Autoscan Summary

coolcool1227
coolcool1227 ✭✭✭
edited May 2013 in Antivirus

Let me summarize the AutoScan


AutoScan


Autoscan is a light on-demand scan that silently scans all your data for malware and takes the appropriate actions (Take Proper Action) for any infections found. Autoscan finds and uses time-slices when system resource usage falls below a certain threshold to perform recurring scans of the entire system.


Important Points regarding AutoScan


1) The threshold level depends on the CPU/Processor type and is is set by the resources available on the PC.


2) The system resources availability does not mean that the PC is in idle state.


3) The AutoScan is run as partials scans and then it picks up or resume where it left off.


4) When a complete Auto Scan cycle is completed, the Full System Scan will run a lot faster because some of the files are added to a Smart Cache (Skipped Items) and they will only be rescanned if they were modified by the user or by a software.


AutoScan Event Logging


The scan starts when there are some system resources available and the starting time is logged, but this is not available in the main interface and when it is completed, a new Event is created under the Antivirus module.


Types of AutoScan


It's important to know that the Autoscan has 2 types of scans:


- Sweep Scan or Quick Scan


- FileScan or Complete Scan


Sweep Scan or Quick Scan :It will look for rookits and any known malware in common locations like system32, temp, App Data, , processes, registries, cookies etc. The SweepScan starts after 7 days.


FileScan or Complete Scan : It will scan all the data in the background. The FileScan starts 4 days after installing Bitdefender (or after the scan status is updated – if another scan took place).


Both scan types start 2 hours after vsserv.exe starts.


Indication of AutoScan on Main Interface


The scan status is updated if a complete SweepScan, FileScan, or SystemScan are done. This is why your Autoscan report didn't mention about adware, spyware, etc. In Bitdefender 2013, that pad with Last Scan: X days ago will be updated by both components of Auto Scan + the manual System Scan that is started by the user.


AutoScan Completion Time


A complete Auto Scan cycle can take up to 2 weeks, depending on the system resources and the data store on the HDD. But there are some situations that if the PC is heavily used and there are no resources left for Auto Scan, it will be postponed. Also, you have several TB of data most with archives, the scanner has to unpack them and then scan them all. Also, if you use the PC for several minutes per day and then close it, the scan can take weeks because the scanning process is proportional with the amount of data stored.


Benefits of using Autoscan


1) It has close to zero impact on the system.


2) By pre-scanning the entire hard-disk, future on-demand tasks will be completed extremely fast because of some of the files are added to a Smart Cache as Skipped Items.


3) On-access scanning will also take significantly less time.


4) It scans your PC automatically so you don't have to scan it weekly/monthly.


I will appreciate if someone rectify upon finding wrong information posted about AutoScan here. :)


Kindly also add updated information about AutoScan here.

Comments

  • AutoScan when turned ON is the replacement of continuous Background Scanning in Real-Time (but depends on the resources and threshold level) and not of the Schedule Scan which is a On-Demand Scan and therefore can't be run in Real-Time.

  • Nice work, ONT :)

  • Mine has scanned three times today and keeps popping up the results. I haven't downloaded anything. Once a day should be sufficient.

  • Is there any changes made in the AutoScan in the new comer 2014? And how does it will be related to the Bitdefender Photon™ Technology?

  • Wondering this too. ^^^