Scanning And Updating At The Same Time - Inquiry

[Arakasi 549]

Hello everyone,

 

My question is directed at ESET staff about a common everyday occurrence i would like some guidance and assurance on.

We all should know by now, that i am cleaning and repairing computers and systems on a daily basis.

This goes in tandem with installing ESET Nod32 and Smart Security on customer/client machines as well.

 

Every once in a while i will clean the computer, install ESET, and the program will start the "First Scan" before it has a chance to update.

This is caused by sitting at the Finish form, or sitting at the activation form for long periods of time, before i have a chance to get back to the machine and enter the EAV credentials for activation.

After activation is complete, the program will go out there and get the latest updates. However a scan will have already started.

 

So my question is this . . .

 

If a scan has already begun, and lets say it is at 35%, then the virus signature updates complete or download.

Does the current running scan immediately adapt to the new signatures, or is it still using the old signature ??

 

Is my best bet at this very point to stop the scan, and restart it ? Or does it pick up the new nups during the scan as soon as they are done, essentially having the first 35% of files scanned with the old database, and the remaining 65% using the updates database ?

 

Please reflect and pass this along to anyone that may know, as i would like to know the best course of action going forward in my daily activities/job.

IT would be nice to know a definitive answer so i can control my work habits, whether it be stopping the scan where its at and starting over, or just letting it continue on through.

The only reason i ask of this, is for workload as i am going through this everyday.

 

Thanks ESET and anyone reading.

[SweX 871]

Very good question, it will be good to know for sure. I have not thought about that before.  

[Arakasi 549]

Just to add findings to this inquiry.

 

I stopped the current scan on 1 laptop in question, which found 10 threats, and cleaned 11 objects.

I restarted the laptop, and when it logged into windows again, the Scheduler started another scan, similar to if it missed the First scan since i cancelled and stopped it.

It now shows 39 threats found and 39 objects cleaned.

 

So if i had to answer this myself. Even if the scanner was at 3% and the updates completed. My best course of action would be to stop the scan and start over, if i want it to adapt and start using the updated signatures.

Am i right ? Thanks for reading.

 

Maybe this can be a change or suggestion for future versions, unsure how hard this would be to code though....    Might have to code in a stop scan, start again, action, maybe as an optional feature when updated.

Edited August 23, 2014 by Arakasi

[Marcos 5,074]

The signature database and modules are loaded when a scan is started. If they get updated during a scan, the new modules will be used for scanning the rest of files. Also an advantage of the first-time scan is that it collects information about files so that those whitelisted in cloud will be omitted from further scanning.

[tmuster2k 22]

I don't  like the first scan because it never cleans what the next Smart Scan can clean. Meaning the First Scan kicks off and VSD is still going on. I have had customers how issue the Smart Scan on top of that and the Smart Scan is the one that cleans the threats. The timing of this is not very good with the First Scan. In my opinion, ESET Scheduler should wait til the VSD has completed and then kick of the First scan with Strict cleaning as default. Also when the VSD is running along with Smart Scan I have had customers report that the Computer will lock up because too much is going on in the background and they have to hard shutdown.

[rugk 397]

I don't  like the first scan because it never cleans what the next Smart Scan can clean. Meaning the First Scan kicks off and VSD is still going on. I have had customers how issue the Smart Scan on top of that and the Smart Scan is the one that cleans the threats. The timing of this is not very good with the First Scan. In my opinion, ESET Scheduler should wait til the VSD has completed and then kick of the First scan with Strict cleaning as default.

I can agree. Maybe the time until the first scan starts should be increased or it should be wait until the first VSD update is completed.

 

Only strict cleaning for the first scan is unnecessary, because if there was no scan before the first scan (what should be for nearly every case true) then the first scan is like an in-depth scan, because it has to scan every file and cannot make use of the smart mode where it skips already scanned files.

Edited August 30, 2014 by rugk

[MasterTB 8]

Wouldn't it be better to trigger an Automatic Update before starting the First Scan in order to assure the bes result possible?

That's a neat thing to add..

Edited September 1, 2014 by MasterTB

[rugk 397]

Wouldn't it be better to trigger an Automatic Update before starting the First Scan in order to assure the bes result possible?

That's a neat thing to add..

Yes and then ESET should wait until the update has finished and then start the first time scan. That's a good idea!

[TomFace 539]

 

Wouldn't it be better to trigger an Automatic Update before starting the First Scan in order to assure the bes result possible?

That's a neat thing to add..

Yes and then ESET should wait until the update has finished and then start the first time scan. That's a good idea!

 

Very good idea...