on access scanners

[maximus]

Does the  continual running of the on access scanners in avast 4 use a lot of memory- i only have 64 meg ram. Would it cause the pc to freeze. Is it best to have the on access scanner running all the time for the virus protection to be most effective??

[Vlk]

Does the  continual running of the on access scanners in avast 4 use a lot of memory- i only have 64 meg ram.

It uses about 12MB of virtual memory (not necessarily physical memory).

If you're running Windows 9x, 64MB will be fine. If 2K/XP you should consider buying more memory - it's cheap!

Would it cause the pc to freeze.

We hope not!

Is it best to have the on access scanner running all the time for the virus protection to be most effective??

Well, yes, for most users it's best to leave it running all the time... Otherwise you'd always forget to turn it on when needed. - And you know, bad luck always strikes when you expect it the least...

Vlk

[MikeBCda]

Is it best to have the on access scanner running all the time for the virus protection to be most effective??

Well, yes, for most users it's best to leave it running all the time... Otherwise you'd always forget to turn it on when needed. - And you know, bad luck always strikes when you expect it the least...

Vlk

(Hopefully I got the nested quotes trimmed just right   )
I might be wrong, Vlk (wouldn't be the first time) -- but I've gotten into the habit of pausing the Standard provider when I'm installing something new, or checking Windows Update.  Maybe avast is unique, but it's quite common to see installation instructions advise you to turn off a-v while installing so it doesn't interfere.

There's still essentially the same problem you mentioned, remembering to resume the Standard provider afterwards -- but many installations want a re-boot anyway, and of course that'll bring back the Standard provider (if I only paused it, rather than stopping it).

[Waldo]

Stopping (pausing) the resident shield when installing new software is indeed a good thing to do, but...

ONLY when you have scanned the software (download) (or Cd & floppy) beforehand with the on-demand scan.

Doing this, will protect you from installing malware.

There are not  much virii & trojan (i guess none) around that infect you when simply downloading it. Most of the malware still needs to be excecuted proir before infecting you.

Most of the times Avast resident shield will "see" the malware even before the download (via internet or P2p) is even finished.

But i do recommend scanning (on demand) every file before installing

Waldo

[Lisandro]

Stopping (pausing) the resident shield when installing new software is indeed a good thing to do, but...

ONLY when you have scanned the software (download) (or Cd & floppy) beforehand with the on-demand scan.

Doing this, will protect you from installing malware.

There are not  much virii & trojan (i guess none) around that infect you when simply downloading it. Most of the malware still needs to be excecuted proir before infecting you.

Most of the times Avast resident shield will "see" the malware even before the download (via internet or P2p) is even finished.

But i do recommend scanning (on demand) every file before installing

Waldo

Thanks Waldo. Fully agree with you.
Anyway, I installed a lot of applications and Windows Updates since I have avast! installed in my computer without any trouble... I don't know I am lucky or just because avast! is so special that works where the others don´t  

[MikeBCda]

Ok, thanks guys -- I'll defer to the experts and just leave the provider active.  I don't remember ever running into problems with installation if I forgot to pause it anyway.