By recommending that users exclude some file extensions and folders from
antivirus scans, Microsoft may put users at risk, a security company said today.
In a document published on its support site , Microsoft suggests that users
do not scan some files and folders for malware as a way to improve performance
in Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7 , Server 2003, Server 2008 and Server 2008
R2. "These files are not at risk of infection. If you scan these files, serious
performance problems may occur because of file locking," Microsoft states in the
document.
