If I run a boot-time scan does this include scanning what would otherwise be covered in a “full scan”, or is there a logic in running both in succession?
Have you checked/compared the boot-time scan Vs the Full Scan?
If you had you will see that they are different and that you can also customise it.
Secondly the boot-time scan isn’t something to do on a regular basis, it is designed to be used if a detection in normal mode can’t deal with it.
It seems to me that there is an area of overlap - all hard disks, autostart programs - which explains the query. Granted that I only run the boot-time scan once in a while I am wondering if there is any point if the areas it covers are included in the full scan anyway. The difference is a bit obscure.
It looks like with a full scan you can’t customise - for understandable reasons full = full.
I see no point in running a boot-time scan other than in the circumstances mentioned above. It is more thorough (in the areas that it does scan), scans for PUPs and scans Archives, this will mean the boot-time scan is likely to take much longer.
That is the point of the Quick and Full System Scans, they are on default settings. If there are other things that you want to change/include then the creation of a custom scan is what should be done rather than try to change any settings in the default scans.
I see little reason for a custom scan either, I have basically the Quick scan on default settings that is scheduled to run weekly.
- With a resident on-access antivirus like avast, the need for frequent on-demand scans is much depreciated. For the most part the on-demand scan is going to be scanning files that would be otherwise be dormant or inert. If they were active files then the on-access file system shield would be scanning them before being created, modified, opened or executed.
I have avast set to do a scheduled weekly Quick scan, set at a time and day that I know the computer will be on. If for some reason my system wasn’t on, no big deal I will catch up on the next scheduled scan.