I am not a seasoned messageboard person… in fact I’m pretty soft on anything technical. I have questions about the avast program and am surprised there is no technical support provided. How does one get information or guidance in problem resolving then (dealing with the product?). Thanks for your help.
umm…why dont u jsut ask ur question here… ;D
OK - here it goes. Got my new license information, followed instructions. Decided to run a thorough scan be realized it was also scanning my backup set (I back up my system every night). Is there a way that I can modify scans so that it doesn’t include the backup set?
Hi :
The place to start regarding “technical Info” on Avast is our FAQs located at
www.avast.com/eng/faq-avast-4-home-professional.html .
IF you do not want your BackUp Set scanned, do NOT use the “Through”
Scan Setting ( unless “DavidR” or “Tech” know of Alternatives !? ).
You don’t say what version of avast you are using, Home or Pro.
For any on-demand scan you can exclude certain locations if you wish, (right click the avast ‘a’ icon, select ) Program Settings, Exclusions, enter the full path to your back-up set and it won’t be scanned no matter what the sensitivity (Thorough or Standard).
Archive (zip, rar, etc.) files are by their nature are inert, you need to extract the files and then you have to run them to be a threat. Long before that happens avast’s Standard Shield should have scanned them and before an executable is run that is scanned. Thorough is also by its design very thorough and perhaps a little overkill for routine use, were a Standard scan without archives should be adequate.
I have only ever done a through scan with archives once shortly after installation just to ensure a clean start state, but with XP for example avast will do a boot-time scan after installation if you select it, this I believe will be quicker and reasonably effective. Like everything in life things are a compromise.
You need to use the Exclusion lists:
For the Standard Shield provider (on-access scanning):
Left click the ‘a’ blue icon, click on the provider icon at left and then Customize.
Go to Advanced tab and click on Add button…
For the other providers (on-demand scanning such as the screen-saver or the Simple User Interface):
Right click the ‘a’ blue icon, click Program Settings.
Go to Exclusions tab and click on Add button…
You can use wildcards like * and ?.
But be careful, you should ‘exclude’ that many files that let your system in danger.