I have just installed the latest version of ClamWin on a home user's PC which is running Windows 98 SE. The installation went fine until it reached the point where it tries to update the Virus Database Definitions. At this point all I can see happening is the progress icon scrolling vertically down the left hand side of the window and main log area remains blank. I don't even see the initial entry giving the date and time of the start of the ClamWin update. I have tried leaving it running for more than an hour but there is no change.

There is no problem accessing the Internet - launching both IE and Firefox both get access immediately.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Dene

Hello Dene,
Seems there are other users having problems with virus db updates on Win 98. Assuming that it is not an isolated case I expect the developers will try to fix the issue asap (user rr165 is going to send more details on the forum thus to enable to find solutions).
for the time being I suggest to manually download the virus db definitions (two files which can be found at https://www.clamav.net/) and put them in the relevant directory (don't know where it is placed on Win98, just search files named daily.cvd or main.cvd; check the path and replace them with newer ones) till the issue gets fixed.

The portable version of Clamwin is still at 0.94.1: you can try to have installed on a USB drive to check if it works on Win98.

Rgds
Antonio

Antonio,
Thanks for your feedback. I'll keep an eye for any notices from rr165 and in the meantime send the user daily updates and instructions.

Regards

Dene

I believe the auto update feature was stopped due to some problems at Clam. Hopefully it will be resolved soon.

Regards,

Hello

I've downloaded Clamwin for the first time today, and i'm having the same problem described by ridgedale (I also have win 98SE). I've downloaded the main and daily files as suggested. Does this mean that the antivirus protection is now in effect? Will I have to keep doing this daily, or will I be able to update automatically soon?

any help appreciated,
Carlos

Hello,

Seems Sherpya has found some solution. Check this thread https://forums.clamwin.com/viewtopic.php?t=2319 and report your findings on the forum. This will of help to all users.

Regards,
Antonio

unfortunately it's not a solution, but only a way to debug the problem, the source is unknown for some strange reason freshclam executable is unable to make an internet connection

Hello,

Sorry for having misunderstood the post. So, by now the only solution for Win98 users is to install the 0.94 version, which, as far as I remember, was the latest one with the freshclam working correctly. Correct?

Regards,
Antonio

Sorry, i'm not very computer literate, and I don't really get what to do next from the posts above. All I want is Anti Virus protection which works, like my free AVG did until a couple of weeks ago when they stopped issuing updates for Win 98.

At this point i'm downloading the daily updates manually, but does this means they take effect as soon as i transfer them into the db folder? should I reboot? I really don't even know if Clamwin is working - i have the blue circle in my start-up tray, so does that mean it's functioning? And is there anything straightforward I can do for it to download updates automatically as it's supposed to? For example, should I uninstal this version and instal the 0.94 version, as mentioned? Where would this version be available from?

sorry to sound helpless, but i am...
regards, Carlos

Hello Carlos,

If you download the update file and put them on the relevant folder, replacing the existing ones (usually they are located in C:\ProgramData\.clamwin\db) the program will be using the updated virus definitions on first launched scan. Note that up to now Clamwin is still an on demand scanner, so if AVG Free has discontinued the support for Win98 you will miss the real time feature. To make the thing as painless as possible set Clamwin preferences for hourly virus DB updates and make periodic scan of folders which are most likely to receive malware (namely the Windows folder and the folder containing user settings-it's names Documents and setting in Xp, don't know which is the right name under Win98).
The Clamwin icon in the system tray shows that Clamwin is active but, without updated virus definitions it's not that useful.

For the update problem the only 'solution' (just tentative till the issue gets fixed) is to roll back to 0.94 (which proved to be working OK). Installer can be found on https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=105508&package_id=113616. You will have to uninstall the version you are running on your machine, install the 0.94 and restart the computer. As I said this is not a solution but a tentative fix (you will be using and older Clam scanning engine, although it will work as well) to avoid manual downloads of db updates.

Hope this helps,
Antonio

See my post: Win98SE FreshClam 94.0 vs 94.1/95/1 DB Download Issue.

It is not the answer, but the reason and a suggested, viable solution that's if and when Sherpya stops being in denial.

it's very strange that 0.94 behaves differently when updating, unfortunately it's not easy to reproduce this problem,
I've only got a dns resolution problem on a win2k box, but since it was system-wide it's unsolvable by me
if 0.94 works and 0.95 fails, the problem is not system wide, can you try dnscheck program and tell me the output pls?

Hi Antonio

Thank you so much for your reply and your very clear, helpful instructions. As a result I have now installed 0.94 instead of 0.95, and it seems to be updating daily OK.

How will I find out when the 0.95 update 'glitch' is resolved, so that I can upgrade to 0.95?

Carlos

Hello Carlos,

Unfortunately I am not a tech so I cannot provide solutions for the problem. For the time being I just suggest to keep an eye on the forum. If user 1165 is giving output of the tests with dnschecker I'm sure Sherpya will try to fix it asap.

Regards,
Antonio

I'm not sure if I have a Win 98 SE problem or if the servers are merely busy. But I'm getting very odd reports that my ClamWin 0.94.1 is outdated, update failed and a temp file is working.

What do I do next?

Thanks
Dave