Hi all. This is my first post here.
I’ve just switched from AVG Free to avast! Home Edition and one of the things I missed from AVG was the ability to schedule a full scan. After searching through the forums here I found out that this feature is only available in the Pro version of avast!. However, I did come across several people asking about this feature in these forums as well as a few hints on how to go about it. I decided to give it a whirl. I figured out how to schedule a scan using the avast! shell extension program, ashQuick.exe (the program that kicks in the scanner when you right-click on a file and choose “Scan” from the popup menu), and the Windows Task Scheduler. I thought I’d share this trick with others. Here’s how to do it:
(NOTE: These instructions are for Windows XP and assume Windows is set up to use “single click” to open items. I would assume the steps would be similar for other versions of Windows.)
[*]Go to Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Scheduled Tasks
[*]Click (or double-click) on Add Scheduled Task
[*]In the wizard that appears click Next - a list of programs will appear
[*]Click Browse and navigate to C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4 (or whatever folder in which you installed avast!)
[*]Click (or double-click) on the file ashQuick.exe
[*]On the next screen give the task a name of your choice and choose how often you want it to run and click on Next
[*]On the next screen choose the appropriate scheduling options and click on Next
[*]On the next screen enter the user name and password for the Windows user you want the task to run as, then click on Next
[*]On the next screen check the box for the option “Open advanced properties for this task when I click Finish”, and then click Finish
[*]On the next screen, in the “Run” field you will see the path for the ashQuick.exe program. After the closing quote enter a space and type in the path(s) that you want scanned. Multiple paths must be separated by a space and any paths that include a space in the path name must be in quotes. Here are a couple of examples:
“C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashQuick.exe” C: E: - this will scan the entire contents of the C: and E: drives
“C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashQuick.exe” “C:Program Files” E:Downloads - this will scan the contents of the Program Files folder on the C: drive and the Downloads folder on the E: drive, including all subfolders (Note the first path is in quotes due to the space in the folder name “Program Files”)
[*]Click OK
[*]In the Scheduled Tasks window, from the menu, click on Advanced and choose “Start Using Task Scheduler”
[]To test your newly created task, from the Scheduled Tasks window, right-click on the task’s icon and choose “Run” from the popup menu. If the scan doesn’t begin correctly you’ll get an error message. The problem is most likely in the scan path (missing quotes or something like that.)
[]Close the Scheduled Tasks window
Keep in mind that this is just a “quick scan” and I’m not sure with what sort of depth that ashQuick.exe scans, but it beats nothing at all.
I don’t know if there is any way to pass other parameters to the ashQuick.exe program for various options like scanning depth, what to do if a virus is encountered, etc. If anyone has any info on how to pass other parameters please feel free to add the information to this thread.
Lastly, I wouldn’t suggest using the screen saver scanner in conjunction with this scheduled scan, as they may end up running at the same time and cause conflicts.
Enjoy!
;D
