Virus scan accompanied by LAN activity to/from Printer??

I just reinstalled Windows 98se from an A:>format C: /s command on my desk top computer. I brought my Ethernet LAN back on line and installed an HP Officejet 6310 All-In-One printer. My hub is a SMC Barricade. After getting some applications installed I installed Avast 4.7. In preparation for making an image of the functioning system, I ran a Thorough scan. In the middle of this scan I noticed via the Barricade’s front panel lights that there was a lot of unexpected activity going on between the desktop computer and the printer. Much much more than when Avast was not running.

My question is why the chit chat between my desktop and the printer under Avast’s scan. ???

I have noticed before that there appears to be some sort of integrity checking going on between the Barricade and its four connected devices. My question is about activity way beyond this.

Thanks for the help you folks have provided in the past.

Rod

Does the Standard Shield show any file being scanned at that time?
I mean, does the file counter increase?