Scanning Devices for Threats

 

Essential/Premium/Ultimate Business Security and Small Office Protection provide a range of scans to protect your PC from malware:

• Smart Scan — Runs a comprehensive scan that detects malware, out-of-date software, browser add-ons with poor reputations, network threats, and performance issues.
• Full Virus Scan — Runs an in-depth scan of your system, checking all hard drives, rootkits, and auto-start programs
• Targeted Scan — Scans only the folders you select when you initiate the scan
• Explorer Scan — Performs a scan of folders or drives that you specify, but is only available in the Windows context menu when you right-click on a file, folder, or drive
• Boot-Time Scan (MS Windows only) — Runs a scan when the device boots up
• Custom Scan — Scans your device according to the parameters you specify for the scan

You can also customize your scans by modifying the available parameters. For more information, see Configuring Files and Programs Scanned by Antivirus.

Running Scans

1. Open the Essential/Premium/Ultimate Business Security or Small Office Protection client UI
2. Click Protection > Virus Scans
3. Run your preferred scan:
   • Smart Scan: click Run Smart Scan
   • Full Virus Scan: click Scan Now above the name of the scan
   • Targeted Scan: click Scan Now above the name of the scan
   • Boot-Time Scan: click Open Now above the name of the scan, then click Run on Next PC Reboot
   • Custom Scan: click Open Now above the name of the scan, then click the type of scan you would like to run or Create a New Scan
4. Wait for the scan to complete, then process the results

After a scan completes, Avast displays all found issues. You can resolve the issues directly on the results screen, or configure each Virus Scan to resolve issues automatically upon detection. For more information see Configuring Files and Programs Scanned by Antivirus.

Special Cases

For incomplete scans, an error message indicating the reason the scan was unable to complete is visible on the scanning screen. Although there are many different reasons a scan may be unable to complete, some of the most common reasons are:

• Archive is password protected: indicates that the file is password protected. Some programs use password protected archives to store their data even if you did not set the password. Depending on your scan settings, only the "wrapper" file is scanned while the archive content is not.
• Archive is corrupted: indicates that the file may be corrupt because it was only partially downloaded or saved to your harddisk, or that it is a special type of archive.
• The process cannot access the file because of another process: indicates that another process or program was accessing the file during the scan.
• The file is a decompression bomb: indicates that the file was too large to be decompressed for malware analysis. Decompression of large files generates vast amounts of data which can cause your system to be unstable or cause it to crash.

Viewing Scan History

1. Open the Essential/Premium/Ultimate Business Security or Small Office Protection client UI
2. Click Protection > Virus Scans
3. Click Scan History
   • You can hover your cursor over a scan panel, then click the down arrow to see the scan details