Usually, ESET delivers two or three virus definition updates a day for ESET Smart Security and ESET NOD32 anti virus products. However, I noticed that my NOD32 had not updated for three days even though auto update was enabled. Whenever I tried a manual update, it came up with the message "The installed virus signature database is current". This was very unlike ESET and obviously something had to be wrong, and it was.
When I checked on ESET site, the virus definitions i had installed were not the latest. I had missed around 4-5 updates although NOD32 internal updater was saying my signature were up to date. Further searching on the net suggested that many other users were having the same problem.
How to verify if there is a problem with your update
First of all, you need to check if you actually have this problem with your installation of NOD32. It would be pointless to try and fix a non existent problem.
1. Right click your NOD32 taskbar icon and click 'open window'.
2. Select 'Update' from the left hand panel. Click on 'Update virus signature database'. If an update is being done, wait for it to finish.
2. Now select 'protection status' from left hand panel.
3. Note the number next to "Version of virus signature database"
4. Click here to visit ESET official page on virus definition updates. Verify the latest definition version listed on this page matches with your NOD32's definitions version (found in step 3).
If the two version numbers match, you do not have any update issues. If they don't then there is a problem so read on.
Workaround
At first, i though the problem was limited to pirated versions of NOD32. But according to posts made in several online forums, this is a problem with ESET's servers and affected legitimate versions of ESET products as well. Here is what i did to get around the problem:
(I use a extended trial version of NOD32. This workaround may or may not work for you, depending on the version and nature of your NOD32).
1. Manually delete the update cache of NOD32 or ESS. In Vista, browse to C:\ProgramData\ESET\ESET NOD32 Antivirus\ or C:\ProgramData\ESET\ESET Smart Security\ (depending on which software you have).Delete the updfiles directory
2. Right click your NOD32 taskbar icon and click 'open window'. On bottom left corner, toggle 'advanced mode' if not already selected.
3. Now select 'setup' from left hand panel. Select 'Enter entire advanced setup tree'. Select 'Update' from left hand panel of the window that pops up.
4. Click the 'Edit' button next to the 'Update server' drop down menu. Enter http://u49.eset.com/eset_eval on the top text field and press add. Press ok to close the dialog box. Now select the newly inserted server from the 'Update server' drop down menu and press ok.
Try a manual update now or wait for auto update. It worked for me.
