VirusScan 8.0 "Scan All Files" Problem

  • Thread starter Thread starter cmatera
  • Start date Start date
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cmatera

We currently use virus scan 8.0 to scan our computers weekly. However,
when I check the logs to verify that no viruses have been found I am
surprised by the small number of files scanned. I have seen logs which
only indicate that 57,000 files have been scanned, I find this hard to
believe on a computer with MS Windows XP/Office XP, Internet Explorer,
Novell, etc etc etc. Any idea as to why such a small number of files
are scanned even though the "scan all files" option is checked?

Thanks

Christopher Matera
 
From: <[email protected]>

| We currently use virus scan 8.0 to scan our computers weekly. However,
| when I check the logs to verify that no viruses have been found I am
| surprised by the small number of files scanned. I have seen logs which
| only indicate that 57,000 files have been scanned, I find this hard to
| believe on a computer with MS Windows XP/Office XP, Internet Explorer,
| Novell, etc etc etc. Any idea as to why such a small number of files
| are scanned even though the "scan all files" option is checked?
|
| Thanks
|
| Christopher Matera


I assume thae Enterprise VirusScan v8.0i

Are you scanning all files or default files ?
Default files uses a list of default extensions built into the McAfee Engine.
This will limit the number of files being scanned.
 
We currently use virus scan 8.0 to scan our computers weekly. However,
when I check the logs to verify that no viruses have been found I am
surprised by the small number of files scanned. I have seen logs which
only indicate that 57,000 files have been scanned, I find this hard to
believe on a computer with MS Windows XP/Office XP, Internet Explorer,
Novell, etc etc etc. Any idea as to why such a small number of files
are scanned even though the "scan all files" option is checked?
Click to expand...

I've been told by an antivirus vendor that even Scan All Files doesn't
necessarily scan all files.

Check to see if you have any in your exclusion list, and if archive files
(zip, cab, rar) is checked.
 
From: "Richard S. Westmoreland" <[email protected]>


|
| I've been told by an antivirus vendor that even Scan All Files doesn't
| necessarily scan all files.
|
| Check to see if you have any in your exclusion list, and if archive files
| (zip, cab, rar) is checked.
|
| --
| Richard S. Westmoreland
| http://www.antisource.com
|

For those files you have to specifically set "scan archive files".
 
Scan All files is enabled and the only exclusion is the recycle bin.
What I'm gathering is that even though it says "scan all files" it
really doesn't scan all the files. Is there some registry setting in
8.0 enterprise to fix this, or is this just normal for antivirus
software, and if so - why?

Thanks for all the help
 
David - where is the setting to scan archive files - I use vs8 retail, but
can't find the setting.

By the way, do you ever sleep?!!!! You seem to be "on duty" here non-stop!!
 
cmatera said:
Scan All files is enabled and the only exclusion is the recycle bin.
What I'm gathering is that even though it says "scan all files" it
really doesn't scan all the files. Is there some registry setting in
8.0 enterprise to fix this, or is this just normal for antivirus
software, and if so - why?

Thanks for all the help
Click to expand...

Because if you truly did scan ALL files, the antivirus would also be
in-usable. It's normal.

Okay do this - navigate to your C: drive, open it, and Select All. With
everything highlighted, right-click and choose Properties. Just let it
count forever - when it's done, post here how many files were found. Then
run a scan selected All Files and post those results here to. Let's see how
many it skips.
 
From: "Oh God It's Him Again" <[email protected]>

| David - where is the setting to scan archive files - I use vs8 retail, but
| can't find the setting.
|
| By the way, do you ever sleep?!!!! You seem to be "on duty" here non-stop!!
|

Retail v8 doesn't have that capability. It is fixed in the software and I'll *assume* that
it does scan within archive files (ZIP, LZH, CAB, etc..)
 
I created a batch file which counts the number of files on the hard
drive - the batch file reports that there are 153826 on the hard drive
McAfee reports that it scaned "Files scanned: 119814" which leaves
34,012 files which haven't been scanned.

Thanks Again for the help
-Chris
 
David H. Lipman said:
From: "Oh God It's Him Again" <[email protected]>

| David - where is the setting to scan archive files - I use vs8 retail, but
| can't find the setting.
|
| By the way, do you ever sleep?!!!! You seem to be "on duty" here non-stop!!
|

Retail v8 doesn't have that capability. It is fixed in the software and I'll *assume* that
it does scan within archive files (ZIP, LZH, CAB, etc..)
Click to expand...

Does this version only scan files that were accessed since the last time
it scanned them?
 
From: "Roger Wilco" <[email protected]>

| Does this version only scan files that were accessed since the last time
| it scanned them?
|

That could be it ! --> A smart scan.
I don't have tiime now, but I have all the PDF files and I'll search for that information
when I get a chance.
 
David H. Lipman said:
From: "Roger Wilco" <[email protected]>

| Does this version only scan files that were accessed since the last time
| it scanned them?
|

That could be it ! --> A smart scan.
I don't have tiime now, but I have all the PDF files and I'll search for that information
when I get a chance.
Click to expand...

I know that Sophos does that. When you first install it, it scans the whole
drive like most AV do. But it assumes that this is being installed on a
clean, freshly formatted machine. It creates a checksum database of all the
files it scanned. It won't rescan any of those files until the checksum
changes. Or something like that... And in the menu you can explicitly
clear the checksums to reset scanning.
 
Richard S. Westmoreland said:
Because if you truly did scan ALL files, the antivirus would also be
in-usable. It's normal.

Okay do this - navigate to your C: drive, open it, and Select All. With
everything highlighted, right-click and choose Properties. Just let it
count forever - when it's done, post here how many files were found. Then
run a scan selected All Files and post those results here to. Let's see how
many it skips.
Click to expand...

Does the number of files always equal the number of the directory's file
entries?
 
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