after using avast for over a year, I gave it up due to update problems. now I’m considering switching back to avast, I just have a question: is avast scanning real-time wmv files, or on-demand?
It scans everything in real time.
Well everything considered an immediate risk or a target of infection. So does .wma present an immediate risk (if allowed to run could perform a malicious task) or the target of infection.
As far as I’m aware wma files can’t be infected in the same way an exe or dll file can, but I think it is more a case of crafting it to try and exploit the media player. Personally I think it should be scanned.
If it is it doesn’t appear to have any impact on my system on the very odd occasion when I play one.
he said wmv David.
My bad, I meant wmv, but some weird reason put wma as it is another windows media file format that can also be used to try and exploit the media player.
thank you guys for replying. the reason for asking this: after giving up avast (update problems with the new v5) I switched to f-secure (license available from my employer). but on large wmv files, f-secure is scanning like crazy and my computer becomes unresponsive. I now consider switching back to avast, hoping the v5 is now more polished.
this is what I was searching for. you meant wmv files, right? I guess that scanning a large wmv file (or any very large file) should/could have some impact on executing that file. if it’s unnoticeable, maybe avast isn’t scanning wmv files? is this possible?
The wmv files I ran were relatively small a couple of MB and even with the file system shield open so I could see what was being scanned. However, as soon as I clicked the .wmv file in explorer the avastUI loses focus, as quick as I was switching back to it I couldn’t see if the file was scanned.
Avast has been blisteringly fast in its scans (coming top in many tests for speed of scanning), so I didn’t see any huge delay in the wmv file being loaded. But since I started by clicking the wmv file in explorer the media player has to be loaded (didn’t take long at all as that would have a scan overhead) and still no appreciable delay in it starting.
I couldn’t take it anymore with f-secure and the wmv files, and switched to avast. everything running as it should, no delays on playing wmv files.
but, I checked and can say that avast is not scanning on-access the wmv files, only on-demand. this is why there is no delay in playing such files. if avast is happy with this, I’m happy too. just for information, the scanning (on-demand) of a 700MB wmv file takes around 30sec.
the only thing I will miss is the Deepguard in f-secure, I don’t think the behavior shield in avast is a match for it.
thank you, David and scythe944 for your replies.
You’re welcome.
Whilst not knowing what exactly deep guard does, there are upgrades to the behaviour shield in avast 5.1 which shouldn’t be that far off now.
Plus that whole, 6.0 that they’re toting about.
It's closer than we thinkas well!
Yes, but 6.0 being closer than we think, isn’t something that even figures on my radar, whilst 5.1 is looming large on the radar. I fancy a beta notification fairly soon.
God I hope so.