Author Topic: Custom scan options question>>Follow links during scan (SOLVED)  (Read 6053 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Gargamel360

  • Guest
In the "Sensitivity" section of the custom scan options, the option for "Follow Links During Scan".

Just wondering what it does, or the effect that toggling it on/off has on a scan.

« Last Edit: August 29, 2010, 07:20:25 PM by Gargamel360 »

Offline igor

  • Avast team
  • Serious Graphoman
  • *
  • Posts: 11849
    • AVAST Software
Re: Custom scan options question>>Follow links during scan
« Reply #1 on: August 29, 2010, 07:02:35 PM »
It specifies whether avast! "enters" the reparse points on the filesystem during scan.
For example, the folder C:\Documents and Settings on Windows Vista and higher is actually not a folder - but rather a link to C:\Users. If this option is activated, avast! will scan the content of the link target (i.e. C:\Users) when it arrives at C:\Documents and Settings. If the option is disabled, it will ignore this "folder" and simply go on with the next one.

Except for special cases (multi-OS setup, hard disk with another OS attached to your computer), I suggest to keep this setting enabled - avast! has special logic to prevent multiple scanning of the same area (so in the example mentioned above, if you're scannig the whole C: drive, avast! would actually skip scanning C:\Documents and Settings anyway, because it knows that it arrives to C:\Users sooner or later; the difference would be in case if you were scanning the folder C:\Documents and Settings alone, or this and a few additional folders).

Gargamel360

  • Guest
Re: Custom scan options question>>Follow links during scan
« Reply #2 on: August 29, 2010, 07:19:55 PM »
Ah, got it, thanks :)