AV product which has scheduled custom scans

I'm looking for a reliable, up to date AV product where it is possible to set up a custom scan and schedule this custom scan.

Custom scans are important for me because on various home PCs and laptops I have attached drives and I don't want to scan all of them at the same time. The system drive might be scanned very day but some backups or network drives might be scanned only once a week or once a month.

I would also like to control exactly when the scans are run.

I used to use VIPRE; it has custom scans but up to version 4 they could not be scheduled. I have read on this forum that the VIPRE 5 beta includes scheduled custom scans.

I've also used Microsoft Security Essentials, which, like VIPRE, allows normal scans to be scheduled, but not custom scans.

I bought Bitdefender AV 2011, which does allow scheduled custom scans, but Bitdefender 2012 has apparently - according to the Bitdefender forum - removed the option for scheduling any scans.

I looked carefully at the manuals for several other products (Kapersky AV 2011, Norton AV 2011...) but it seemed that nothing else offered this feature.

So I am wondering if there is another AV product which I should be looking at? It doesn't need to be free - I am quite happy to pay for something which has this feature.

 

Eset maybe
http://kb.eset.com/esetkb/index?page=content&id=SOLN2122

 

Dr.Web can do this by using windows task scheduler. Just create tasks for the Dr.Web scanner component (drweb32w.exe) and use their command line switches to customize.

 

Avast can do that.

 

Also G Data offers scheduled custom scans.

 

You can create a scheduled custom scan with Norton AntiVirus 2011 using Task Schedular and command-line switches. I do not know if you can through the user interface, I have never tried.

With Norton AntiVirus 2012 you can create scheduled custom scans through the user interface and also, using Task Schedular and command-line switches.

Creating a custom scan - Norton AntiVirus 2012.
Running a scan at the command prompt - Norton AntiVirus 2012.

 

Emsisoft Full does this

http://www.emsisoft.com/en/

 

Thanks to all for the suggestions.

I've installed the trial version of ESET NOD32 to experiment with. It's working pretty smoothly although there is one oddity which strikes me: there is no simple option to disable permanently the web access and email client protection. The ESET knowledgebase explains how to do this by delving into the advanced configuration settings, but this is a little messy for a product which is generally very polished.

The fact that NAV 2012 will do scheduled customs scans is interesting - it's not mentioned in the User Guide, which is very brief. I might install the NAV trial on another of our family PCs to try this out as well.

 

Hi allenlux,

Avira products can do that :
- Just go to Local Protection > Scanner to create your own profile.
- Then go to Administration > Scheduler to schedule it.

Look at the user manual page 35 to 38 for more details : http://www.avira.com/documents/products/pdf/en/man_avira_free_antivirus_en.pdf

 

Is there any AV product that can't do it these days?

 

There are a few AVs that will not allow you to create a custom scan and then use that custom scan as a scheduled scan.

 

I'm very grateful to all posters for their suggestions. One person pointed out a product which I had completely failed to notice before - G Data AV 2012 - and this seems to do exactly what I want with a nice clean interface. I'm still on the trial version because I am waiting to try the release version of VIPRE 5 before a final decision (if there are any final decisions in the world of AV products).

One thing I have learnt, though, is that it's difficult to check on features like scheduled custom scans just by looking at company websites, or even in some cases from the minimalist downloadable manuals. It's clearly a feature which doesn't interest many people, and it's implemented in many different ways, sometimes rather obscurely hidden inside the UI. But a day or two with trial versions of several products has been very helpful in deciding what works for me.

 

And thats the way to do i mate Newcommers to wilders often start with A vs B. Products these days are so close in protection your system, so it all comes down to what you likes the best. And the only way to find out, is to test yourself as you do.