How do I make Firefox stop scanning downloads for a virus?
Whenever I download something, especially smaller files such as a .jpg or .torrent, Firefox scans the download for viruses. In theory this is a good thing. In practice, at least for me, it means my browser is locked up for as long as 2 minutes (average is closer to about 10 seconds) while it scans the file that I have ZERO concern over a virus in the first place. Now, it's entirely possible that because I'm not a gaming nerd my computer is "slow" by elitist standards (2gHz is slow?! 2mB RAM is slow?!), but that is neither here nor there; I want this "service" gone and I want it gone now.
Chosen solution
You can turn off the Firefox request for the downloaded file to be scanned.
- Type about:config into the location bar and press enter.
- Accept the warning message that appears, this will then bring up a list of preferences.
- In the filter box type scan
- Double-click on the
browser.download.manager.scanWhenDone
preference to change its value to false
This procedure just stops Firefox requesting that the file is scanned, your anti-virus software is likely to scan downloaded files, especially executable files. If you want to disable that scanning (not recommended) you need to check the settings of your anti-virus program.
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Chosen Solution
You can turn off the Firefox request for the downloaded file to be scanned.
- Type about:config into the location bar and press enter.
- Accept the warning message that appears, this will then bring up a list of preferences.
- In the filter box type scan
- Double-click on the
browser.download.manager.scanWhenDone
preference to change its value to false
This procedure just stops Firefox requesting that the file is scanned, your anti-virus software is likely to scan downloaded files, especially executable files. If you want to disable that scanning (not recommended) you need to check the settings of your anti-virus program.
Thanks a bunch! I got damn tired of not having a browser for 30 seconds just because Firefox wants to take that long to scan a dinky .jpg that I found amusing.
When someone asks a question, posting a link to a page FILLED with tangentially related stuff is NOT helpful. Maybe that's how you're used to doing things, but it is an utterly craptastic way to answer a question. Were you in such a hurry that you couldn't copy/paste the actually relevant material? If so, why bother at all?
Links to KB articles are for reference in case you need it again in the future or if you or someone who reads this thread want some extra background information.
This forum just got updated and all posts older than about three months were removed, so links to a KB article will hopefully last longer and can easily be bookmarked.
You're welcome
comments deleted - if you have nothing of worth to contribute to an 11 month old thread besides criticism of another posting or person, don't post anything
Modified by the-edmeister