Author Topic: Scan One File at a time - Is it Possible?  (Read 9344 times)

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eager to learn

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Scan One File at a time - Is it Possible?
« on: November 08, 2009, 03:07:04 AM »
Hi there,

Is is possible with avast home to scan one file at a time?

I just downloaded an .exe file from what should be a safe site but just to be extra safe I wanted to scan that file before I open it and install by scanning with with avast.

Can I scan just that file now that it's on my hard drive?

In the future, is there a way to scan an. exe file *before* I download the file?

Thank you so much.

Offline Shiw Liang

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Re: Scan One File at a time - Is it Possible?
« Reply #1 on: November 08, 2009, 05:01:35 AM »
Right click on the file then click on the file
Scan "The name of the file"

Offline Tarq57

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Re: Scan One File at a time - Is it Possible?
« Reply #2 on: November 08, 2009, 05:20:44 AM »
Quote
In the future, is there a way to scan an. exe file *before* I download the file?
No, but unless the file is encrypted prior to downloading, the webshield should alert to known infected content on a webpage.
Zipped files can be scanned after downloading. Many zipped files are scan-able, those with an unusual compression algorithm may not be.
Windows 10,Windows Firewall,Firefox w/Adblock.

Offline RZPogi

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Re: Scan One File at a time - Is it Possible?
« Reply #3 on: November 08, 2009, 08:17:16 AM »
If you have the download statusbar addon in firefox or download accelerator plus, you can adjust the settings to make avast automatically scan your downloads.

just direct the ashquick.exe to the virus scanning option.

This is for avast 4.8 version. I don't about avast 5 beta because I haven't tried it.
DESKTOP: Win 10, Avast 20 Free, Windows firewall, Malwarebytes free

LAPTOP: Win 10, Windows Defender, Malwarebytes free, Windows Firewall, Mcshield

eager to learn

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Re: Scan One File at a time - Is it Possible?
« Reply #4 on: November 08, 2009, 03:38:31 PM »
Hi RZ,

Thanks so much for sharing that tip.

May I ask - where do I download the download statusbar addon in firefox?

Where would I download accelerator plus?

How exactly do I direct the ashquick.exe to the virus scanning option?

Does ashquick.exe come bundled in with accelerator plus?

Thank you so much.

eager to learn

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Re: Scan One File at a time - Is it Possible?
« Reply #5 on: November 08, 2009, 03:43:37 PM »
Hi shiw liang,

Thank you very much for your suggestion.

Please frogive my follow up, but when I highlight the .exe file and right click I see where I can scan with SuperAntiSpyware but Avast is not listed in the drop down menu.

Once I have the exe. file highlighted by right clicking I'm not sure what the next steps are to then scan that file with avast home 4.8 which I have.

Thank you again for all your help and patience.

Hermite15

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Re: Scan One File at a time - Is it Possible?
« Reply #6 on: November 08, 2009, 03:44:10 PM »
ashquick.exe is an avast executable you can use to scan downloaded files. You must point to it from within the options in your download manager, whatever it is. This option doesn't exist yet in avast 5 (no equivalent to ashquick...might come in the future).

Offline nmb

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Re: Scan One File at a time - Is it Possible?
« Reply #7 on: November 08, 2009, 03:49:01 PM »
Hello eager to learn,

firefox addons needs firefox to be open until the download is complete. instead you can use a download manager.

Instead of DAP(I personally hate it), you can get : either fdm from freedownloadmanager.org or orbit downloader from orbitdownloader.com .

ashquick.exe is avast quick scan executable. which is called when you try to scan a file manually, is the one which shiw liang posted earlier ( right click on file > click scan file.)

you can use some parameters with the download manager so that as soon as the file download is complete, ashquick.exe will be called and hence the file be scanned.

nmb

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Re: Scan One File at a time - Is it Possible?
« Reply #8 on: November 08, 2009, 04:03:22 PM »
Hi nmb,

So, am I correct in understanding that I can not scan that .exe file by itself until I download fdm or orbit downloader to download any files and then download ashquick.exe?

I'm not sure where ashquick.exe is? Or is it already part of avast home 4.8 and I have to find it on my hard drive?

When I highlight the .exe file the drop down menu has the antispyware listed but not avast or ashquick.exe.

I may be a tad confused.

Thanks so much.

Offline nmb

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Re: Scan One File at a time - Is it Possible?
« Reply #9 on: November 08, 2009, 04:13:36 PM »
Hello eager to learn,

ashquick.exe is on your hdd. it was copied to avast data folder when you installed avast!. so no need to download ashquick.exe from anywhere else.

ashquick.exe can be found in the C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4 folder (if you had installed with default options).

you can scan with avast scanner manually be invoking ashquick.exe. that invoking is done when you right click on a file and select scan somefile.exe.(how to scan manually? - see pic.)

nmb


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Re: Scan One File at a time - Is it Possible?
« Reply #10 on: November 08, 2009, 04:24:19 PM »
Hi nmb,

Sorry to tax your patience but I found that ashquick.exe on my hard drive. I right clicked it and saw that I could scan with is in the drop down but when I clicked it nothing seemed to happen.

Am I supposed to get a prompt about which file I want scanned?

I'm not sure how to make it scan just one file after I've highlighted ashquick.exe and see Scan with ashquick.exe.

Since I already have ashquick.exe on my hard drive, then what do I need with a download manager?

Thanks so much for your help.

Offline nmb

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Re: Scan One File at a time - Is it Possible?
« Reply #11 on: November 08, 2009, 04:48:01 PM »
Hello eager to learn,

yes, you will get a prompt when you select "scan file.exe" from the right click context menu. but for how much time the prompt remains on your screen(monitor) depends on the size of the file.

let say that we have a 0.5 MB file and a 25 MB file.

using common sense, the time required to scan 0.5 MB file and 25 Mb file are different.

the 0.5 MB file can be scanned in, say, 1/4 th of a second and 25 MB file scan be scanned in 30 seconds. as you can see, and sense, 1/4 th of a second is too less and hence you wont be able to see the prompt. it comes and goes in a matter of less than a second.

but 30 seconds is more and hence you can see the prompt of ashquick.exe.

(do it yourself : try scanning a huge file, say a 50 MB or a 100MB file (if its huge enough ;)) and observe that you can see the prompt.)

Download mangers are those which help in unattended download management of data(as the name says).

for the user convenience, the coder who has written the code of the software will include many options.

since the files you are downloading "might be" malicious, you have to be given a chance to automatically invoke a antivirus scanner. after all it is for unattended download management and hence for user convenience.

so coders who suspects this need of a user of his software, will add an option to invoke a antivirus scanner.

In the download managers I suggested to you earlier, you can do this by simply adding a command line in the settings. but that changes with the download manager. if you use fdm(free download manger) it will be different and for orbit downloader will also be different.

nmb

Offline Shiw Liang

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Re: Scan One File at a time - Is it Possible?
« Reply #12 on: November 08, 2009, 04:52:59 PM »
I've used FDM it seem to be able to continue more download that DAP can't but DAP says that it downloads 300%more quicker is that true?

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Re: Scan One File at a time - Is it Possible?
« Reply #13 on: November 08, 2009, 05:17:07 PM »
Hi nmb,

When I highlight ashquick.exe, then the menu drops down and there's the scan with avast there I click it and in a blink it shows me the avast logo, etc and that's it.

It never prompts  me for which file to scan - including the .exe file I downloaded that I'd like to scan.

Does this mean that ashquick.exe has scanned my entire hard drive, including the .exe file I downloaded that I'd like to scan, in just a blink of a second? I've got a 160 GB hard drive and I can't imagine it could scan the whole hard drive in a blink.

Is that possible?

I thought the way it would operate is that I would choose ashquick.exe and then it would prompt me which file I'd like to scan and then I could browse to that file and click Scan Now and then it would scan that file and then finish with a message like "File Scan Complete - No Malware found."

Regarding the download manager, is its purpose to invoke ashquick.exe and execute it as I click "Download Now" for any file from a Web site I'm downloading?

So, would the process be as such - I surf to a Web site, locate the the file I want to download, then somehow summon fdm or orbit downloader (which Ive already donated and installed) and then click some key function in fdm or orbit downloader which then invokes ashquick.exe and then avast would begin scanning that file being downloaded?

Once you download and extract the files for fdm or orbit downloader does that program automatically appear on my Firefox ToolBar or how do I summon it to activate it's downloading function?

Thanks so much for your help.

Offline Shiw Liang

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Re: Scan One File at a time - Is it Possible?
« Reply #14 on: November 08, 2009, 05:22:30 PM »
Don't worry your hard disk compacity is 160GB or its memory usage is 160GB?
I think it can't be using 160GB, I think it will can the total memory occupied in your hard disk!
Eh meaning it scans all the files in your hard disk,it don't scans free space also^^
« Last Edit: November 08, 2009, 05:25:05 PM by shiw liang »