How can I permanently exclude files from resident protection? I have the Free Home Edition?
Yes it is possible to exclude files from being scanned - Firstly why do you want to exclude it from scans ?
If it is because it is being detected as infected but you don’t think it is, you should conform it isn’t infected before excluding.
You could also check the offending/suspect file at: VirusTotal - Multi engine on-line virus scanner and report the findings here the URL in the Address bar of the VT results page. You can’t do this with the file securely in the chest, you need to extract it to a temporary (not original) location first, see below.
Create a folder called Suspect in the C:\ drive, e.g. C:\Suspect. Now exclude that folder in the Standard Shield, Customize, Advanced, Add, type (or copy and paste) C:\Suspect* That will stop the standard shield scanning any file you put in that folder. You should now be able to export any file in the chest to this folder and upload it to VirusTotal without avast alerting.
If it is indeed a false positive, see http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=34950.msg293451#msg293451, how to report it to avast! and what to do to exclude them until the problem is corrected.
Hint in the above is the means to exclude a file from the resident scanner , though this example excludes a folder which you don’t want to do as that could otherwise leave a hole in your security. The link gives further instructions on how to exclude from on-demand scans also.