How To Schedule A Scan In Bd2012

I have found how to schedule a scan in BD2012 on Windows7 and probably earlier Windows versions. I noticed several requests in this forum for the ability to schedule system scans. This facility has been removed in BD2012 and the vendors say that it is unnecessary because of the new continuous scanning feature - but BD2012 still forces a full system scan after 8 days, so the new continuous scan feature does not appear to make full scans redundant at all.

The problem with forcing a full scan on me every 8 days is that it is not necessarily convenient for me to do it then. If I defer it until the end of my working day, I then have to change the power options so the scan won't just get delayed by the system going into standby, thereby delaying the scan until the next time I want to do some work. The statement from BD that the full scan is unnecessary because of the continuous scan feature is disingenuous when they must know that the full scan is still forced every 8 days - the only difference is the user has not been given any way of scheduling it.

I have found the solution by examining the commandline of the running process when it is doing a full system scan - it runs odscanui. I found that if I set up a batch file containing the odscanui command I can then schedule a task to run with the "Wake the computer to run this task" option checked to force it to wake from standby if necessary.

The batch file contains these commands:

cd "C:\Program Files\Bitdefender\Bitdefender 2012\"

odscanui.exe /SystemScanTask dcf483c4-26d0-4e6f-ba28-6a53a00adae1

where dcf483c4-26d0-4e6f-ba28-6a53a00adae1 is the name of the profile directory located in C:\ProgramData\Bitdefender\Desktop\Profiles\Logs on my PC. Users must obtain the name of this directory on their own computer, it is not a constant. The odscanui program needs to know this directory so it can write the XML log in the right place. Without this parameter odscanui fails immediately.

Running this causes a window to pop up to run the scan, but it does not require user intervention, so it is perfect for overnight unattended running.

I note that elsewhere in these forums the BD batch scan utility bdc.exe has been suggested as a way to run a scan from the commandline. It's true this can be used, but it doesn't update the flag forcing a new full system scan after 8 days, so even though you run a full scan, BD doesn't know you have run it. However if you run odscanui then it will update the flag and BD then says the scan has been run today and does not require a scan for another 8 days. So if odscanui is scheduled to run every week, the problem is solved.

I have some questions from this:

why do BD force a scan even though continuous real time scanning supposedly makes it redundant?
why didn't BD document the odscanui feature so users could use it - why force users to reverse engineer the product to solve their problems?

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Comments

rootkit

Hi and welcome to our forums.

First off all, thank you for your feedback.

Please note that the "scheduled scan" from that bat file is valid and it's working with Bitdefender 2012. However, the Full System Scan from our product doesn't take default actions for infected files found during the scan. Therefor it needs user interaction when the scan is over.

Now, remember that all the feature requests posted here by users are submitted to the appropriate departments. Considering the feature requests that we had so far related to the Scheduled Scan, we do want to add/change some features from the Antivirus module(such as Start full system scan when PC is idle).

I will let you know as soon as I have some fresh information about this.

Now to answer to your questions:

1. With Auto Scan turned on, there is hardly any need to manually run scans for malware. Auto Scan will scan your computer over and over again, taking appropriate actions when malware is detected. Auto Scan runs only when enough system resources are available so as not to slow down the computer.

However if the PC has never been scanned, we recommend you to run a full system scan once a week.

2. The command line scan is usually used for business products. Also, if you need more information about this, please post here and we will be more than happy to assist you.

Thank you.

grahamc

1. With Auto Scan turned on, there is hardly any need to manually run scans for malware. Auto Scan will scan your computer over and over again, taking appropriate actions when malware is detected. Auto Scan runs only when enough system resources are available so as not to slow down the computer.

This doesn't make sense. My PC uses less than 5% CPU, Auto-scan is on, Auto-pilot is on, therefore "there is hardly any need to manually run scans for malware". And yet it forces me to run a scan every 8 days. My point is that I DON'T WANT TO BE FORCED TO RUN A SCAN. I worked out how to schedule a scan not because the scan is needed, but simply to stop BitDefender from requiring me to run a full system scan.

However if the PC has never been scanned, we recommend you to run a full system scan once a week.

This also doesn't make sense. Surely after the first scan, the statement "the PC has never been scanned" is no longer true, so why should I run full system scans weekly after the first?

Also, from your former statement "With Auto Scan turned on, there is hardly any need to manually run scans". On my PC Auto-scan is on and my PC CPU usage is low, therefore it is reasonable to assume that the PC has been scanned many times, so why does it now need a weekly scan?

Please understand, I do not need any more information, I have worked out how to stop the rather silly automated requirement for a full system scan every 8 days. I am only posting these comments as a service to others.

rootkit

Hi grahamc

Thank you very much for your feedback.

You can always postpone that scan. You simply click on the main interface to fix it and uncheck it. Now select permanently and you will never be prompted to scan your machine every week.

Have a nice day.

grahamc

You can always postpone that scan. You simply click on the main interface to fix it and uncheck it. Now select permanently and you will never be prompted to scan your machine every week.

Aha, a magic solution! Thanks for that, I tried it, and it no longer nags me to run a scan.

rootkit

Welcome back grahamc

Yes, we can provide some "magic solutions" in some cases.

Thank you for your feedback.

Have a nice day.

mhenchman

Christian - thanks for the earlier replies and info. If I may pick up this thread from last autumn....

Unlike grahamc, my issue with BDAV12 is that I WANT to run a scheduled scan because I DON'T WANT my computer constantly scanned whenever BDAV chooses. BD may in fact be set up to decide when system resources are available, but when the hard drive is busy crunching away on a scan, while I'm in the middle of something like editing audio or other tasks requiring fast hard drive access, it seems to me that the system *is* responding more slowly. I don't want the hard drive (and controller, memory, etc) tied up, nor the system trying to balance resource demands, due to auto-scanning. That's why (presumably) most AV programs offer scheduled scans.

Given that the new versions of BitDefender were intended to have the feature of scanning the system when resource use is low, as a *default* behavior, my humble opinion is that the functionality of manually/optionally scheduling scans by user initiation would not inhibit auto-scan behavior, so why disable or remove that functionality? That is what does not make sense.

I purchased BitDefender on the strength of its reputation, but I find, like many users, that I'm very disappointed to learn that manually scheduling scans has been removed from all versions as of 2012. Is there any response to customer input on this? Which is to say, is there any internal company discussion that such functionality will be restored in future versions (you may not be able to offer a public statement at this time, I understand).

Thank you.

rootkit

Hello

For now, the Auto Scan feature won't be removed and neither scheduled scan will be introduced.

We recommend you to run A Full System Scan once a month.

For other things, the On Access module will take care of everything.

Take care.