why does'nt my vrdb ever get used?

system · 2006-10-21T08:04:43.000Z

hi i have been using avast for the past five months and i noticed that the vrdb feature was not once used to recover any files for my system (not that i ever get any serious virus attacks)but i would really appreciate it if you give me a lowdown on the vrdb functioning in detail if yall don’t mind.

DavidR · 2006-10-21T10:44:16.000Z

Well you may have partially answered your own question in a way, “(not that i ever get any serious virus attacks).”

The VRDB (I suggest a browse of the avast help file) is used to repair files infected by viruses.

Trojans generally can’t be repaired (either by the VRDB or avast virus cleaner), because the entire content of the file is malware, so it is either move to chest or delete, move to the chest being the best option (first do no harm). When a file is in the chest it can’t do any harm and you can investigate the infected warning.

The VRDB only protects certain files, .exe, dll and other system files, it doesn’t protect data files or all files, it is not a back-up program, so there are going to be many occasions where repair won’t be an option.

Only true virus infection can be repaired, e.g. when a virus infects a file it adds a small part to it, provided that file is one that avast’s VRDB would monitor and you have run the VRDB, then it may be possible to repair the file to its uninfected state.

However, for the most part so called viruses, trojans (adware/spyware/malware, etc.) can’t be repaired because the complete content of the file is malicious.

system · 2006-10-24T12:07:48.000Z

Thanks for the valuable information,it was an eye opener,great work and keep going David R!

DavidR · 2006-10-24T12:19:06.000Z

Your welcome.

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