Hi,
Avast seems to reset the DOS archive bit every time it scans a PST file. This causes my backup software to think that the files need to be backed up, in an incremental backup, even if they haven’t changed since the last full backup.
Is there any way to prevent Avast from resetting the archive bit?
Thanks,
Ben
avast! uses the MAPI library that’s installed on the system (to access the PST files). So, I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do about it since the attribute reset must occur inside the library (well, we might check the file attributes before opening the file and reset it back later, but I’m not sure if it’s the best idea…)
Thanks for the blazing-fast response. Can you provide any more details about the MAPI library? Perhaps there’s a registry tweak that will prevent it from resetting the attribute. I’m happy to research that, but a few more details will narrow down the field a bit for me.
Thanks,
Ben
The MAPI library is part of the e-mail client (so, the MAPI library that is able to open the PST files is a part of Outlook). Personally, I’m not familiar with it, so I don’t know much more. Maybe Vlk might have some more info.
On the other hand, if the mailbox is opened, it has some sense to set the archive attribute (from the MAPI library’s point of view)… unless we managed to somehow make it open the mailbox in read-only mode. As I said, I’m not familiar with this part, but I quickly checked the API and didn’t see any way to flag the access as “read-only” 
bslorence, are there many pst files that are actually not touched?
I mean, as soon as you open Outlook, the attribute gets reset, doesn’t it (even if no changes are made to the file).
Thanks
Vlk
Hmm, good point. I don’t know if Outlook always resets the attribute, but it wouldn’t surprise me. I will look into it.
Ben