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Consumer Products => Avast Mac Security => Topic started by: spenceke on March 02, 2022, 04:23:52 PM

Title: Time Machine scan when not checked to do so.
Post by: spenceke on March 02, 2022, 04:23:52 PM

How do I get external drives and time machine drive to b not scanned when doing a deep scan.  I don't have either check box marked but they still get scanned.

Title: Re: Time Machine scan when not checked to do so.
Post by: bob3160 on March 02, 2022, 10:44:35 PM

See if this answers your question:
https://support.avast.com/en-us/article/Mac-Security-malware-scan/

Title: Re: Time Machine scan when not checked to do so.
Post by: spenceke on March 08, 2022, 11:11:37 PM

Even though I don't have external disks or time machine checked in edit custom scan windows it still scans them.  So why would this happen? 

Title: Re: Time Machine scan when not checked to do so.
Post by: chrisbodnar35 on April 02, 2022, 06:41:20 AM

First, if your Avast is acting like mine does, youll find that it isnt scanning the time machine files on your external drive, its scanning a hidden volume on your macs internal drive.  Apparently Mac 12.3 Monterey keeps a cop of the timemachine back ups on its own hard drive in a hidden volume.  I found this out when Avast found infected files because it gives the path of the infection.     That path is /volumes/.timemachine/ (long obnoxious number) /2022-3-3-101022backup/2022-3-3-101022backup/data/user/mac/library/ etc, etc, etc. 

So /volumes/.timemachine/ is on the main disk.  .timemachine is a hidden file because of the dot prefix. 

Now, why unchecking the scan time machine setting doesnt exclude this hidden time machine partition, I have no idea, but it doesnt exclude it at all and since its scanning these hidden files, deep system scans for me, take hours. 

Title: Re: Time Machine scan when not checked to do so.
Post by: spenceke on April 02, 2022, 07:31:43 PM

Thanks for this information as that is great to know.  Unfortunately I don't thing that is what is happening for me.  I can watch my external hard drive flashing constantly day and night for a couple of days.  I think I found the .timemachine but its says there are 0 bites for 490 items and hasn't ever been modified. 

I added it to the exceptions list so will see what happens next time I run.