I’d really like to see some kind of percentage & number of incoming emails during incoming email scanning. As it stands now, you have no idea of the size, or duration, or time, for the incoming scan. It would be beneficial to maybe go on with other things while the scan is in progress if it’s going to be lengthy. Maybe even a trip to the biffy? I’m thinking or some kind of scan progress pop up, or a mouse over the email scanning icon in the systray.
The time taken to download your email is the time taken from the server to your system.
The scanning by avast to actually scan the content inside your system takes literally millisenconds to a few seconds (for very large emails) on top of the download time. You could not walk across a small room in that time and very few mail clients provide this information to their users even if avast were not involved.
avast does not know how many emails will be downloaded that decision is made entirely and solely by the mail client - avast can only scan what the mail client decides to do.
Sorry but I can’t accept your explanation. Time and speed is ok for those on high speed, but those of us still on a dial up, it is quite important. Also all other AV programs that I have used in the past all provided this information. Avast does know how many email are lined up and does know the speed and progress as far as percentage, but just isn’t programmed to show this information. When I say others, I can verifly this to be true witn Norton AV and also AVG. If they can do it, then Avast can too.
What really information are you seeing? The already downloaded emails…
Really? ???
If you need a tutorial on how the POP protocol works (and why you are mistaken) I can provide one. POP works precisely the same way for dial up users as for broadband users.
When I was on dial up, I was using POP Peeper, so I could see the mails on the server before I downloaded them, and I could delete spam mail directly on the mail server.
I very well know how Pop email works. Avast shows absolutely nothing when I mouse over the email scanning icon. What it shows is that it’s the Avast email scanner scanning Netscape mail and gives my pop. These things I already know! What I’d like to see is a percentage scale of the total download. For example if somebody sends me an email with a 7mb video attachment, I’d like to see a progress indicator showing how the download is progressing via the scanner. While watching I can then determine if it’s going to take some time or not? Certainly on my dialup this will take some time, but I have no way of knowing if it’s a lengthy one or not. AVG does show this plus the number of emails that are being downloaded. Norton did too. PopPeeper also shows this. My question is why can’t this be incorportated into Avast? Certainly I can go on my Web mail server and see this information, but it would be nice to have everything done at once and at the same time without a lot of extra steps.
I guess that you are using an older mail client that only processes one account at at time.
You will also know that the client is simply saying to the server RETR 4 … and then when that has finished RETR 5. Since we both know how POP works then we both know that there is no way for the antivirus program (or the server) to predict what the mail client will ask for. I do agree that (with unnecessary effort) avast could retain the LIST and know that message 4 is 5Mb long. However, we both know that the retrieval is entirely dependent on the client applying the user settings to the current LIST compared with its retained LIST list from the last mail server connection and making the user’s decisions.
Unless the antivirus program is to become a fully fledged email client then the information you propose must be based, at best, on a guess as to what the mail client will do based in turn on default options of mail clients and older clients that process one account at a time.
As I have advised you … the overhead of scanning email (even on older machines) is really tiny. The information you want should be provided by your mail client that knows what you want to download not the antivirus which does not know what you want.
PopPeeper is a fully formed mail client and ought to show this information (even though it really pretends it is not).
Hi all…
I know what he is referring to, my copy of AVG 7.5 does this as well. Perhaps this can be an idea for future Avast versions? 
Best Regards…
I think I have explained this.
I am not questioning that AVG gives you some figures … if it is just telling you what is has downloaded … that is not exactly helpful. I suppose I will have to go into the product and take a look at what it is doing.
I too could write code on what I think most users and most mail clients would do … but that would not necessarily be close to the truth. This is the job of the mail client.
You do not ask the antivirus how long it will take to download a file from the internet … you ask your browser to tell you.
Chunker,
please help me out with which email client you are using. I’m guessing an MS product but I hope it is not one that requires paying for.
I understand that AVG 7.5 does this in the same way as poppeeper does. The Personal Email Scanner is effectively a separate email client which only transfers the incoming message to OE, TB, etc, once it has been received and scanned.
I stopped using POP mail on dial-up years ago and used (and still prefer) IMAP instead. I got sick of having to Telnet the email server to see what the holdup was.
Vladimyr,
sorry but I think that you are missing some of the finer details of antivirus email scanning here too. I have already mentioned that PopPeeper is a fully formed email client and does just what it ought to do. I have to suspect that the main concern here is that the old MS products do not do what a client like PopPeeper does and instead of expecting asking MS to do it the onus is being placed on the antivirus product.
No antivirus can know (unless they have written the code to understand the configuration file of every email client in existence - for which there are no standards) the download instructions of a user to the mail client - most especially “retain email on the server” (a minority but a sizeable one) and its effects on the information passing between the client and the server.
which only transfers the incoming message to OE, TB, etc, once it has been received and scanned.
is a good description of how all antivirus email scanning works (including avast’s).
I wonder about the wonderful new modern IMAP accounts … if it is indeed the wave of the future why is the vast majority of email still delivered by POP/SMTP … protocols developed and cast in amber when dirt was new?
Later edit: and to add insult to injury … why is it still that the POP/SMTP accounts account for the favorite mechanism to transfer files between users despite P2P and websites devoted to the service?
If you get the impression I may take this stuff personally then yes I do have an involvement in email.
Alan…
You don’t need to be snippy. :
The key word here was IDEA because I thought it might be a helpful feature! I freely admit I don’t know as much about POP3 as yourself and others on here do.
Relax
Best Regards…
Snippy is subjective … I will leave it at your subjective comment.
I have explained further while you were posting. I have also said I will find time to report back on what AVG’s information really means. Because AVG says it …it must be true? I have never allowed avast to get away with that … time for me to revisit AVG.
ardvark,
this is maybe what Vladimyr was referring to when he referred to the more free format of the avast forums after your sojourn with AVG.
Your tone was quite clear.
Ok…I understand your point. I misunderstood. Nor should Avast carry any false information or illusions.
Best Regards…
I don’t recall making the forums stiff or an unpleasant place to be in but if I did, I certainly apologize, to Vladimyr or anyone else.
My intention after learning AVG 7.5 was going to go the way of the dodo was to see if Avast would be a possible alternative after the disasters related to 4.7. I don’t hold or give any loyalties to any corporation or business, I use what works for me. However, I thought I would hang around the forums for a bit and lend a hand. If my presence is undesired because I jumped ship or for the reason you stated, then that’s ok, I don’t need to be here. Not a problem and no offense taken. My main focus was/is to help people with computers in ways that I can.
Please excuse me if I misinterpreted your tone as well.
Best regards…
I know I am.
Good point. I thought I knew how AVG did it but now I don’t. 
I’ve only ever used avast! with IMAP accounts. I thought it scanned the content mid-stream.
Especially when so many SMTP/POP hosts limit the max size of messages and the inherent inefficiency adds bulk KBs to your 3.5MB attachment to the point where it won’t “fit” through a 5MB “hole”!
cheers
ardvark
I don't recall making the forums stiff or an unpleasant place to be in
You did not in the least.
Please excuse if I misinterpreted your tone as well.
I doubt that you did. My tone is, to say the least, not to the taste of all.
I notice that friendly conversational tone seems to lead to the need for frequent clarification. Yes, I do adopt a more formal tone - because I try to be as precise as I can (I have been accused of writing here like a legal document).
I try to remember also that not all our participants in this forum have English as a first language and should be expected to understand more casual English (in its increasing diversity - I sometimes have trouble understanding everyday English from the land of my birth).