Avast Free Version 2015.10.2.2218
Hello.
I am a new Avast user and have a couple of questions.
Under’ Registration,’ it states that there are 30 days remaining before the registration expires-Is this a free unlimited program or a limited 30 day free program?
Is there an option to ‘schedule’ daily virus scans or can it only be done manually?
Thanks-I figured it out.
You’re welcome.
2. Is there an option to 'schedule' daily virus scans or can it only be done manually?With on demand and on access scanning, why would you want to schedule daily scans, On Scan to make sure your system is clean is probably a good idea. Daily scans is IMHO overkill. :) Your computer, your choice but certainly not something I would recommend. :)
I am a bit confused now.
All I wanted to do was schedule daily overnight scans.
What are ‘On demand’ and ‘on Access’ Scanning, do they run automatically, and where can I view the settings?
Scheduled scans are by there nature ‘on-demand,’ you initiate the scan.
On-Access scans are scans that happen in real time, when a program/file is accessed (to run/write/create) then the avast file system shield scans it before it is allowed to be run. This is what resident anti-viruses do, you don’t have to set it up, it runs on the default settings within the program.
Hi Sporty78,
What bob3160 is saying is that what you wish to do is not necessary. You will not need to run a full/quick daily scan overnight because:
-On Access Scanning will cover all your needs (File System Shield) (Web Shield): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antivirus_software#Real-time_protection
Open the avast main program window and select Settings>Active Protection. If not sure what you wish to change, then best to leave your settings at default for your protection.
A scheduled full system scan can be done once a week or once a month: Scan>Scan For Viruses>Full Scan>Settings>Scheduling. Set your time and day parameters to what you want and close avast!
On Access protection is sufficient and I never run a full or quick scan here because of that. It is more important to block malicious files before they get a chance to run on your system than to manually clean your system after it is infected, so running daily scans would not keep you from getting infected in the first place; only On Access Scanning will do that.
An useful link to check a specific file to see if it is malicious: https://www.virustotal.com/
Upload the file in question and scan it with more than 40+ virus scanners before you install any new downloaded programs or run email attachments.
You can also check a new website for malicious content or blacklisting by selecting the URL tab. Not necessary to visit the site beforehand; use google to capture the url you want to visit.
[EDIT:] Scanning a file at virus_total_dot_com is exactly the same as On Demand Scanning using avast except that it uses many more antivirus scanning engines for detection.
‘On Demand Scanning’ is the same as scheduling a full system scan since it scans programs/files after they have run manually and cleans the system after it is infected
‘On Access Scanning’ happens automatically in real-time using the default settings and scans programs/files before they have run and blocks malicious files before they get a chance to run on the system
Since Avast has built-in automatic ‘on access scanning,’ there is no need to set-up on-demand daily full system scans, even though I can if I choose to.
Do I have all of that correct?
Like I said, I have always scheduled a daily full system scan so I was unaware of this terminology.
*Unrelated, once signed in, is there a way to ‘view my posts’ so that I do not have to scan all of the threads?
If an user runs a daily full scan and a file or process/program is detected, then there is a risk of PEBCAK (Acronym for: Problem Exists Between Chair And Keyboard) and if the user doesn’t know or understand what they are doing for example, they may choose to delete a necessary file falsely detected instead of quarantining it so they can recover it later. If they delete instead of quarantining, they may be looking at having to re-install Windows if it is an essential Windows file they deleted.
Problem here is the user chose to delete the file instead of quarantining it, so if the file later proves to be clean if it was quarantined, it canb[/b] be restored.
Deletion is permanent and the file, once deleted by any antivirus program, is irretrievably lost.
Which is why the link to virus total was provided. (Link is also useful for scanning email links embedded in the email text body.)
So there are risks in running daily full scans not often considered.
Running a daily full scan is overkill, imo, and brings with it possible risks noted above.
Also, there are risks an user can take when online that a daily full scan will not be able to cover or fix, so it is imperative the user does not do things on the internet they should not: Visiting less-than-reputable sites, for example. One of these sites may very well have an exploit on it known as a ‘zero-day exploit’ for which there are no known definitions by any antivirus program, so a full scan will not uncover or reveal an infection after the fact. This would be true even if it is run on a daily basis, as it will not have the necessary definition(s) needed to detect it in the first place.
It is On-Access scanning that provides the needed protection as it will kill any known malicious process or file as it attempts to enter and run on your system, and it is not the static scheduled daily full scan you are considering putting in place that will provide you with needed protection.
It is always better to prevent malware from installing and running in the first place vs. having to manually remove malware after the fact and clean up the damage it caused later, which is what a daily full scan will find after the infection happened if it has the definitions for it.
If logged in, click the Profile>Summary button above to view all your current posts you’ve created or are currently monitoring. To make things easier, click Attachments and other options when you create a new topic or are replying to a current topic and click the box ‘Notify me of replies’.
You’ll then either be notified via email account or by clicking ‘Show new replies to your posts’ located just to the left of your user name.
Hope this helps.
Since ‘On-access scanning’ is running automatically in ‘real time’ during normal operation and preventing malware from installing and running in the first place, I will turn off the daily full scan.
I originally created a ‘custom scan’ so I went into ‘Scan For Viruses,’ clicked ‘Settings’ beside the Custom Scan Setting that I created, went into ‘Scheduling’ and unchecked the ‘Schedule This Scan’ option, and clicked ‘OK.’
Since the Custom Scan was still listed, I went back into ‘Settings, Scheduling’ and ‘Schedule This Scan’ is still unchecked and the original ‘Schedule Type,’ ‘Time.’ and ‘Days’ settings are greyed out but are still visible-Why aren’t they cleared?
After clicking ‘OK,’ I noticed that the Custom Scan was still listed with ‘Delete Scan’ beside it so I deleted it.
If you want scan and use screensaver then you may activate screensaver scan
Can someone please answer this:
I turned off the daily full scan by unchecking the ‘Schedule This Scan’ option and clicked ‘OK.’
I wanted to double-check that it was turned off so I went back and the ‘Schedule This Scan’ option is still unchecked and the original ‘Schedule Type,’ ‘Time.’ and ‘Days’ settings are greyed out but are still visible-Why aren’t they cleared?
Personally I don’t think it necessary to clear them when you have unchecked the schedule scan.
Some may just want to switch it off for a short time and subsequently enable it again, they would then need to reset the schedule timings.
I agree that the settings should not be cleared for the reason you mentioned but ‘how’ can the settings be cleared once the ‘Schedule This Scan’ option has been disabled?
Change or delete the scheduled timings before unchecking the schedule scan.
So you would have to first enable the scheduled scan option before changing/clearing the timings.
Personally I wouldn’t worry about unticking anything at all. The settings aren’t taking up any real HDD space.
I would leave them alone just in case you want to run that scan in the future. I have a custom “full system scan”
which I run once a month. If I unticked all of my settings then the next time I run that scan I would end up having to
reset those settings. There there for when I need them next time.
I am with the others when it comes to daily scans, they are nothing but overkill.
If you absolutely want to run a daily scan use the quick scan. Then once a week or
every other week run a full scan. As I said above I run monthly custom full scans but
many others might run a boot scan after a major release as in v2014, v2015 or v2016 and won’t
run another scan till the next year. “To each their own”.
A Few More Questions:
If so, does the pop-up message remain until an action is taken/confirmation is given or does the message just pop-up briefly then disappear since it ‘blocks’ automatically and it can be ‘checked’ later somehow?