Product guide

Specifying exclusions
Specify files, folders, and drives to exclude from scanning operations. You can also remove any
exclusions you specified previously.
Option definitions
DefinitionOption
Select the type of exclusion.What to exclude
• Exclude by file name/location — Specify the file name, location, and whether
to exclude subfolders.
NOTE: You must add a backslash (\) at the end of the string to apply to a folder.
Otherwise, it is considered a file exclusion and the Also exclude subfolders
checkbox is disabled by default.
• Exclude by file type — Specify a file type(s).
• Exclude by file age — Specify the access type and minimum age in days.
Select when to exclude the selected item:When to exclude
• On read
• On write
Overwrite client exclusions — Only exclude items specified in this policy. If this
option is not selected, the client computer uses exclusions that were specified locally
and the exclusions specified in this policy.
NOTE: This option is only available via ePolicy Orchestrator.
How to handle client
exclusions
How to use wildcards to specify scan items
You can use wildcards to exclude types of files by extension.
When using wildcards, these limitations apply.
• Valid wildcards are question mark (?) for excluding single characters and asterisk (*) for
excluding multiple characters.
• Wildcards can appear in front of a back slash (\) in a path. For example: C:\ABC\*\XYZ
matches C:\ABC\DEF\XYZ.
• An exclusion containing question mark (?) characters applies if the number of characters
matches the length of the file or folder name. For example: The exclusion W?? excludes
WWW, but does not exclude WW or WWWW.
• The syntax is extended to include a double asterisk (**), which means zero or more of any
characters including back slash . This allows multiple-depth exclusions. For example:
C:\ABC\**\XYZ matches C:\ABC\DEF\XYZ and C:\ABC\DEF\DEF\XYZ, etc.
Using scheduled tasks
As part of configuring on-demand scan, AutoUpdate, or mirror tasks, you need to specify when,
how often, and for how long these tasks should run. You also need to configure user permissions
as part of the configuration process.
Part I - Prevention: Avoiding Threats
Using scheduled tasks
49McAfee VirusScan Enterprise 8.8 Product Guide