AVG won't connect to get updates

**runman** · March 28th, 2004, 05:19 PM

When I try to get updates in AVG, I get the message "can't establish internet connection". I have a full time internet connection via cable and it works fine in all other applications. It occassionally will work, but 90% of the time I get the above message after a long delay. Any ideas as to what causes this? Also, AVG says it only works with Microsoft Outlook as an email client. Does this mean it won't work with Outlook Express 6.0?

Thanks for the help.

**freddy** · March 28th, 2004, 05:31 PM

curtisy of platipus , on another avg post

Found this suggestion and it worked immediately for me:

Navigate to your AVG install directory and rename your existing url.ini file to url.iniold.

Copy the following and paste into notepad and save it as url.ini. Put this new file into your AVG install directory. You'll now have 3 options to select from with www.grisoft.com being the default.

[SERVER_NAME]
1=free.grisoft.cz
2=ftp.grisoft.com
3=www.grisoft.com

[SERVER_URL]
1=http://free.grisoft.cz/softw/60/fe
2=ftp.grisoft.com/pub/softw/60/fe/
3=http://www.grisoft.com/softw/60/fe/
Actual URL=3

if it don,t update on the first setting try the next , and then the last.

since i did those settings , it,s good now.

**runman** · March 28th, 2004, 06:54 PM

Boy, that worked like a charm! Updates fast now. There was no real problem with my internet connection after all. That was a misleading return error it was giving me. Thanks a lot. Any idea about my other question: Does it really work with Outlook Express 6.0? It says it only works with Microsoft Outlook. I am not sure if it is scanning incoming email or not. I turned on "certify incoming mail" but there is no certification message at the end of the email messagges.

**flackt** · March 28th, 2004, 07:21 PM

You have to enable the OE plugin box in AVG.

If you have OE 6 sp 1 it probally won't work.

OE locks and won't finish loading until you disable the plugin in avg.

Between that and the update issue, I was driven to try avast, like it so far.

**Platypus** · March 29th, 2004, 08:10 AM

Originally Posted by flackt

You have to enable the OE plugin box in AVG.

If you have OE 6 sp 1 it probally won't work.

OE locks and won't finish loading until you disable the plugin in avg.

Between that and the update issue, I was driven to try avast, like it so far.

Yes, on the E-mail Scanner tab of the Control Centre, Use Outlook Express 5 Plugin should be selected to enable explicit email checking. As this indicates, Outlook Express needs to be the email client for this to work. With other email clients, you're relying on the Resident Shield to notice anything undesirable. All the virus checks and Use Heuristics should be enabled on the Resident Shield tab.

While it's possible for there to be a conflict between programs like flackt found, it's not the usual thing. I have numerous systems running AVG with IE6/OE6 SP1 and have had no incompatability.

For some reason the certification message doesn't seem to get onto incoming mail even if the option is set. I just sent emails both ways between my POP account and my webmail, the one I sent with OE arrived at my webmail with the certification message, the one sent from the webmail account and received via OE had no message. Other people have also commented on this quirk.

**bazcook** · March 30th, 2004, 04:55 PM

Well the .ini update worked like a damn for a couple of weeks and now my AVG hasn't been able to connect and update since March 26th - in either auto or manual mode, or using any of the three download sites.

I get the notification that it is 'Downloading the Control File Update' of 343 Bytes, but after 3 minutes of no traffic it times out and the program closes.

Anyone else experiencing problems again?

Plan C, anyone?

**Diver01** · March 30th, 2004, 04:59 PM

My update isnt working either. Ill dig into is when I get home and See what I can find out...

**bazcook** · March 31st, 2004, 08:55 AM

Now - since the three download sites within the AVG product seem to down, I went to the manual updates download page

http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_updt6.php?lng=fe

and found that clicking on the appropriate hyperlink garnered no response either. I tried a 'Save Target as...' as well and nothing, but I noted the download site was back to the free.grisoft.cz which isn't responding in AVG.

Hmmm.

As an experiment, I went directly to Grisoft's true Home site (www.grisoft.cz) and worked my way to that site's AVG update page.

http://www.grisoft.cz/cz/cz_updt6.php

And while my Czech is nothing to write home about - okay, non-existent - it appeared that the appropriate update was of the same name, size and date as its English site counterpoint, so I took a chance and tried a download.
It started immmediately and I installed it into Grisoft | AVG | Updates with no problem at all. Starting AVG it recognised it (in English) and updated itself.

So it seems, for whatever reason, the servers (or links) handling the 'English' downloads are buggered while - for the moment at least - the Czech site still works.

A boring work-around but whatever works, huh? Especially as there appears to be no way to contact Grisoft and let them know of the problem.

**Diver01** · March 31st, 2004, 09:19 AM

Tried to update a couple of times when I got home and kept receiving time out errors. On the 4th try, it worked, kinda.

It paused for about a minute, then Poof, worked like a champ.
Seems as there servers are under some kind of attack maybe? Dunno.. but it works.. just keep trying...

BTW this was with a broadband connection....

**bazcook** · March 31st, 2004, 10:48 AM

I struggled with it over several periods yesterday and over a one hour window today with no success (multiple tries over all three download addresses) - hence why I went the true manual route.

I don't know whether the sites are under attack or whether they simply don't have the hardware to cope with the popularity of the product and the subsequent update downloads. It may be telling that I was unable to access the 'english' updates while the 'czech' one was fine.

While AVG is known better by word of mouth in North America, it seems to show up *a lot* in UK and European computer magazines and, most especially, the enclosed CDs that come with these publications. It could be that, quite simply, they don't have the capabilities (or the will) to deal with the success.

I'll keep hoping for the included AVG links to come back online, but at least I may have found an alternative - without giving up on AVG.

**amacd55** · March 31st, 2004, 10:57 AM

Originally Posted by freddy

curtisy of platipus , on another avg post

Found this suggestion and it worked immediately for me:

Navigate to your AVG install directory and rename your existing url.ini file to url.iniold.

Copy the following and paste into notepad and save it as url.ini. Put this new file into your AVG install directory. You'll now have 3 options to select from with www.grisoft.com being the default.

[SERVER_NAME]
1=free.grisoft.cz
2=ftp.grisoft.com
3=www.grisoft.com

[SERVER_URL]
1=http://free.grisoft.cz/softw/60/fe
2=ftp.grisoft.com/pub/softw/60/fe/
3=http://www.grisoft.com/softw/60/fe/
Actual URL=3

if it don,t update on the first setting try the next , and then the last.

since i did those settings , it,s good now.

I tried this and it still won't connect. I get the following:
"An automatic connection to the Internet could not be established. Please manually establish a connection to download your update files (this can typically be done by launching your Internet Browser)."

I am connected via wireless broad band. I have Opera open and connected. I can get my e-mail via Eudora. I obviously have a connection. If I use a dial-up, same thing.

How does one try the next and then the next? Modify the URL.INI order?

thanks, Al

**bazcook** · March 31st, 2004, 11:23 AM

So, noting the struggles above even with the modified .ini additional addresses and discovering the Grisoft direct download page (english) once again directs to free.grisoft.cz site (which is problematic in AVG), I then wondered what the address to the successful (czech) download was.

Turns out it yet another address to those we already know. Realizing that, I structured the info to follow the original fix and have added it to my .ini file so that it now looks like this -

[SERVER_NAME]
1=free.grisoft.cz
2=ftp.grisoft.com
3=www.grisoft.com
4=download.grisoft.cz

[SERVER_URL]
1=http://free.grisoft.cz/softw/60/fe
2=ftp.grisoft.com/pub/softw/60/fe/
3=http://www.grisoft.com/softw/60/fe/
4=http://download.grisoft.cz/softw/60/fe/
Actual URL=3

Rebooting, this gives me 4 adddresses now in the drop down list in AVG. It still defaults to the www.grisoft.com, but that can be changed. I tried an update via the additional address, but as I am now up-to-date, all I got was the dialog box saying that my AVG is already recent. This in itself I take as a good thing as there has been a response back from the server.

Don't know how long - or even if - this will work (the danger of telling people of a work-around) but its another option!