How to Stop an Antivirus Scan in Firefox
The Internet exposes you and your computer to many threats. You must approach the problem from all angles, such as using a firewall to block hackers, pop-up blocker to stop annoying adware and antivirus to hunt and destroy Trojans and worms. Software companies usually bundle these features into one program called a "suite." Mozilla's "Firefox" browser also scans for viruses when you download files to your PC--the more protection, the better. However, the browser is actually invoking your third-party antivirus program. Cancel Firefox's redundancy by disabling the virus scan.
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Instructions
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Open the Firefox browser, then move the cursor into the address bar (location bar).
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Type "about:config" (omit the quotation marks) into the address bar and press the "Enter" key on your keyboard. Wait for your Web page to advance.
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Click the "I'll be careful, I promise!" button on the "This might void your warranty!" page. This is just the obligatory warning message.
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Type or copy and paste the following line of text into the "Filter" field, without quotation marks: "browser.download.manager.scanWhenDone."
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Double-click on the setting when it appears in the pane below the Filter field. "True" will change to "False" in the "Value" column and the text font will turn from normal to bold, meaning that the antivirus scan has been turned off. Exit out of the Firefox browser, then restart it.
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Tips & Warnings
Use antivirus software programs that employ "real-time" scanning and make sure it is activated.
Be careful about making other erroneous changes using the "about:config" feature, as you could make Firefox unstable.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit virus alert image by Pontus Edenberg from Fotolia.com
