Hi,
I feel like tearing my hair out now. I’ve just done a full clear out of my buggy AVAST 8 Internet Security including using the AVAST Cleaning tool that removes absolutely everything that aswclear.exe doesn’t get. Then I loaded AVAST 8 Free virus checker, and tried the Quick Scan…exactly the same problem as with the Internet Security. I can do a slow Quick Scan by turning off scan files in order, but it turns off at 710 files if I leave that ticked. The Full Scan only works for a while if I turn off speed scan, use persistent cache and scan files in order, it’s painfully slow then turns off after about 2 and a half hours before completing it. What has AVAST done? Until they uploaded their new layout etc, we had no trouble whatsoever with it…really like it…now it’s a disaster for me. My husband’s Internet Security in his Windows 7 works fine, mine in Windows XP is a nightmare.
My primary system is XP Pro and no problem like this with the free version.
Generally I only do a Quick scan as that covers the more important files and locations. But that shouldn’t be the issue not to do a Full scan.
Can you give is some information about your XP system spec, CPU, RAM ?
What is the size of the drive/s being scanned and how much data is on them ?
Have you made any changes to the default settings in the Quick or Full scan settings ?
e.g. are you scanning archive and or PUP files, etc.
What other security software do you have installed (firewall, anti-spyware, etc.) ?
Have (or did) you another Anti-Virus installed in this system, if so what was it and how did you get rid of it ?
Hi, Thanks for responding. I have XP Home edition, service Pk 2, Windows system 32, 4gb RAM and dual Processor x86 Family 15 Model 107 Stepping 1 AuthenticAMD ~2099 Mhz. It says it has found other virus checkers on my machine but AVG is now out of it completely, and the only other one is Trend Micro Housecall but it doesn’t do anything until I go to it. Have you tried to do a full Scan? And no, I haven’t changed the default scan apart from what I’ve written here in settings, the only way it will scan at all. C drive is 232gb and 169gb used space. I have to external drives as well, one nearly full the other half full.
sorry forgot to add, no I’m not scanning archive or PUP…
Your AMD processor is possibly the weak link here as it won’t be able to utilise multi-threaded scanning, possibly the hard drives too as in most instances avast is usually faster than the drives can serve up the files for scanning. But that said you really have a lot of data to be scanned on your internal HDD, plus your two (?) external HDDs.
I rarely do a Full scan as I said and when I do it is not unduly long, about twice the duration of the Quick scan, but that can’t be taken as a rule, it depends on the size of the disk/partitions being scanned and the data on them.
What sort of comparison were the scan durations for this scan if you had an earlier version of avast ?
Try these settings in both your Quick and Full system scan settings:
From the avastUI > Security tab > Antivirus section > Select your scan, More details > Settings > Performance
Persistent cache:
- ‘Speed up scanning by using the persistent cache’ (default - on)
- ‘Store data about scanned files in the persistent cache’ (default - off, turn on)
File access: - ‘Speed up scanning by reading files in the order they are stored on disk’ (default on) try with it off, but I do find that this makes a real difference when on.
Just try the Persistent cache settings or the File access setting first not both together so you can see which makes a difference.
NOTE: In the Persistent cache settings this may initially increase the scan duration as the persistent cache takes a little time to be populated.
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Given what I have said in para 1 above, I certainly wouldn’t be running a Full scan as a matter of routine.
- 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.
sorry but I’ve been doing a full scan until two weeks ago every Sunday…took two and a half hours and a Quick Scan every day at 10 that took just over 20 minutes…AVAST scanned everything with no hiccups whatsoever, including both my external hard drives, and no need to alter anything in Performance…this is definitely something to do with a recent update to Internet Security 8…I just can’t be bothered now to try to sort it out with AVAST…other people are having the same problem while other people don’t…a complete mystery which I believe has totally stumped AVAST…nothing they offer to cure it works…I like to scan my computer…have done it ever since I had one well over twenty years ago now, and longer if you count a ZX81… 
But then there were no virus checkers in those far off days…thanks for your suggestions, but it’s not my computers processor…it’s perfectly adequate for doing a full scan…until AVAST did something inexplicable less, on reflection, two weeks ago…
Well a Quick scan doesn’t scan external or other partitions other than the C drive and other things specified in the scan description.
No, I realize that re the Quick Scan…and now have a full refund so happy that we’ve sorted that out. Thanks for trying to help.