Q: How do I set up avast! to work together with the Windows Disk Protection feature from Microsoft Shared Computing Toolkit?

A:

Microsoft Shared Computing Toolkit contains an interesting feature called Windows Disk Protection. Upon each system restart, this feature discards any changes made to the disk during a Windows session, keeping the disk contents in a well-defined, healthy condition. For example, in case of a virus infection, removal of such a virus is as simple as restart of the machine because all changes made to the disk (i.e. files, registry entries etc.) are automatically reverted with each system restart.

This feature can be very useful, but needs extra attention regarding the installation of proper (wanted) updates, such as operating system updates and virus definitions updates. Windows Disk Protection provides built-in support for the installation of Windows patches as well as updates of some antivirus programs. Unfortunately, as of April 2006, avast! is not directly supported.

This FAQ entry provides you with step-by-step instructions on how to configure WDP to work correctly with avast! Professional or Server editions. Please note that we don’t recommend using the managed version of avast! (avast! NetClient Edition or avast! NetServer Edition) with Windows Disk Protection as the configuration data defined on the management server cannot be persisted on the protected disks, and the management server may become confused by the agent‘s volatile nature).

Instructions for avast! Professional or Server Edition (version 4.7 or higher):

1. If Windows Disk Protection is already enabled, turn it off (this may require machine restart)
2. If avast! is not yet installed, install it now; when asked for restart, let the computer restart
3. When the computer starts, run avast! (e.g. by clicking its desktop icon), and
   • insert your license key (or license file in case of Server Edition)
   • when the program starts, go to Program Settings --> “Update (Basic)” page and set both Virus database and Program update schedule to Manual
4. Run the Windows Disk Protection application:
   • In the Restart Action section, click the Turn on button
   • In the Critical Updates section, set the updating schedule according to your preference – we recommend using daily schedule as we release avast! virus definition updates at least several times a week. Please note that the machine must be running at the time you schedule the updates for, as they won’t take place otherwise. That is, if you set the schedule for 3:00 AM, be sure to keep the machine(s) running overnight.
   • On the “Antivirus Script” line, click the browse button, navigate to the folder where avast! is installed (typically C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4) and select the updating script wdp-ash-updscript.vbs (or, in case of avast! Server Edition, wdp-asw-updscript.vbs).
   • Confirm with OK; the program will display a “No antivirus software detected” message – you can safely ignore it. When asked for restart, let the system restart.

The above procedure ensures that the avast! virus definitions are correctly updated. Program updates, however, will need to be done manually. I.e., as soon as there’s a new version of avast! released (you can find this information e.g. on our main web page http://www.avast.com), it is recommended to restart the machines with Windows Disk Protection set to the “Save changes with next restart” mode, and perform the program update manually through avast! user interface.