Jonny Quest:
The CPU clocks a pretty steady 2% (1%-9% range) while scan is running, so I'm not overly concerned about my processor being too delicate to survive these scans.
But the part about unchanged files being cached and therefore not re-scanned caught my eye (did I mention I'm an IT imbecile?). If that's true of AVG Deepscans that may go a ways toward explaining the fluctuations in scan times/sizes. But I just assumed that an AVG Deepscan--which includes all system files as well as data files/folders--would be just that: scanning everything.
Thanks for the response, and the tip:
bd
