Avast! is now "slower than molasses" and reports false scan times!

I’ve spent all day trying to get Avast! to work properly again since updating to 4.8.1169 (the prior version worked just fine!), but it seems to be no use! To test it out, I did two “Quick Scans”, which each took over 23 minutes to accomplish (which was announced at the end of each of the scans), yet, when returning to the Avast! main screen, Avast! claimed that they had each only taken about 14 minutes to accomplish!

Something is hideously wrong with this latest Update! The scans are vastly slower than they’ve ever been for me, and the after-the-fact reporting of scan times don’t represent the actual times taken!

Unless someone knows a way to do something about these problems, I’m switching anti-virus programs.

Thanks!

I don’t know what avast main screen you are talking about (a screenshot of both might help us to help you). I only see one screen in use for scans (SUI) and only one reported time ?

There is only one screen, the simple user interface and the scan gets done there once you start the scan, the progress bar is there, the number of files and when concluded the time taken along with the total size of the files scanned.

What do those other figures say ?

There is definitely something amiss.

I just conducted the following tests on the same system.

Scanned C:\Program Files\ and all subfolders Type of scan: Quick (no archive scanning)

VPS: 080401-0

avast 4.8.1169 1.4Gb reported scanned Folders/files 1215/4537 Time 2:40

avast 4.7.1098 1.4Gb reported scanned Folders/files 1212/4540 Time 0:58

The only difference between the two tests was the version of avast installed in C:\Program Files\

The tests were repeated to check the consistency of the timings. Both tests were conducted under the same conditions (which included Standard Shield being terminated).

The times recorded are my stopwatch times.

Well I have noticeable increase in the Standard no archive scan, but I didn’t put a stopwatch on it.

With 4.8 avast is doing a little more on the on-demand scan, the improved anti-spyware and anti-rootkit are integrated into the scan.

I see an increase in the duration of the scan from a little over 11 minutes to 15 and that is for a Standard scan without Archives. So if that is the kind of increase for me when only scanning 8GB of files, I can imagine what it might be for thorough and a lot of data being scanned (?), none of which to mention. My no speed demon, but it isn’t a slouch, though some might argue ;D.

The timings are however from the SUI.

DavidR,

It took me 23 minutes for a “Quick Scan”, but I don’t know HOW to determine how many GB of files that I have. All I know is that when I click on “Computer”, the C Drive is noted as having “115 GB free of 138GB”; is the difference the amount of files?

I don’t know what “names” that Avast! gives to its screens, but I can explain what I mean (I don’t know how to provide screenshots!):

When you first log-on to avast! there is a screen (the “main screen”?) that notes (among other things): Date of last scan: 4/1/2008 14:56 (which is what mine currently says), which is noting the date and the supposed amount of time that the last scan took

However, when I actually finished the scan that this particular note is referring to (using what might be called the “scanning screen”, or some such), at the end of said scan it indicated that the scan actually took 23:36 minutes to complete!

Thus, the main screen is lying about the amount of time that the scan actually took! In addition, I have absolutely now idea what “SUI” means!

Too, like alanrf, all my test scans have taken about three times as long to do in 4.8.1169 as they did in 4.7.1098!

“There is definitely something amiss” as alanrf says! I don’t know about him, but I have Windows Vista with its new Service Pack 1, and I feel that perhaps the Alwil team is not yet up to date with the new Windows, or some such.

In any event, I won’t tolerate such slow scan times, or “lying” about them! Taking about three times longer to scan than it did in the last version of avast! is unacceptable, and “lying” about it is deceptive and reprehensible!

Thank you for any help you might be able to give me in this matter (none of my above anger was directed towards you, of course)!

In the meantime, I’m waiting for the Vista SP1 version of AntiVir to come-out in the next few days, unless avast! gets fixed soon. . . .

When the scan completes the scan progress is replaced by the total size of the files scanned, that is where I get ming from.

14:56 is the time the scan was run and not the duration, see image.

SUI = Simple User Interface, the on-demand scanning control (Home version).

A little perspective and forbearance goes a long way. If this is the first time a product upgrade has given you a few problems then you are very young or have been well sheltered.

We here are doing our best to investigate and confirm the problems you have reported.

We know that the avast team are a dedicated bunch of professionals who want their product to be the best.

No I am not using Vista but XP. When it comes to scanning disk drives there is precious little difference between Vista and XP.

I am glad that I have been able to confirm your problem - I think that the avast team will be taking a long look at it.

Thanks, guys!

David: AHA! The time the scan occurred! I never thought of that! Sorry. Thanks for the definition of SUI, and the tip regarding total file size.

Alan: You note that you are just an “Avast user” under your name, but your response seems to indicate that you are actually a member of the avast! team! I am definitely neither “young” nor “very well sheltered”, and I certainly have had my fair share of software problems. My main problem is that I have an “anxiety disorder” that I’ve suffered with my entire life, which makes it very hard for me to deal with problems I don’t fully understand (as you can tell, I am only “semi”-computer literate)!

I’ll give Alwil a chance to see if they can fix things, and am sorry if I got a bit “crazed” over all of this (that’s all part of my disorder)!

Thanks again, and I hope you understand. . . .

We are well used to the frustrations that folks can feel at times like this. It is also a pretty hectic time for those of us who try to help out here.

If you read some of my other comments in recent posts I think it will be clear that I am not a member of the avast team and I am too sometimes quite open in my comments about the product.

I am one used to being a senior IT manager in charge of very large developments and worldwide systems. That background and my time in this forum has brought me to a high level of respect for the avast team.

I hope that the team will quickly find resolutions to the problems you are encountering.

The majority of those helping on these forums are ‘just’ avast users trying to help other avast users get the best out of avast. Though the forums are well supported by avast developers.

The avast evangelist reflects the total posts/contribution you have made to the forums and not that you work for avast, it is actually Alwil software (the Alwil team) who are the developers of avast, so that is one of the true indications of who works for Alwil software. The other indication is that most are also the Moderators, etc.

Do I take it, then, that the Alwil Team reads these Forums, and that way they find-out about the problems we’re having? Or, does someone actually have to post a “bug” message to them (like I have to Firefox via Bugzilla)?

The Anxious One.

This is the best forum I know for direct participation by the developers/managers of a product.

And is very unlike the regular support forums of say Firefox and Thunderbird where the developers almost never participate.

Good! I’d hate to find the problems going unheeded by their developers, which is certainly the case in many other Forums I’ve been in!

Now, it’s just “wait and see” (I say, while dissolving into a puddle of exposed nerve endings). . . .

Thanks once again!

OK, so what we have here…

You’re right that the duration indicator in the Simple user interface can actually “lie” in this release. This is caused by the fact that if you do a local disk scan (Normal or Thorough sensitivity), it actually does two things now

  1. a rootkit scan
  2. a local disk (AV) scan

Now, only the local disk (AV) scan is actually counted into the duration value. This is an unintentional omission (or ‘bug’ if you want) and will be fixed. The inclusion of the rootkit scan would also explain the increased duration you’re now seeing.

However, the rootkit scan should not take place if you’re performing a “Quick” scan.

Also, the rootkit scan does not take place if you run the scan via ashQuick.exe (i.e. the avast Explorer context menu extension).

So if you’re saying that these scans now take much longer than they used to in v4.7, there’s something else going on here. It may be the new unpackers, but frankly, I doubt that as there were not too many new ones in this release.

A question: If you watch the scan progress (the currently scanned path), does it halt for some time on some specific items? Or is it just generally slower (on all files)?

Thanks
Vlk

See my post here: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=34307.msg287614#msg287614

Well currently the rootkit scan fails for me on boot under the FAT32 format and I see corresponding errors in the event viewer (other topic).

No I can only assume that it would also fail in the on-demand scan too and having checked I have two corresponding errors for both of these on-demand scans.

So would there be any delay (hang, etc.) failure or would it just get on with the local disk scan ?
If it just gets on with the next task, the on-demand scan, then my scan duration has indeed increased greatly, approaching 40% allowing a little time for the failed rootkit scan attempt. See my detailed post, http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=34307.msg287608#msg287608.

I generally don’t hang around to watch I fire and forget and go get a coffee and my scan is only 16min 11sec much less than the figures quoted in the other topic.

I haven’t noticed which files it does it on, yet, but particularly the “Quick” scan holds-up for minutes at a time (staying at say, 15% or 26%, or whatever) for 4-5 minutes or so, before the percentage starts to rise again! It happens as well on the other scans, but not as noticeably, since they’re “supposed” to be slower.

I’m not a computer “geek”, but all I know is that something is definitely wrong somewhere in this new update! In 4.7, my scans were much, much faster! I hope that the Alwil Team can find and fix the problem soon.

The percentage is not what you should be looking at - it’s not possible to do perfectly smooth. The main question is - does the number of scanned files increase or not?

If not, then I’d suggest to go into program settings, enable creation of the Report file and let everything, even “OK files”, be included in the scan. Then, run another quick scan - and when the program “stops”, interrupt the scan. The end of the report file should indicate where the scan was when you stopped it… i.e. the “troublesome” area (if there’s any).

That is not exactly helpful advice Igor.

I have set the reporting in the way you recommend.

Here is a scan of one of my dirves - that I have already reported above.

All it shows it that it took the ashsimple scanner 1:48 for a Quick scan to do what ashquick.exe does in 3 seconds.

* avast! Report * This file is generated automatically * * Task 'Simple user interface' used * Started on Thursday, April 03, 2008 14:53:46 * VPS: 080402-0, 04/02/2008 *

Infected files: 0
Total files: 0
Total folders: 48
Total size: 0.0 B

  • Task stopped: Thursday, April 03, 2008 14:55:34
  • Run-time was 1 minute(s), 48 second(s)

How much more evidence of a problem do you want? I feel like we users are doing the work that you folks missed in regression testing.

The number of files scanned does continue to increase, but at a much, much slower rate than in 4.7!

I’m not “computer savvy” enough to know how to do the “Report file” things you mention, or even why I should be doing it! Any further explanation would be appreciated!

Not to “beat a dead horse”, but I have made no “behind the scenes” changes from 4.7 (because I don’t know how!), yet 4.8 is multiple times slower in doing all the scans!

Please forgive my lack of computer knowledge! All I know is that everything worked find with my avast! up until this new upgrade, and now it’s “freaking me out” with these hideously slow scans!