I had suggested to Avast to have an option to disable Scan Logs or an option to clear these logs on computer shut down or log off, instead of deleting them after minimum one day. But no reply.
Can anyone tell me in which file or Registry key are the logs kept? I can then use a third party cleaner to clean them.
Also where is persistent cache kept? Can this cache be a privacy threat as it keeps records of files we have on our computer, some of which we want to keep secret?
the Scan logs only contain information about infected files, plus general info about the scan such as the run time, number of files scanned etc. Why would that be a privacy issue?
the persistent cache contains just IDs of all relevant files on the hard drive. You can’t clean it yourself as it’s always locked. If you don’t like the feature (even though again, I can’t think of any privacy-related problems at all), it can be turned off.
Igor and Vik and absolutely right. There’s no security risk in those log files… they aren’t storing your web history or any information on which files you opened on your PC… just the infected files (if any) that were scanned.
This is not correct. I did a test scan using ‘Scan from Windows Explorer’ and the attachment here shows that the file name and its path are shown in the Scan Logs even if there is no infection.
Igor, what is the name and location of this binary database file?
I repeat my suggestion to Avast to clear the Scan logs and also the system tray icon’s ‘show last popup message’ on computer shutdown.
Anyway, I think Avast can resolve this by just showing in the Scan Logs “Windows Explorer Scan” instead of the path and name of the file. After all, it shows “Quick Scan” and “Full System Scan” now.
The scanned areas for the Explorer context menu are shown there on purpose - so that it’s clear what was scanned. For “Full system scan” and “Quick scan”, it’s clear already - because the target is given in the task itself.
I don’t think this is going to change - while you may not like it, most of the users wouldn’t like the opposite.
I see what you mean, Igor. But a simple solution would to add in Windows Explorer Scan’s Settings an option to show the name and path of the file OR just ‘Windows Explorer Scan’. The latter is the way most other AV software shows it.
“Windows Explorer Scan” is about as useful as not logging anything at all. Once again, if I manually scan something, then I want to see what I’ve scanned, not some obfuscated nonsense just b/c someone is paranoid about showing file names.
It is a matter of usage and preference, not paranoia. Avast 4 doesn’t log Windows Explorer scans and also has an option not to show the results window.
For those who don’t want Windows Explorer scans to be logged in Avast 5, I found a solution. Create a shortcut to the application “ashQuick” in the program folder. Put the shortcut in the SendTo folder. In Vista, it is at C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo.
Rename it ‘Avast Scan’ or anything you want (optional step).
When you right-click a file and then “Send To Avast Scan”, if there is no virus, no window will open. If there is a virus, a pop-up window opens. But it will not take any action except to warn you. You can then either manually delete it or use Windows Explorer Scan. This method does not log anything. This method is emulate Avast 4’s way of scanning.
I agree with the OP in that it would be nice to have an easy method to clean logs/registry entries describing files/folders scanned by Avast. Perhaps a “Delete logs now” button could be added to the Settings → Maintenance panel.
