How to disable Everything-Is-Fine "Scan complete" notifications?

[REDACTED]

I have just started using Avast Free after switching from a different brand, and it seems great so far, except for one rather large annoyance that might cause me to switch back if I can't get this solved.

I have a full scan of my hard drive set to run pretty much every night, assuming that I don't shut my computer down that night. So in the morning I wake up to have a little sky blue dot over my Avast tray icon letting me know I have a notification. But I can't find any way to view and dismiss that notification from the tray icon. This means I need to
1. click the icon to open Avast
2. wait for what seems like an eternity for the Avast window to come up
3. click "Notifications" at the top of the window
4. FINALLY see that the notification isn't even telling me anything important. There's nothing wrong that needs my attention...it's just telling me that a scan was successfully run.
5. Click "Dismiss all"
6. Click the red X to close the "Problems & notifications" window
7. Close the Avast window

This is an absolutely RIDICULOUS amount of effort simply to let me know that Avast is working fine and doing its job! Now, if there's a problem, I definitely want to be notified, but if everything is great, I really don't want to be bothered. If the program INSISTS on telling me what a wonderful job it's doing, then a quick popup or message box that I can easily close would be sufficient.

So here's what I want to know:
1. How can I stop scans from giving me a "Scan complete" notification in the first place, and ONLY notify me if something was found?
OR
2. How can I quickly and easily view & dismiss notifications from the tray icon?

I've looked all over all the program settings and try icon options, and for the life of me I can't find anything to control this. There's some control over popups, but nothing I can find for notifications.

In the meantime, the blue dot is quickly reaching the point of being something I just ignore, which doesn't really seem good, since that's likely to result in me missing something that ACTUALLY needs my attention. Surely this is not what the developers want???

[Gopher John]

Why do you feel the need to do a full scan every night?  Avast is scanning all activity on your computer as it happens.  If any antivirus cannot detect a malware under these conditions, it's also unlikely to be able to detect it during a full scan.

Now, to your question; I haven't discovered a way for such notifications not to show up as a blue dot on the tray icon.

[schmidthouse]

+1 Also am not aware of setting.

With the kind of technology and 'real-time' scanning of all changes on OS, a "Full Scan" is not as important as may have been years back.re
I will still on occasion do a Full Scan but never more than once a month as there are options to run a more in-depth scan.

[mchain]

Hi.

Since Avast runs real-time protection (shields listed below in attached picture) even before your desktop appears after system startup you are protected from harm as long as you run these protection features.

Both Gopher John and schmidthouse are correct, running a full scan at end of any session really is redundant as these four scanners will intercept malware before they can do harm to your system.

If you are really concerned about malware coming in surreptitiously, suggest running your browsers inside a sandbox:  https://www.sandboxie.com/DownloadSandboxie

I've been running the free version for years now.  Sandbox is set to automatically delete on close, thus throwing away all malware (if any) inside and preventing such from infecting my system(s).

But Avast is primary and it has prevented infections many times, to wit:  {Test line for WebShield here)  http://www.avast.com/eng/test-url-blocker.html  Clicking this link should produce a web-block.  What this tester is good for is to see whether avast actually runs the blocker or not.

Avast has protected me for over 10 years now, beginning with Avast Free.  No infections.

[REDACTED]

1. In general, I install antivirus to have access to full scans, not realtime protection. I frequently disable the realtime protection. In fact, a key reason I stopped using Avira was that it kept turning the realtime back on, and its tray icon wasn't always a reliable indicator of whether it was on or off. My computer is old, and doesn't need extra baggage slowing it down during the day.
2. Part of the reason for frequent scans is specifically BECAUSE I don't use the other functions as much. I still agree that nightly is a bit of overkill, and normally, I'd only set the scan to run 2-4 times per week, but since I've been frequently turning the computer off at night, this seemed to be the best way to make sure I'm not missing the scans. More recently, I've been leaving it on again a more often, so I may reduce the schedule.

[Pondus]

1. In general, I install antivirus to have access to full scans, not realtime protection. I frequently disable the realtime protection.

If you only want a scanner then ClamWin may be the thing for you  >>  http://www.clamwin.com/

For realtime protection you need to ad ClamSentinel  >>  http://clamsentinel.sourceforge.net/

[REDACTED]

If you only want a scanner then ClamWin may be the thing for you  >>  http://www.clamwin.com/

Um, thanks, but I think I'd prefer to stick with software that gets decent reviews (https://www.pcworld.com/article/231520/clamwin_free_antivirus.html)

Avast actually seems great, I just need it to stop over-notifying! Right now it's behaving rather like The Boy Who Cried "Wolf".

[bob3160]

It isn't crying Wolf. It's probably trying to persuade you to purchase a paid item or product.

[Pondus]

If you only want a scanner then ClamWin may be the thing for you  >>  http://www.clamwin.com/

Um, thanks, but I think I'd prefer to stick with software that gets decent reviews (https://www.pcworld.com/article/231520/clamwin_free_antivirus.html)

Avast actually seems great, I just need it to stop over-notifying! Right now it's behaving rather like The Boy Who Cried "Wolf".

That review is 10 years old.

[REDACTED]

If you only want a scanner then ClamWin may be the thing for you  >>  http://www.clamwin.com/

Um, thanks, but I think I'd prefer to stick with software that gets decent reviews (https://www.pcworld.com/article/231520/clamwin_free_antivirus.html)

That review is 10 years old.

Well then, I'd prefer to stick with software that HAS recent reviews from mainstream sources. That 1 review was really the only thing I saw.

Also, my question was about Avast's functionality, not about suggestions for alternative software.

[REDACTED]

It isn't crying Wolf. It's probably trying to persuade you to purchase a paid item or product.

It's a possibility. I haven't seen any indication that this is an area in which the paid version works differently, but if you have some evidence that it does, I'd certainly be interested in seeing it.

[bob3160]

It isn't crying Wolf. It's probably trying to persuade you to purchase a paid item or product.

It's a possibility. I haven't seen any indication that this is an area in which the paid version works differently, but if you have some evidence that it does, I'd certainly be interested in seeing it.

I've used the free version since 2003.