Hi, I’m new to Avast. Just ran my first scan and it took 4 hours! Is this normal? I made sure nothing else was running at the time of the scan. I’m running Windows XP SP3. My last virus program only took 50 min. to scan! I have Avast 4.8 Home .Also, can someone tell me if Avast scans for spyware? I have SuperAntiSpyware free and want to know if I continue to use it or not. Thanks in advance!
You are missing some information like the type of scan, Sensitivity and if you selected Archives to also be scanned ?
Nor do you mention any system information, OS, CPU, RAM and amount of data on the HDD/s ?
avast does scan for spyware as a part of its regular scanning, take a loot at my signature and you will see if you should keep SAS ;D
Hi,
I have two additional and hopefully relevant observations/questions.
Avast scans On Access, so apart from an initial deep scan, there seems scarce reason for further On Demand scans?
For subsequent downloads/additions Context Menu scans (right click directory/file) should suffice?
My regards
I appreciate the help guys. Sorry if I left things out. I’ll try to elaborate: I’m running Windows XP SP3, 512ram,160GB hard drive, AMD Sempron 3100+ processor, and I don’t know how to tell exactly how much data is on my drive. The scan I ran was set at “thorough”, and I did have it set to scan “archives”. I had CA Internet Security Suite before Avast and it took just under 1 hour to scan my system. So you can see why I wonder if it is normal for avast to take 4 hours to scan! If so, fine. I just want to be sure somethings not screwed up. And as far as “on demand scans” go, I’ve always done a complete spyware scan weekly, and a complete(Thorough) virus scan every month. (Peace of mind). Thanks again!
Steve
If you’re running a thorough scanning with archives included, I won’t think 4 hours would be that much, depending also of your processor, disk speed, number of archives, etc.
The important thing is to be sure you’re clean.
Well your system should be up to the task, though some would suggest 1GB of RAM would help improve overall system performance.
Thorough is also by its design very thorough (it scans all files) and perhaps a little overkill for routine use, were a Standard scan without archives should be adequate. Archive (zip, rar, etc.) files are by their nature are inert, you need to extract the files and then you have to run them to be a threat. Long before that happens avast’s Standard Shield should have scanned them and before an executable is run that is scanned.
I have only ever done a Through Scan with Archives once shortly after installation just to ensure a clean start state, but with XP for example avast will do a boot-time scan after installation if you select it, this I believe will be quicker and reasonably effective. Like everything in life things are a compromise.
So I do a Standard scan without archives as a part of my regular weekly system maintenance along with the anti-spy/malware tools in my signature.
Hi DavidR and Tech,
Probably as major contributors here you are often undertaking dangerous activities during tests.
Since last year, I scan twice a year on 30th June and 31st December. However, I do not invite trouble and my last three scans have found zilch.
My regards
Thanks very much guys. I appreciate the suggestions. After my initial scan, which found three win32 viruses, and after either moving them to chest or deleting them, I did run a boot time scan to be sure I was clean. It only took 2 hours(much better) and that was with archives! Found nothing.
After reading DavidRs’ post I understand how avast works a little better and agree that a standard scan without archives will be sufficient for my weekly system maintenance. That should cut down the scan time. Thanks Again!
Steve
You’re welcome.
Hi,
If your computer is acting strangely then why wait up to a week? If it is normal why do anything other than a Context Menu scan? You have excellent On Access discovery/protection so why would you even scan emails?
An Avast database update or upgrade may find something ¨new¨ on scanning, but then it will anyway if you access it.
My regards