New User Questions

[1mccoady]

I'm using the free version of Avast 4 Home Edition with XP Pro. I ran into the Zone Alarm problem causing hanging so after following your instructions by putting in ?:\System Volume Information\tracking.log into both exclusion lists I believe I'm good to go because I seem to be getting complete scans now.

Okay new questions:

1. Is it necessary to scan archived files when I do my scans?

2. I have done a scan checking to scan archived files and when completed I have a list (407) of files or paths Avast said it was unable to scan, is this anything to be concerned with? Do I do anything or just ignore the results if I ever scan achived files again?

3. Since the free version doesn't let me set up a schedule to do say weekly scans, is it advisable to do manual weekly scans?

[miscreant]

I'm using the free version of Avast 4 Home Edition with XP Pro. I ran into the Zone Alarm problem causing hanging so after following your instructions by putting in ?:\System Volume Information\tracking.log into both exclusion lists I believe I'm good to go because I seem to be getting complete scans now.

Okay new questions:

1. Is it necessary to scan archived files when I do my scans?

2. I have done a scan checking to scan archived files and when completed I have a list (407) of files or paths Avast said it was unable to scan, is this anything to be concerned with? Do I do anything or just ignore the results if I ever scan achived files again?

3. Since the free version doesn't let me set up a schedule to do say weekly scans, is it advisable to do manual weekly scans?

Personally i would perform a complete  first scan with archives enabled.If i were all clear i would just perform manual scans when i felt like it ,as realtime scanners would catch anything anyway.If a nasty is in an archive it cant do anything and if its extracted then realtime scanner would catch it.There is usually nothing to worry about if avast is unable to scan certain files.These are usually locked files in the system restore volume.Check what the files are and the path to them.
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[Lisandro]

I'm using the free version of Avast 4 Home Edition with XP Pro. I ran into the Zone Alarm problem causing hanging so after following your instructions by putting in ?:\System Volume Information\tracking.log into both exclusion lists I believe I'm good to go because I seem to be getting complete scans now.

Very good... you've learned fast...

1. Is it necessary to scan archived files when I do my scans?

It won't hurt on first scanning, after that maybe monthly or each two months...

2. I have done a scan checking to scan archived files and when completed I have a list (407) of files or paths Avast said it was unable to scan, is this anything to be concerned with? Do I do anything or just ignore the results if I ever scan achived files again?

Files that can't be scanned are just that, not an indication they are suspicious/infected, just unable to be scanned.

3. Since the free version doesn't let me set up a schedule to do say weekly scans, is it advisable to do manual weekly scans?

Answered (suggested) before, maybe 1 or 2 months in between.

[1mccoady]

Thanks for answering all my questions! I wasn't sure how often to do a manual scan because before using Avast I was using PC-cillin and it scanned weekly but if you say every month or two then that's what I'll do.

[Lisandro]

Thanks for answering all my questions! I wasn't sure how often to do a manual scan because before using Avast I was using PC-cillin and it scanned weekly but if you say every month or two then that's what I'll do.

Of course, you can reduce this scheduling... it's up to you and for your security
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