Unusual Topic regarding boot time scan

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

Hi, I have Avast Free v5.0.594 and windows xp. My laptop’s screen is broken and I use an external monitor. However, when I run a boot time scan the external monitor won’t initiate. Is there anyway to make it do so, so I can see the scan questions?

I definitely have a problem, because the computer won’t load when I run the boot time scan and it is obviously prompting me to do something because I remember that the scan stops when it finds something. However I cant remember what question it asks when it finds something.

If there is no way to enable an external monitor during a boot time scan, is it possible to answer the prompt even if I can’t read it? Meaning, is it a yes/no question? Like “do you want to delete the infected file”? In which case I could just randomly keep pressing “Y” to delete whatever is being found during the boot scan.

Hope this makes sense, thanks for your help.

2

Well… it’s not so easy to develop drivers for a dual monitor system at boot time…
I strongly suggest that you run scannings within Windows and see the interface. You can delete files that should not be deleted at boot time and can’t work without knowing what you’re doing.

3

I’m afraid it’s not possible to configure used monitors for the boot-time scan (or if it is, we - as the developers - certainly don’t know how) - we’re happy to be able to display at least something… on the usual monitor.

As for the questions - usually it says:
Press 1 to Delete
2 Delete all
3 Move to Chest
4 Move all to Chest
5 Repair
6 Repair all
7 Ignore
8 Ignore all
Esc Exit :

However, I’m not completely sure if it’s wise to automatically delete something you don’t see… might really be better to use a normal scan from Windows.

4

Thanks for the reply. Do you mean just run the normal full virus scan after the computer loads? Unfortunately it does not find anything.

5

Yes.

Unfortunately ???
Do you want to get infected? ???

6

Is it possible that there is nothing to detect on the computer; that it’s malware free?

Believe it or not, that should be the normal state of affairs.

7

Thanks, unfortunately normal scan does not find anything. So if I can’t see what I am doing. Which option should I choose? Maybe 4, “move all to chest”? If I check this than I should not be prompted to do anything else, correct? After, the computer would load and I would then be able to view the files in the chest? Maybe release them from the chest if they were important files or delete them from there? I think repair all would not work, because I believe not all files can be repaired and then it would prompt me to do something again. Do you think this is a good strategy?

Something is in the boot scan which is slightly affecting my computer’s performance…it is pissing me off, and it is not showing up in the normal scan, or by malwarebytes/superantispyware/adaware scans. By the way, are these programs safe to have with avast, along with spyware blaster? Do I need these anymore or is the new free avast enough?

8

Have you tried booting into safe mode ?
If you can first avast doesn’t run in safe mode (the whole point to system resolve problems), but you can start it using the desktop icon and run a scan from safe mode. That is the next best thing to a boot-time scan.

MBAM and SAS work fine with avast, though adaware doesn’t bring much to the party these days I wouldn’t give it hard disk space. The latest version of adaware now comes with an AV and that is a no, no, having two resident AVs.

9
Something is in the boot scan which is slightly affecting my computer's performance...
Can you enlarge on that, please? What symptoms are you experiencing? If nothing is showing up in the normal scans, is it possible there is nothing to show up present?

MBAM and SAS (Demand versions) are fine to run with Avast. Spyware Blaster is fine also. AdAware is pretty much a waste of space, in my opinion.

10

That’s the problem…I can’t see what Avast is trying to tell me because my monitor is broken. I just know that in the past, the computer would just load after the boot time scan if there was no issues for me to address. However, if it finds a problem it prompts you to select one of the options as typed above by Igor. It must be asking me to do something because the computer won’t load ( I have left it on overnight 4 times during a boot scan…and the computer never loads. I conclude that Avast has found something and is prompting me to do something.) What do you think of the pressing 4 idea? I will try the safe mode scan.

11

It is unfortunate because THE BOOT TIME SCAN SEES SOMETHING BUT THE NORMAL SCAN DOES NOT. I hope typing in all caps helps you understand the first post better.

12

Ah, OK, no need to shout.
Sorry for being a bit thick, I didn’t perceive that aspect of it in your OP.

I wouldn’t select “quarantine all”, simply because if it’s a FP, you could, in a worst case scenario, render your computer unbootable.

I would select “ignore all” and look at the scan log when it finishes and fires up.

Are there any other symptoms, or just the fact that Avast won’t complete its boot scan?

13

I believe something is eating my bandwidth as my internet behaves a bit sporadically. Everything else seems fine. If I choose ignore all, the log will still include what Avast thinks is a problem? I’ll try it later when I don’t need the computer.

14

I think the log will show it, but don’t know for sure, because I’ve not run a boot scan with Avast 5.

It would be fairly unusual to have malware and for SAS and MBAM to show nothing, on top of a clean scan by Avast. You might possibly have been unfortunate enough to be the recipient of a zero-day threat, some users do, but the chances are pretty small.

Do you use wireless or cable? (Or dial up.)

15

Cable. I always clean with SAS and MBAM…the last thing I do is always a boot scan every two weeks. Whatever is making it stop is not being picked up by those 2 programs…for about the past 3 weeks I think.

Ill be gone for a couple days on an unplanned trip…will try some of the solutions when I get back.

Thanks for the help…please check back in 2 to 3 days.

What is that zero day thing?

16

A zero-day is a terminology used to describe a threat that is brand new, that hasn’t been observed in the wild and analysed yet, for definitions to be added, so nobody detects it.

It’s almost certainly not the case with you. Chances are one of the three programs you use would have found it by now, if it’s been going on three weeks, unless it has an unusually good method for cloaking itself.

Not saying it’s impossible, but realistically, as a non-expert, that’s my opinion.