Does the NAV 2009 Idle Scan NOT scan the "Scan Exclusions" folders configuration? I have added a couple folders to the excluded folders, but the idle scan still takes a same long time even when the computer is idle most of the time. (I see the popup window that it is running).
Or, is the "Scan Exclusions" just apply to the manually configured full scans? The help doesn't seem to say.
I want certain folders NOT scanned.
Then what is the option Scan Exclusions for? It seems to say the items (files or folders) you choose are NOT included in the scans.
According to the help,
"Exclusions options let you specify the items that Norton AntiVirus excludes from its scans. You can select the items and security risks that you do not want to include in Norton AntiVirus scans. You can exclude the items from both risk scans and Auto-Protect scans. In addition, Exclusions options help you to manage low-security-risk items that are found in your computer."
Does the NAV 2009 Idle Scan NOT scan the "Scan Exclusions" folders configuration? I have added a couple folders to the excluded folders, but the idle scan still takes a same long time even when the computer is idle most of the time. (I see the popup window that it is running).
Or, is the "Scan Exclusions" just apply to the manually configured full scans? The help doesn't seem to say.
I did some more testing and solved the ambiguity in the Norton documentation:
The answer is: The "manual full scan" or "idle full scan" does NOT look at the Excluded Folders configuration list. It scans everything regardless.
The only way to work around this is to create a custom scan, select your C drive (and D, E etc if you have them) for scanning. Then go to the Excluded settings, and add the folders/subfolders you want excluded. That seems to work.
Norton should make this clearer in their Settings instructions, and in their Help file.
johnjohn wrote:
Does the NAV 2009 Idle Scan NOT scan the "Scan Exclusions" folders configuration? I have added a couple folders to the excluded folders, but the idle scan still takes a same long time even when the computer is idle most of the time. (I see the popup window that it is running).
Or, is the "Scan Exclusions" just apply to the manually configured full scans? The help doesn't seem to say.
Hello johnjohn,
If you setup Scan Exclusions to exclude a directory, nothing in that directory will be scanned through Quick Scan or Full Scan.
During the scan it takes a while, do you see what its scanning while its taking a while? Is it the directory you excluded?
>> If you setup Scan Exclusions to exclude a directory, nothing in that directory will be scanned through Quick Scan or Full Scan.
That's the way I thought it should work. But the idle scan seems to scan everything regardless of what is in "Scan Exclusions". I had a backup data folder excluded, but idle scan took forever. When I changed to custom scan and included the backup partition, then it the backup folder was excluded.
NAV 2009 needs better documentation under which condiditons exclusion is honoroed and not.
Hello johnjohn,
There may be other factors in the speed difference.
Since the scan is noticeably slower when you scan that directory, try excluding it and look on the scan window to see if the scanner scans that directory. Do you see it scan this directory?
When I setup a custom scan of the partition, g:, and then excluded the folder g:\thefolder, the custom scan-window did NOT scan that folder.
Is there any way to get the scanner-window to appear when IDLE SCAN is running?
Hello johnjohn,
Run a Quick Scan. It's almost the same thing. You could also do a full scan and see if it excludes it.
Also, be sure to keep this issue on one thread, so we can best assist you and have all the information in one place.
See my message #4 earlier. Full scan and idle scan do NOT exclude anything in the excluded scan settings.
Quick Scan scans only a few system files on the %system-drive, not any other partitions.
Is there any way to get the scanner-window to appear when IDLE SCAN is running?
johnjohn wrote:
See my message #4 earlier. Full scan and idle scan do NOT exclude anything in the excluded scan settings.
Quick Scan scans only a few system files on the %system-drive, not any other partitions.
Hi johnjohn,
I'm curious - try dropping the EICAR test file in to the exclude folder that you have setup - http://www.eicar.org/anti_virus_test_file.htm .
Be sure to disable Advanced Protection from the Main User Interface before downloading.
Eicar is a test file that simulates a High Level Risk. It is not a real threat.
Put this file in the folder you exclude and run a Full Scan, Idle Scan, or Quick Scan and see if the file is still there after you perform the scans.
Also, be sure to enable Advanced Protection after you are done with this test.
If the file is still there afterwards, then the folder you selected was excluded from scanning and all is well.
Let me know what happens!
First you have to not only disable Advanced Protection, but also AntiVirus to download the Eicar file.
After placing the Eicar.com file in g:\backups (which is excluded from normal scans), I ran a Quickscan. Quickscan ran about 20 seconds, scanned 8000 files all in c: partition. It did NOT find the g:\backups\Eicar.com file.
Help file:
"Quick Scan is a fast scan of the areas of your computer that are often targeted by viruses. Because this scan does not scan your entire computer, it takes less time to run than a Full System Scan."
After re-enableing Advanced Protection and AntiVirus, I manually selected the g:\backups folder and NAV 2009 found and deleted the Eicar file.
Hello johnjohn,
It looks like this is running properly. Did you expect different results?
See my message #4.
I'd like to see a clarification in the help and documentation for NAV/NIS 2009 that the Norton Full Scan and Norton Idle Scan scans EVERYTHING and it does NOT honor/exclude anything added to the Excluded Folders.
Hello johnjohn,
Sorry, I'm confused by your message. What happens when you put the EICAR file in the excluded directory and perform a full system scan? What about an Idle Scan? Please let me know the results.
My understanding is that whatever you put in the excluded folder IS excluded from scanning, and will not be scanned (unless you perform a manual scan on that specific folder).
I put the eicar file into an excluded folder on an XP system, then initiated a full scan. The eicar file was NOT detected.
So it appears to be working in XP. The other pc is Vista which had the problem, or maybe I made a mistake testing it. I will retest and post results.
Is there any way to get the scanner-window to appear when IDLE SCAN is running, so I can see what folder is being scanned as it progresses?
johnjohn wrote:
Is there any way to get the scanner-window to appear when IDLE SCAN is running, so I can see what folder is being scanned as it progresses?
Hello johnjohn,
Not at this time. One of the tests you can do to see if this works, is to exclude the directory with Eicar then leave your computer idle overnight. Look and see if the file is there. Then, move Eicar out of the exclude folder and leave the computer idle overnight the next night.
Let me know your results!
>> Not at this time.
Please add that to customer suggestions as an option for Idle Scan for future release.
I've turned custom scans off and idle scan on for weekly scan. But I don't know when it will occur. I've put the Eicar file in the excluded folders to verify if Norton scans those folders or not. I'll post results after Idle Scan kicks in again.