with the function returning the proxy address
- Autodetect - the configuration will be detected automatically directly from the proxy server
In case you have changed Dial-Up connection to Broadband, it is required to change also the AVG configuration to be able to update.
You can set this the following way:
- open AVG Free
- go to menu Tools - Advanced settings - Update - Dial-up
- disable the option "Use dial-up connections"
- confirm settings with OK
You should be able to perform an update using your new Internet connection now.
Note:
In case the new (broadband) connection is done using DSL modem, which is connected via USB interface directly to your computer, it is needed to keep the original dial-up settings.
If there is Cybersitter application installed on your computer and you are having problems updating AVG 8.0 Free Edition, you need to add the following names of our update servers to the list of allowed addresses within the Cybersitter program:
- update.avg.cz
- backup.avg.cz
- akamai.avg.cz
If you receive the "Invalid update control CTF file" message during AVG update, most probably the update control files are corrupted. In this case it is necessary to delete these files. During a next attempt to update AVG, new control files should be downloaded and update process should be completed without any difficulties. Please kindly follow these steps to delete mentioned control files:
- Download the utility from the link below to your hard drive
deleteupdatefiles.exe - Run the downloaded utility (command line window will appear for a short time)
- Try to update the AVG program
If the issue persists, then please follow steps below:
- Double-click the My computer icon on your desktop (or open Start -> My Computer)
- Navigate to the following folder:
- Windows XP / 2000:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\avg8\update\download * - Windows Vista:
C:\ProgramData\avg8\update\download *
- Windows XP / 2000:
- Find the avginfoavi.ctf and avginfowin.ctf files and delete them
- Restart your computer
* Please note that some folders/files could be hidden. To view hidden files and folders please follow the steps below:
1. Open the folder options in Windows:
- Windows XP / 2000:
Open menu Start> Settings> Control Panel> Folder options - Windows Vista:
Open menu Start> Control Panel> Appearance and Personalization> Folder options
2. Click on the View tab and enable the Show hidden files and folders option.
In case you are not able to run your Windows XP operating system after AVG 8.0 virus definition update, it may be caused by a false positive on a specific "user32.dll" system file. The file was moved to the AVG Virus Vault and deleted. Therefore it is not possible to start Windows. Please follow the steps below to rectify this situation:
If you do not have Windows XP installation CD with the latest updates, we strongly recommend you to use our fix tool instead. The mentioned fix tool can be found in FAQ 1577.
WARNING! There is a high probability of incompatibility with other system files (for example with winsrv.dll) if the latest installation CD is not used. This can also cause inabitity to start operating system.
1. Please insert the Windows XP installation CD and boot computer from this CD (if you do not have the installation CD please follow steps mentioned in our FAQ 1577).
2. Choose and run Recovery Console.
3. Choose Windows operating system you want to repair.
4. Disable AVG Resident Shield from loading. You can disable loading services/drivers with "disable" command, i.e. you have to type the following commands (some
of them might not be present in all AVG editions):
disable avgMfx86
disable avgMfa86
disable avgldx86
disable avglda86
5. Restore the User32.dll file from the Windows XP installation CD (instead "D:" use letter of your CD-ROM drive):
expand D:\i386\user32.dl_ c:\windows\system32\
In case the command fails, please use the following command to rename original user32.dll and repeat the command above.
ren user32.dll user32.bak
6. Restart computer and boot Windows normally.
7. In order to re-enable the AVG Resident Shield services we recommend that you perform the AVG repair installation as follows:
- Download the latest AVG installation package from the following webpage and save it on your hard disk:
http://free.avg.com/download?prd=afe
(AVG Anti-Virus Free 8.0)
- When you are prompted, please do not open this file directly from the internet, but click the Save button and choose a location, where the installation
file should be stored. We recommend saving the file to the Desktop.
- Restart your computer.
- Locate the downloaded AVG installation file (it has a four color square icon and its name starts with AVG_...) and launch the installation by double-clicking on it.
- Follow the installation wizard.
- When prompted, please select the Repair installation option.
- Enter your license number when you are asked (we recommend that you use the copy&paste* method to enter this license number into the installation form).
- Restart your computer and update AVG.
We have prepared an utility which can fix the issue mentioned above. You can use the following boot media: either CD-ROM or USB flash drive. If you decide to use CD-ROM, please follow the instructions in part A), in case of USB flash drive follow the steps in part B). When finished it is necessary (in both cases) to follow additional instructions described in part C).
A. CD-ROM instructions (recommended):
1. Please download the CD image.
2. Use your favorite CD burning software to burn the downloaded image (IMPORTANT NOTE: Please use the "Burn CD from image"* option).
3. Insert the CD into the CD-ROM drive of the affected computer and restart the computer. It should boot up from the CD. If not, please see the user's manual for you motherboard to find out how to let the computer boot from a CD.
4. Continue with instructions in section C).
B. USB flash drive instructions (available only for computers supporting USB boot function):
1. Please download the USB flash archive.
2. Extract the content of the "rescue_en.zip" archive to your USB flash drive.
3. IMPORTANT: go to the root of the flash drive.
WARNING: take care to do the next step only when you are located on the flash drive. Doing the step on the local disk can DESTROY BOOT FILES ON YOUR HARD
DRIVE!
4. Please run the "makeboot.bat" batch (pay attention that it is the one on the USB flash drive) and follow the instructions.
5. Connect the USB flash drive to the affected computer and restart the computer. It should boot up from the USB flash drive. If not, please see the user's manual for you motherboard to find out how to let the computer boot from a USB flash drive. Please note that this function is not supported on all motherboards.
C. Additional instructions:
1. Boot the computer from the CD-ROM or USB flash drive as described in steps A) and B).
2. Follow the rescue process.
3. Please login to Windows as Administrator.
4. Update the AVG program (Open AVG User Interface and click the "Update now" button)
5. Rename the file "avgrsx.exe_off" to "avgrsx.exe". This file is located in the AVG 8.0 Program folder (C:\Program Files\AVG\AVG8 by default)´.
6. Rename the file "avgsched.dll_off" to "avgsched.dll". This file is located in the AVG 8.0 Program folder (C:\Program Files\AVG\AVG8 by default)
7. Remove the boot media (CD-ROM or USB flash drive) and restart your computer.
* The name of the function may vary depending on used software.