Is Automatic Scans part of the free edition

[beversoll]

I could not find anywhere to create this setting and have searched the info page, but can't seem to find any information.  I assume this is not an option in the Home Version, but wanted to check.  Thanks for any input!   

[sded]

Automatic scans are only part of the Avast! Pro paid version, although if you search the forum you will find some users who have successfully set it up with Windows Scheduler.  But with Avast! already online, checking 24/7 for incoming malware, I find that I seldom re-run the scans anyway-only as a precaution, along with other malware programs, in case something unusual happens.  IAW, I don't think scheduled scans are really useful today, but more as an on demand backup.

[beversoll]

Thanks for the answer.  I recently switched AV on my mom's computer and she is not too computer savy so I wanted to set it up to auto scan, but not a big deal.  Probably won't mess with the Windows Scheduler, but appreciate the suggestion.   

But with Avast! already online, checking 24/7 for incoming malware, I find that I seldom re-run the scans anyway-only as a precaution, along with other malware programs, in case something unusual happens.  IAW, I don't think scheduled scans are really useful today, but more as an on demand backup.

Agree fully with this.  In theory the only way a scan would find anything is if a new malware infected the system and it wasn't added to the Avast definitions until after the infection (not sure if that makes sense).  Thanks again. 

[sded]

There are a couple of good free on-demand malware scanners used commonly by many Avast! users-Super Anti Spyware SAS (  http://www.superantispyware.com ) and Malware Bytes MBAM ( http://www.malwarebytes.org/ ) -that give some additional confidence instead of just rescanning with Avast! again.  There are certainly other good ones too.  You may have noticed that Avast! already is very timely and updates daily or more often for on access scanning, so a second opinion may be more useful than a rescan just in case.

[Tarq57]

In theory the only way a scan would find anything is if a new malware infected the system and it wasn't added to the Avast definitions until after the infection (not sure if that makes sense).  Thanks again.

This is true, and it happens from time to time, especially with so much malware being created.
A problem with running any scan is that the AV will halt on the first detection, awaiting user input. So the user has to answer this and needs to be semi-savvy to select the correct answer.
A trick I learned here that can help is to place a copy of the Eicar test virus somewhere on the C drive, where it will be detected early in the scan, then click "continue" and "do not ask me next time" in the Avast dialogue window. The scan results can then be examined and any action required taken.
I did a scan yesterday, first in over a month. The only detections were two Eicar test files, one where I put it, and one in system restore.
So I think you probably have to be fairly unlucky (or wantonly careless - a description that doesn't apply to the average mom) to score one of these "zero day" viruses.
Perhaps you should only scan if "symptoms" appear, or weekly or monthly with something that scans fast, like MBAM.

[beversoll]

Thanks for all of the input.  I have Avast! and MBAM running in real-time on her pc.  I also put SpywareBlaster, WinPatrol, and Web of Trust on her system, along with SAS as an on-demand scanner.  It might sound like overkill, but it doesn't slow down browsing and better safe than sorry.   

[DavidR]

Check this work around out - HOWTO: Scheduled Automatic Scans avast! Home Version!

The major disadvantage with the task scheduler trick of using ashquick.exe is, it will scan every file of the hdd, partition, folder or file that you set it to scan; even those files not considered a potential threat, this can take a long time. It is possible to add certain folders to the exclusions list for say your media files, etc. Care should be taken with the paths you want to exclude as this could leave you vulnerable if that folder got infected as it wouldn't be scanned by the on-demand scanner as you have excluded it.

However, should you access any infected file in a Folder in the Program Settings, Exclusions, the on-access scanner (Standard Shield) should detect it provided you haven't put the exclusions in there.

The Pro version gives a lot more flexibility and the scan would follow the settings and exclusions, etc. of the regular scan.

With the different levels of protection (Web Shield, Internet Mail, P2P and Instant Messaging) and the fall back of the Standard Shield, I find the need for daily scheduled scans lessened. I prefer to do a manual scan with my regular weekly maintenance tasks.

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The only problem is if you do detect a virus in the home version with this work around, avast
will alert and wait for user input, so your Mom could come to the computer and it had an alert waiting attention.

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In the Home version you can check the option "Don't show this window again" when the first virus warning appears, select the "No action" button. This way, no action will be taken and you will given the results at the end of the scan (and you can perform actions from there). Over time this will become less of an issue, as the resident, on-access scanners are designed to intercept infection before it gets into your system. As has been said by sded this might diminish the need for on-demand scans.

- There was one suggestion to place something like the eicar virus test file at the start of the first drive to be scanned in a file like ~a-eicar.com that should soon be detected and you can do the option "Don't show this window again" when the first virus warning appears, select the "No action" button. So you should have a list of files waiting your action.

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This still would mean your Mom would have to wait for the alert on the eicar test file, and take the above action, not what you are really trying to achieve of taking this type of thing out of her hands. So whilst this does work, the pro version can be set-up much more elegantly and is much more configurable than the Home workaround.

[Pondus]

why not  the automatic avast screensaver scan ?