When i scan with Nod32, version 2, it tells me i scanned 85,000
files. The online Bitdefender states it scanned 134,000 objects.
Is there a difference between "files" & "objects"?
Yes. Take the example of archive scanning (zip, rar, etc.). Say that
a scanner is set to scan "within" them. There may be quite a number
of "objects" (archived files) within any of the zip files. How do you
report the number of files scanned in that case? Just count the number
of zip files? Or report all the files scanned? And for some attempt at
clarity, call the the archived and compressed files "objects"? Now,
some scanners will count all files scanned as files, while others
might use the term "objects".
What about scanners that scan thousands of "objects" within a single
registry file? Just one file scanned? Or thousands of "objects"
(registy entries).
What about email archives? One file may have thousands of different
messages that are scanned and counted as separate "objects".
Scanners differ in the way they report such situations. And much
depends on the user optional scan settings. You have to compare
them by testing them on small sample groups to begin to see
exactly how each one counts things. And obviously if one scanner
is set to scan email archives and the other one isn't, you're going
to see huge differences in the number of files and objects scanned.
Art
http://home.epix.net/~artnpeg