Is there any way to set the home version so that when you are manually scanning for viruses, it just automatically does what it suggests when it finds one? Example…put virus in chest…instead of telling me that and waiting for me to confirm that’s what I want it to do, it would just do it automatically so I wouldn’t have to sit in front of my computer and answer it every time. Thanks in advance.
These advanced automated options are only available in the Pro version.
You only have a limited option in the Home (free) version, to send the infected file to the virus Chest (silent mode, with general answer no).
See the avast help file, Resident Protection: Standard Shield Provider Settings - “Advanced” Page.
Click on Standard Shield and then on Customize.
Go to Advanced tab and select Silent Mode and the General answer No.
Leave the file in the chest for a week or two (it can do no harm from there) to ensure no adverse effect from being moved to the chest. Then scan the file again in the chest to ensure it is still detected as infected and if so delete it from the chest.
Personally I don’t use silent mode, because I want to know what is going on with my system. If someone is getting so many warnings of virus infection, infected emails, etc. that they become intrusive, then it is time to review their security practice - filter emails at source, delete from server rather than download them, sites they visit, etc.
Thanks for the help. I see what you mean with really needing to see what is going on. I think I will just leave it the way it is. The reason I asked is because if I want to do one of the deep scans, it is going to take a LONG time. I don’t want to have to sit in front of the screen for hours to click “put in chest” if it finds a virus. If I run it and I’m not watching it and it finds one, then it will stop and wait for my input. God help me if I am watching a movie while it is running and it finds one in the first two minutes, because it will be two hours before I see that I just need to click OK to get it to finish scanning. I guess I could turn my speakers on so I would hear it if it found something, rather than sitting here in front of the screen. Anyway, thank you again for the help. It is certainly appreciated.
Once you have avast installed and it has done its first scan or you have done your first Thurough scan with Archives (this as you mention can take a long time), you can be reasonably confident that your system is clean of viruses.
Once clean provided you practice safe hex (don’t go visiting strange and exotic web sites, open email attachments in unknown emails, don’t click links to offers that seem too good to be true, especially in emails, etc.); use a multi level approach to protecting your system (multiple tools, see below), then you are less likely to be infected.
So your scan is less likely to be interupted and you should be able to do a Standard scan Without archives on a weekly basis as I do (it takes 7 minutes for my system). You can go off and have a coffee or a cup of tea come back and the scan is done or at worst an alert awaiting your input. Even so the overall duration isn’t huge.
If you haven’t already got this software (freeware), download, install, update and run it.
- Ad-Aware
- Spybot Search and Destroy
- Spywareblaster Don’t install this until you are clean.
- Ewido Security Suite If using winXP. or a-Squared free if using win98/ME.