Avast! 8 Help for Global Exclusions says “It is possible to exclude certain locations, or even single files, from scanning…”
Unless I’m too dense to interpret the Browse selection dialog, there doesn’t seem to be any way therein to select a file but only a path, X:\FOLDER\SUBFOLDER or X:\FOLDER* or X:*
Help instructs to “click the box where it says and then either type the location or file to be excluded…” but it fails to provide an example.
Which is the correct entry for a file? X:\FOLDER\program.exe
or program.exe
For whichever is correct, can wildcards be used? *.exe or NameOfFiles.* or Foo10?.exe and so on.
Under URLs, can IP addresses be used? httx://IPaddress/and-so-on
Wildcards can (and for specific cases must) be used.
If you want to exclude a particular file, you need to enter it manually (or select the parent folder via the Browse button and then edit the path - replace the trailing asterisk with the file name). You need to supply a full path - program.exe wouldn’t work.
The excluded masks are matched against the scanned objects as they are. So you can enter an IP address mask, but I believe it will be matched only if the browser also accesses the particular site via an IP address (i.e. if that’s what you see in the address bar).
Igor, thank you for the clarifications and your fast response.
But in the meantime I’ve been perplexed with entering URL exclusions:
•No matter what is typed into the (enter address) field, a trailing asterisk is added to the string.
•One can type in a string without a leading wildcard and the scheme name http:// is automatically appended.
•A string with a leading wild card is accepted as is - no scheme name is appended.
•Just about anything typed into the (enter address) field is accepted.
I am unable to locate any information URL Global Exclusions in Avast’s local or online Help. Can you provide a link(s) to the appropriate help or knowledge base where the rules are enumerated and their behaviors explained?
If not…
Given the absence of a scheme name in an exclusion, are all schemes assumed (https, ftp, gopher, et al.)? OK… not gopher.
Given the intentional entry of a scheme, i.e. ftp, would then all others be scanned?
Is that trailing asterisk by design or a bug? If by design, why?
Well, I suppose I was too critical in my posts about those two weekends of zero-connectivity and access to hybrid cloud technologies. And now I’ve been blacklisted?
I can’t think of any other reason why after two weeks I’ve been ignored. This is a legitimate inquiry about a mission critical component, after all.
the dialog seems to be indeed a little too restrictive in the ways how it changes the entered URL. (http:// prefix always enforced, trailing * added).
Since the exclusions work for WebShield only and http:// protocol only, the former is not a big deal, the later however might somewhat limit what you are able to express.
Network shield exclusions are about to be added in the next update.
