Unable to start download of "Specialized boot-time scan definitions"

[Robert333]

Avast has been clean-uninstalled and reinstalled, apparently successfully (apart from the following issue).
Once reinstalled, I updated the "Specialized boot-time scan definitions" and carried out a Boot-Time Scan - no threats found.

However, since then when I open: Avast > Protection > Virus Scans > Boot-Time Scan:
There is no longer any option to download "Specialized boot-time scan definitions".
This screen now only says:
"Specialized boot-time scan definitions installed."

Why was Avast uninstalled and reinstalled?
For the same issue, as raised in a recent thread here with the same discussion title.

Avast program version is: 24.4.6112 (build 24.4.9067.835).

It is running on Windows 8.1.

I would appreciate a solution for this issue.

Regards,

[mchain]

You have the original topic here:  https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=327332.msg1718122#msg1718122

What do you want to accomplish here?  Do you have a boot-sector virus?

[Robert333]

I fail to see how the post from contributor "Mchain" attempts to resolve the issue I have brought here.

If they care to use the link they provided they will see the issue remains unresolved, I posted a message to that effect on that thread, and currently there is no solution offered.

Why does the contributor ask what I: "want to accomplish here"?, since that ought to be obvious to any sincere person.

Why does he ask if the computer has: "a boot-sector virus"?
Isn't investigating that sort of question one of the possible reasons Avast supply the option of using a Boot-Time Scan?

I hope to hear from someone who is willing to resolve the issue I have brought here. It seems to me to be possibly a "software bug" in Avast that ought to be reported to Avast for a fix. However, I would appreciate solutions.

[DavidR]

"mchain" is an Avast User and not an Avast Team Member, as are most helpers on the forums.

There must be a specific reason for wanting to run a boot time scan, usually because something can't be dealt with whilst windows is running.

Avast is a live on-access antivirus scanner, so the need for an on-demand scan and the boot-time scan is considered an on-demand scan.
- With a resident (on-access) scanner the need for on-demand scans is much depreciated. For the most part dormant/inert files are being scanned, the other active files are going to be scanned by the resident shields when they are activated.

Its a reasonable question, I can't understand why the fightback, given you already have another topic on this.  This I feel is why he is asking the question.

[Robert333]

I want to thank DavidR for their indeed helpful response.

However, where someone reports to this Forum an issue with an option/component of Avast, it does not seem right for them to get a response that does not seek to resolve the issue, but to instead only ask the OP why they want to use the Avast option in question.

[mchain]

Hi  Robert333,

I'm sorry if you've taken my questions about the use of the Boot-time scan, and why you want to use it, the wrong way. 

As DavidR says, this scan is a specialized scan to be run only when malware is found and detected and cannot be removed any other way.  The theory is that, if you scan for this malware when windows and the malware are not actively running, and it is in the definitions database, then disabling and removing it will become a simpler task.  The malware is not actively running and cannot defend itself.  You can repair your corrupted system files more easily because they are not in use and not running at the time of repair.

I've re-read the original topic and don't really see a reason to run a Boot-time scan.  No mention of an virus infection or any impairment of your system is mentioned anywhere.  The only issue, it seems, is that once you update the specialized definitions, they will not update again.

As user Pondus said: (quote was posted in the original topic, link to original topic posted above in reply # 1)

You asked: "Is there a reason for needing to run Boot Scan Mode in the first place?":
Yes, it is potentially capable of detecting infected files more efficiently when Windows is not running (not running theoretically) compared to any scan running in Windows. Were that not the case Avast would not provide the Boot Time Scan.

If this was the holy grail to detection then all AV vendors would use it.
 
Boot time scan is about removal/cleaning, relate to the old days when there was lots of real virus (self replicating file infectors) infecting system files and to clean these files they should not run/be in use. Malware that is detected using behaviour may not be detected with boot scan because it dont run (behave)

Boot time scan is a special tool to be used when you have problems removing something detected and not to be run as a regular scanner

Pondus is correct in what the actual purpose of a Boot-time scan was, is, and how it was to be used.  It was designed to kill and remove self-replicating viruses that infected system files.  This is where the boot-time definitions file is relevant because, as he says, if malware detection is based on (running) behavior, it cannot be found with a boot scan as both windows and malware are not active (boot-scan).  Self-replicating viruses need to be running in order to propagate and multiply, and the only way to stop this malicious growth is to get at them when they are not running.  This strategy of using a boot-time scan was devised as a way to counter this threat.

So the issue of boot-time definitions, it seems, is one where it is not updating as you expect.

It (updating the boot-time file) would seem to be dependent upon Avast team members, not us, to provide a newer and up-to-date definition file. 

We, as users, like you, have no control over if, and when, that happens.

And we do not know when or how often these definitions are updated.  I suspect they are not updated on a daily basis, as are the daily malware definitions, specifically because of the nature and basis of running a boot-time scan is not really needed anymore.  It is targeted to remove file infectors, and these types of viruses are not prevalent anymore.  There are many more viruses and malware that are much more dangerous to the user than file infectors, and these newer bad files require much more complex solutions for remediation and curation than the Avast Boot-time scan ever could or will.

I hope you understand what it is I am saying.  I am not saying it is wrong to use the boot-time scan to clean your system.  But is it the right tool?

[Robert333]

mchain wrote:

The only issue, it seems, is that once you update the specialized definitions, they will not update again. [...] So the issue of boot-time definitions, it seems, is one where it is not updating as you expect. [...] It (updating the boot-time file) would seem to be dependent upon Avast team members, not us, to provide a newer and up-to-date definition file. We, as users, like you, have no control over if, and when, that happens.

No. That's not the issue I reported here.
What I explained was that having once updated the specialized definitions, at:
Avast > Protection > Virus Scans > Boot-Time Scan:
There is thereafter no longer any option to download "Specialized boot-time scan definitions".
Thus is it currently impossible to initiate any new search for / download, these Specialized definitions.

mchain also wrote:

[...] I've re-read the original topic and don't really see a reason to run a Boot-time scan.  [...]

The original topic means the recent earlier discussion under the same title in which the "Boot-Time Scan" option was fully discussed, including by me.
What a pity mchain has spent so much effort to apparently answer a question I did not ask, and nor have they provided any solution to the issue I have reported.

If there is a solution to this issue, or if alternatively it can be reported to Avast for a fix, I would appreciate this.

Meanwhile I invite others who have the latest version of Avast running on Windows 8.1 to see if it is possible on their systems to reproduce this issue.
Remember the "Specialized boot-time scan definitions" can be downloaded and installed only once, and thereafter this issue occurs on my System.

Regards to all.


Update:
I believe I can update this post as no one has made any further reply since it.
The "Our tip: [...] "Install [Specialized boot-time] definitions" link/option is back. I do not know exactly when, because I did not check every day.
Maybe then, this option is, as mchain implied, only available when such definitions are updated, but, isn't that what the Link/option is for; to check for such specialized definitions.
I would therefore be interested to know if Avast checks for the specialized definitions either:
Before, or after,
the OP uses the Link?

How therefore should one expect the option to work?
Is there then an Avast Help / Support document that lets people know what to expect when seeking to use "Install specialized boot-time definitions"?
Obviously, it is preferable to know how this option works and what to expect from it (if that is all this issue was), rather than taking up other's time here.

Update 2:
I had not installed any "Specialized boot-time definitions" since the option to do so became available again (available again as explained in my first Update here above).
I installed two Avast updates, that is, first the one, and then a second update that followed the first, over the past few days.
Now the relevant screen only states: "Specialized boot-time scan definitions installed."
The "Our tip: [...] "Install [Specialized boot-time] definitions" link/option has disappeared again.
Should I assume that the reappearance of the download link ("Our tip: [...] "Install [Specialized boot-time] definitions"), and its disappearance without my having used it, mean the "Specialized boot-time definitions" became available, and then, became unavailable?

Thus what appeared to me to be a software bug, then appeared to be a matter of knowing how the option works (which by the way no one seems to have had the courtesy to attempt to explain here anyway, or point to any explanatory Avast document), and yet now this issue gives every indication once again, of being software bug.

Is it that no one has here has the knowledge to assist or have people got upset and blacklisted me; assistance since I posted this message as updated, has unfortunately not exactly been overwhelming.