another AVG update question

[bloned]

Hi all,

Should I keep all the AVG update files stored in the AVG update folder
? Or can I remove them (except for the last one) ?
TIA
B

 

[donutbandit]

(e-mail address removed) (bloned) wrote in

Hi all,

Should I keep all the AVG update files stored in the AVG update folder
? Or can I remove them (except for the last one) ?
TIA
B

Since the updates are now cumulative, the answer would be no, don't remove
them.

 

[bloned]

(e-mail address removed) (bloned) wrote in


Since the updates are now cumulative, the answer would be no, don't remove
them.

I'm presuming by your answer that they weren't cumulative before,
since when did this start ? And can I remove the update files from
before that date ? The folder is getting bigger and bigger with the
sizes of their recent updates.
TIA
B

 

[Ed]

I'm presuming by your answer that they weren't cumulative before,
since when did this start ? And can I remove the update files from
before that date ? The folder is getting bigger and bigger with the
sizes of their recent updates.
TIA
B

I wonder then if it would be more compact to uninstall AVG from time to time
and do a total fresh installation?

 

[kritikul]

it is perfectly safe to remove anything older than one month

 

[John Corliss]

Since the updates are now cumulative, the answer would be no, don't remove
them.

The AVG FAQ recommends only keeping the most recent update:

http://www.grisoft.com/faq/us_faqtext.php?id=10&sid=8

 

[D. Wilson]

The AVG FAQ recommends only keeping the most recent update:

http://www.grisoft.com/faq/us_faqtext.php?id=10&sid=8

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am weary of deleting any of my update files. And how could only
keeping the most recent update file protect you from all the viruses,
etc currently going around when often the latest file is only a little
thing of around 20kb?! As someone said it's maybe best to re-install
the whole prog to be sure you are protected?
DW

 

[Bucky Breeder]

I wonder then if it would be more compact to uninstall AVG
from time to time and do a total fresh installation?

Naww. Tried it. Not necessarily "compact" but un-reinstall could provide
a great deal of peace of mind in case AVG is acting all menapausal and
emotional - like she does from time to time. (I think that 'edit the
url.ini trick' was the best little tweak for AVG in a long long time?)


Here's the easiest way to keep the directory compact:

1. Navigate to the AVG Update directory; usually

C:\Program Files\Grisoft\AVG6\Update

(You may want to bookmark this,
depending on which Explorer tool you are using.)

2. Once you've opened the "UPDATE" folder, select "Details" from either
the right-click menu > "View" or Menu bar > "View"

3. Go up there to the right and click the "Date Modified" button until
all the duckies are in a neat little row by dates.

4. You should notice one, (1) *.ctf file, and at least one to several
*.bin files.

5. Ctrl + select the *.ctf file and the latest *.bin file

6. Menu bar > "Edit" > click "Invert Selection"

7. Verify the two latest files are NOT selected, and delete the rest.

8. Taa taa daa, badda bing, badda boom!

(Seems like Grisoft could simply include a line or two of
script to do this automatically upon update, ehhh? But
really, it probably serves as sort of a safety factor to
do it manually - keeps the script kiddies out of your AVG
database locker files to some extent. Hmm.)


That's about as compact as she gets. I generally periodically cruise by
the AVG Free Updates site, (you have to click through the drop-down
menus) and make sure I have the latest program and data-base files;
however, this is more of a 'sanity-check' than anything else (and much
cheaper that halicion-over-the-internet credit-card-discount deal (o; ).
Also, every so often, I go through the register routine to download the
latest AVG Free install; just in case I have to reinstall a Windows OS -
saves all that install > update trauma just in case I have a really old
version of AVG Free archived. (I suppose I could simply wait and only
download if I need to, but I really dread going anywhere on the WWW
without my most basic virii protection.)

 

[John Corliss]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ALSO:


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am weary of deleting any of my update files. And how could only
keeping the most recent update file protect you from all the viruses,
etc currently going around when often the latest file is only a little
thing of around 20kb?!

You know, that's a damn good question! I've often wondered the same
thing myself.

As someone said it's maybe best to re-install
the whole prog to be sure you are protected?

Hard to say, given the previous question. Maybe somebody else can
explain this?

 

[David Simpson]

D. Wilson wrote:

You know, that's a damn good question! I've often wondered the same
thing myself.


Hard to say, given the previous question. Maybe somebody else can
explain this?

I would presume that keeping the latest file is only necessary to
allow the program to detect when it was last updated. Once the update
is complete the information in the update should have been transferred
to the main DB file and it is only the update engine which would
require the update file.

A reinstall would presumably entail the downloading of all update
files from the date of download. If it was an older version you may
need to spend a considerable amount of time to get all the updates.

 

[REM]

"kritikul" <[email protected]> wrote:

it is perfectly safe to remove anything older than one month

The updates uncompress after closing AVG and then reopening it.

The files in the update subdirectory can be deleted as soon as they
have been extracted. I just deleted all and I'm still up to date and
the program still works fine.

Virus DB = 411

 

[D. Wilson]

I would presume that keeping the latest file is only necessary to
allow the program to detect when it was last updated. Once the update
is complete the information in the update should have been transferred
to the main DB file and it is only the update engine which would
require the update file.

A reinstall would presumably entail the downloading of all update
files from the date of download. If it was an older version you may
need to spend a considerable amount of time to get all the updates.

You are probably right about this. But as we are free program users we
cannot get this info confirmed by Grisoft as they do not give email
support to free users. For now I think I'll hold on to all my updates
just in case. My update folder now has around 11mb in it but I'm not
bothered as I have lots of spare space available on my system.
Thanks for replies. DW

 

[Paul Blarmy]

On Thu, 25 Mar 2004 15:11:40 +0000, D. Wilson wrote...

You are probably right about this. But as we are free program users we
cannot get this info confirmed by Grisoft as they do not give email
support to free users.

I use the free AVG at home and have the paid for version 7 at work. The
response I got when asking the question about AVG7 was to keep the latest
two .bin files and to delete the rest. Updates are incorporated into the
virus database so it is not necessary to keep all update files.

 

[D. Wilson]

On Thu, 25 Mar 2004 15:11:40 +0000, D. Wilson wrote...


I use the free AVG at home and have the paid for version 7 at work. The
response I got when asking the question about AVG7 was to keep the latest
two .bin files and to delete the rest. Updates are incorporated into the
virus database so it is not necessary to keep all update files.

Thanks for that!
DW

 

[donutbandit]

(e-mail address removed) (bloned) wrote in

I'm presuming by your answer that they weren't cumulative before,
since when did this start ?

The updates have been cumulative for what? 6 months or so? Before then, you
had to download a complete virus definition file at every update, which was
almost 4 megs in size.

Now, the updates are usually only a few kilobytes, which tells me that they
are merely adding on to the existing definition file.

I have plenty of disk space: I'm not going to worry about how big the
folder gets. I'd rather be safe than sorry when it comes down to viruses.

 

[bloned]

I guess that depends on where your database is stored. I mean, is it
stored in the update folder or somewhere else ? Does the update file
contain all the info the program needs, or did the update file edit
the program in a way ?
Well, a lot of questions and very different answers. Not a lot of
diskspace here, a vew more of those big ones and I'm dumping the old
ones, I'm a gambling man anyway.
Thanks for all the input (and keep it coming !!)
B

 

[John Corliss]

Paul Blarmy scribbled:

Thanks for that!

I got to thinking... what a person can do is to do an update, then
seach the Grisoft folder and its subfolders for the newest files. If
any of them have revision dates the same as the update or simply that
day's, then there are the files that are changed.