Administrator Updated on March 29, 2023 Are you looking for a way to run Avast from the command prompt? It is quite simple, scroll down to find a step by step guide on how to Run Avast from the Command Prompt.
Avast is well-known as anti-virus software. The software is available in a free version as well as two paid versions: Premium Security and Ultimate. The free version is quite effective for computer security. However, the paid versions have added security. In this article, we will see how to run Avast from the Command Prompt.
You may ask, why would someone want to run the antivirus software from the command prompt? Well, assuming you suspect that you have malware on your computer and want to do a boot-time virus check. That is, you want to get the computer to do a virus check before other software is loaded at start-up. One way to do this is to schedule a boot-time virus check. Another way is to boot up your Windows computer is in Safe Mode with a Command Prompt and then do a virus check.
To be able to run an Avast check from the Command Prompt, you would need to know where Avast is installed on your computer. The text that follows assumes you are using Windows 10 and that you are using Avast ver 21.6.
The Default Avast Folder
Assuming that you did not change the default Avast folders when installing Avast on your computer, the default directory where Avast gets installed is:
C:Program FilesAvast SoftwareAvast
First, we would suggest that you check to see where Avast is installed on your computer and the correct path to reach the software before attempting to go further.
For now, let us assume that Avast is installed in the folder shown above.
Running Avast UI from the Command Prompt
- Launch the Command Prompt from Windows: Click on Start, then type in cmd to see the following. From there, click on Command Prompt.
- At the command prompt type: cd C:Program FilesAvast SoftwareAvast and press Enter. This should take you to the Avast folder. Now at the command prompt, type AvastUI to load the Avast user interface. (Figure 2, followed by Figure 3).
Scheduling a Boot-time Scan from Windows
- To schedule a boot-time scan from Avast in Windows, in the Avast anti-virus window, select Protection.
- Then in the Protection window, select Virus Scans (Figure 4).
- Select the Settings option from the next window (it looks like a cog wheel), as shown below (Figure 5). Figures 6, 7, and 8 show the various boot-time scan options you can select/change.
- Once you have selected the boot-time settings, close the window. Now select the Boot-time Scan option (Figure 9).
- On the next screen (Figure 10), select RUN ON NEXT PC REBOOT. This should schedule the boot-time scan when you reboot the computer.
Starting a Scan from the Safe Mode Prompt
There may be times when your Windows computer is not starting. In such a case, you can start the computer in Safe Mode with Command Prompt option. Then run the scan from the command prompt. Here is how you can do that.
- Start Windows in Safe Mode with Command Prompt.
- At the Command Prompt, type cd C:Program FilesAvast SoftwareAvast and press Enter.
- Then to schedule a boot-time scan of all drives, at the command prompt, type the following and press Enter: sched /A:*
- This should schedule a boot-time scan. And you should get a message "Scheduled."
- Now, at the command prompt, type: shutdown /r. Then press Enter. Your computer should restart, and the Avast boot-time scan should start. See Figure 11 for all the previous 5 steps.
- If you want to see what the sched options are, just type sched at the command prompt to see Figure 12
Summary: Run Avast from the Command Prompt
- Open the command prompt by typing “cmd” in the Windows search bar.
- Right-click on the command prompt and choose “Run as administrator”.
- Choose the command you want to run and press Enter to apply it.
- Check the results of running your chosen command at the end of the notification.
Conclusion
As you can see, you can also run Avast antivirus from the command prompt.
