What files is avast! supposed to detect?

[fannymites]

I have just tried the eicar test with avast! and on downloading avast! only detected the .com and when I switched the standard shield to high it detected the .txt file as well but not the .zip files.
When copying the files from one folder to another it didn't detect the .zip files either.  And using drag and drop, didn't detect any.
On my dad's comp, which has Norton, it detected every file on download and every file on cut/copy and drag and drop.
Though all files were detected with avast! using the on demand scan, shouldn't it pick them up with other actions also?  Or does avast! simply not deal with archives?
I have the standard shield set to scan all files.

[Eddy]

..... but not the .zip files

You must enable archive scanning before Avast can scans zip files.

As long as the virus is in the zip, it is "harmless". But when you unpack it, Avast will pick it up with the on-access scanner. As explained in many threads here.

[DavidR]

What is your on-access scanner sensitivity setting, set it to high if it isn't already and change the advanced options to Scan Created/Modified files, see image.



HTH David

[LAB]

Hi Eddy,

I use Avast Home Edition and also exibit the same thing on my pc. I have my sensitivity level set to high and also have my settings set as in the image above that DavidR posted.

Is there another setting elsewhere to enable archive scanning for it to detect zip files other than when opening the file. I am one of those people that feel safer if Avast would notify me of an infected zip file prior to opening it.

[inthewildteam]

Forgive me for being stupid, but why waste time checking files that are compacted that aren't executable files?  Why waste the time?  As soon as the files are uncompressed I get a warning.  Other programmes might waste time checking inside archives where they don't present any threat, they aren't a threat until they are unpacked and I am warned about this.  Isn't that a waste of processing power?

[LAB]

Forgive me for being stupid, but why waste time checking files that are compacted that aren't executable files?  Why waste the time?  As soon as the files are uncompressed I get a warning.  Other programmes might waste time checking inside archives where they don't present any threat, they aren't a threat until they are unpacked and I am warned about this.  Isn't that a waste of processing power?

I am not sure if fannymites shares the same opinion as me but it is for the same reason I chose Avast over Mcafee, Avg, and all the others. I feel safer using Avast over the others and  just feel safer knowing when a pontential virus is put on my hard drive.

For processing power, I do not think Avast would use that much more to scan an archive.

[fannymites]

I agree, I would feel much safer if it automatically scanned inside zip files.  I tried sending myself the test virii by email and avast! email scanner detected them all, including the zips and it didn't take any longer for it to scan them so surely it can't be using much more power.
Avast! actually slows my computer down a little compared to, say, Antivir, which I'm prepared to live with so I can cope with it checking zips.
It's just that people on these forums have said many times that avast! is better than Norton but although the eicar test certainly isn't proof of how good an antivirus is, I would probably feel safer using Norton knowing it picks up zip files.
Just one last thing, just to put my mind at rest, when I have downloaded a zip file I autmatically right-click and extract it to wherever.  Is it at all possible that a virus can be excecuted in this way before it is scanned by avast! (I'm thinking probably not).  
Also, I have re-enabled my download manager to automatically use avast! to scan all downloaded files, will it scan inside zips this way?

[Vlk]

Please see e.g. http://forum.avast.com/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=1647;start=msg30176#msg30176

[fannymites]

Thankyou for that, I will try it when I get home.

[LAB]

Please see e.g. http://forum.avast.com/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=1647;start=msg30176#msg30176

Thanks Vlk! I thought I had seen that post sometime in the past but when I did a search for it this morning, I came up empty handed.

[fannymites]

Well I tried the suggestion in that post but avast! still didn't detect the eicar zips unless I actually tried to open them.
Since it did actually block them from being opened though, I think that's good enough for me.

[RejZoR]

The archive thing was explained many times.
IMO the archive scanning is quiet useless unless someone invents impact-free extraction...
Viral file located inside compressed archive is like file inside antivirus Quarantine (Chest in avast!'s case). It cannot do any harm as long as its in there. When you extract it its detected the usual way,or if you wan't to execute it directly from archive,it has to be extracted into TEMP folder again in order to run. And then its detected the same way as in the first case.

[Lisandro]

Well I tried the suggestion in that post but avast! still didn't detect the eicar zips unless I actually tried to open them.
Since it did actually block them from being opened though, I think that's good enough for me.

If I'm not wrong, avast! Home won't detect 'on-access' the eicar zip files.
It will detect only 'on-demand' (a scanning that you run).
On Professional version, you can detect it on both situations  

[fannymites]

No, it didn't detect them on-access but it did when I emailed them to myself.
To be honest, I haven't had much experience with archive files and I always assumed that just by opening them a file could be excecuted.  I now know that isn't the case so I am quite happy with avast! as it is.
After all, avast! has detected a few virii on my computer before they have had the chance to do any harm and if back-up scans and online scans are anything to go by, nothing has got past avast! so far so I'm happy.