Scanning speed

Users of F-PROT 2.x will probably notice that version 3.x is in some cases
slower than the old scanner.

We are working on improvements that should speed the scanner up, but for
now, we suggest that you consider the following tips:

  * Scanning of compressed executables (/PACKED) should not be enabled by
    default when you are doing a routine scan.  We recommend that it is only
    used when scanning new software before installation, and when cleaning
    up a virus infection.

  * The same applies to scanning inside ZIP/ARJ archives (/ARCHIVE).  Viruses
    will not "creep" inside them, so if they are scanned initially and found
    to be virus-free, there is no point in scanning them over and over.

  * If all your Word/Excel files have the standard DOC/DOT and XL? file
    name extensions, you should just use "Standard file extensions",
    instead of "Ignore document extensions" (/TYPE).  This will speed up
    the scan, as the scanner now does not have to check every file to see
    if it is a Word/Excel file.

  * Doing a "Dumb" scan of all files forces the scanner to scan every data
    file as if it was a program, which is usually just a waste of time.  The
    primary reason this option is provided is that certain anti-virus
    testers have renamed the COM/EXE files in their virus collections to
    something like VOM/VXE, and if we do not provide a way to scan "all"
    files, we will get an artificially low score in their tests.  We do not
    like this, but we are forced to offer this option.  However, using it
    is generally a "dumb" thing to do.

If you find any files that take unacceptably long to scan, you can send us
a copy, and we will try to speed up the scanning of those files.