User Manual

6. Updates
The effectiveness of anti-virus software depends on how up-to-date the program is, in
particular the virus definition file and the scan engine. To carry out regular updates, the
Updater component is integrated into your Avira product. The Updater ensures that your
Avira product is always up-to-date and able to deal with the new viruses that appear every
day. Updater updates the following components:
� Virus definition file:
The virus definition file contains the virus patterns of the harmful programs which are
used by your Avira product to scan for viruses and malware and repair infected
objects.
� Scan engine:
Updates
The scan engine contains the methods used by your Avira product to scan for viruses
and malware.
� Program files (product update):
Update packages for product updates make extra functions available to the individual
program components.
An update checks whether the virus definition file and scan engine are up-to-date and if
necessary implements an update. Depending on the settings in the configuration, the
Updater also carries out a product update or informs you of the product updates available.
After a product update, you may have to restart your computer system. If only the virus
definition file and scan engine are updated, the computer does not have to be restarted.
Note
For security reasons, the Updater checks whether the Windows hosts file of
your computer was altered, whether the Update URL, for example, was
manipulated by malware and is diverting the Updater to unwanted download
sites. If the Windows hosts file has been manipulated, this is shown in the
Updater report file.
An update is automatically performed in the following interval: 60 minutes. You can edit or
disable the automatic update through the configuration (Configuration > Update).
In the Control Center under Scheduler, you can create additional update jobs that are
performed by Updater at the specified intervals. You also have the option to start an
update manually:
� in the Control Center: in the Update menu and in the Status section
� via the context menu of the tray icon
Avira Professional Security - User Manual (Status: 30 Mar. 2012) 58