How To Schedule Automatic Scans using Avast (Free Version)

[MadGamer]

NOTE: These instructions are for Windows XP and assume Windows is set up to use "single click" to open items. I would assume the steps would be similar for other versions of Windows.)

• Go to Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Scheduled Tasks
• Click (or double-click) on Add Scheduled Task
• In the wizard that appears click Next - a list of programs will appear
• Click Browse and navigate to C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4 (or whatever folder in which you installed avast!)
• Click (or double-click) on the file ashQuick.exe
• On the next screen give the task a name of your choice and choose how often you want it to run and click on Next
• On the next screen choose the appropriate scheduling options and click on Next
• On the next screen enter the user name and password for the Windows user you want the task to run as, then click on Next
• On the next screen check the box for the option "Open advanced properties for this task when I click Finish", and then click Finish
• On the next screen, in the "Run" field you will see the path for the ashQuick.exe program. After the closing quote enter a space and type in the path(s) that you want scanned. Multiple paths must be separated by a space and any paths that include a space in the path name must be in quotes. Here are a couple of examples:
  "C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashQuick.exe" C: E: - this will scan the entire contents of the C: and E: drives
  "C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashQuick.exe" "C:Program Files" Eownloads - this will scan the contents of the Program Files folder on the C: drive and the Downloads folder on the E: drive, including all subfolders (Note the first path is in quotes due to the space in the folder name "Program Files")
• Click OK
• In the Scheduled Tasks window, from the menu, click on Advanced and choose "Start Using Task Scheduler"
• To test your newly created task, from the Scheduled Tasks window, right-click on the task's icon and choose "Run" from the popup menu. If the scan doesn't begin correctly you'll get an error message. The problem is most likely in the scan path (missing quotes or something like that.)
• Close the Scheduled Tasks window

Article originally posted by MadGamer based on a posting on the Avast Support Forum which can be found here