General Guidance for Antivirus and Backup Software Used on Acquisition PCs


Date: 12/26/2019
Categories: Software

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For research use only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.


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General Guidance for Antivirus and Backup Software
 
While it is widely acknowledged that its a good practice to employ antivirus and backup software, these applications may interfere with the real-time nature of the Analyst® software. Some antivirus and backup applications are configured by default to automatically scan and archive a file immediately after creation. Because the Analyst software can perform multiple writes to a single data file during an acquisition sequence, it is important to disable these real-time features to prevent the antivirus or backup software from locking the data file while it is still needed by the Analyst software application. Many widely-used applications can be configured to either disable real-time protection, or ignore certain file-types (for example, .rdb, .wiff and .wiff.scan files). Failure to do so may result in either failed acquisitions or acquisitions that take longer to complete than expected.
 
In general, the antivirus or backup software on the Analyst software acquisition workstations should be configured in a manner that will disable real-time scanning and archiving of files in the Analyst Data folder. For example, when configuring the Symantec Endpoint software, the following settings have been found to increase performance during data acquisition:

  • Antivirus and Antispyware Protection > File System Auto-Protect > File Types: Choose "Selected" and then make sure that the Extensions list does not contain .wiff, .wiff.scan, or .rdb file extensions.
  • Antivirus and Antispyware Protection > File System Auto-Protect > File Types > Advanced > Scan files when: Scan when a file is modified.
Exclude the following folders from real-time scanning by an antivirus program:

For all systems with Analyst software controlling the mass spectrometer
  • If 32-bit, C:\program files\analyst
  • If 64-bit,  C:\program files(x86)\analyst
  • C:\ or D:\analyst data
For Waters LC systems and the associated drivers
  • C:\program files\waters instruments
  • C:\program files\waters
For MPX systems
  • If MPX version 2.x is used on a 64-bit PC, C:\Program Files(x86)\Sciex\MPX Driver\bin
  • If earlier versions of MPX software are installed on a 32-bit PC, C:\Program Files\Sciex\MPX Driver\bin
For Agilent Infinity II systems, CTC PAL3 systems and the associated ADD drivers
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\AB SCIEX\AnalystDeviceDriver
  • C:\Program Data\AB SCIEX\AnalystDeviceDriver
For DiscoveryQuant software version 3.x
  • C:\DiscoveryQuant30 and C:\Program Files (x86)\DiscoveryQuant30
For StatusScope systems
  • C:\absciex\drm\SciexOS controlling the mass spectrometer
  • C:\Program Files\SCIEX\SCIEX OS
  • C:\Program Data\SCIEX
  • C:\Program Files\SCIEX
  • D:\SCIEX OS Data
For instructions on how to best configure your particular antivirus or backup software, contact your antivirus or backup software provider.