File Guard

The File Guard not only scans files before they are executed, but depending on your chosen settings, it can also scan before all other file actions such as moving or downloading from the Internet.

The following options are available for customization of the File Guard:

• Scan level – The slider control allows you to balance the File Guard’s scan level between best performance and best protection as follows:
  • Default – Scans programs when they are started. This option has the least effect on the performance of your system while still ensuring that Malware is prevented from executing. Inactive malware may remain undetected until you run a manual scan. This is the recommended setting.
  • Thorough – Scans all files when they are created or modified, for example when a file is downloaded or copied onto your computer from a USB stick. Since files are not an immediate threat unless they are executed, this option may find inactive malware sooner, but your machine is still protected with the default setting. If you do not experience performance issues, this is still a reasonable setting to use.
  • Paranoid – Scans all files when they are read by any program so that simply selecting a file is sufficient to cause it to be scanned. On a typical computer, there are usually thousands of files being read in the background every minute, so this option naturally slows down the overall performance of your computer quite dramatically. We don’t recommend making use of it, but keep it available for those who want to be absolutely sure everything gets immediately detected without delays. This can be useful for temporary use in situations where Emsisoft Anti-Malware is installed on an already-infected computer, to aid in cleanup.

You can configure the default actions to take for each of the following types of File Guard detections:

• Malware detections – Choose how you want the File Guard to behave when Malware is detected by selecting either [Alert], [Quarantine silently], or [Quarantine with notification] from the drop down menu.
• PUP detections – Choose how you want the File Guard to behave when Potentially Unwanted Programs are detected by selecting either [Alert], [Quarantine silently], [Quarantine with notification], or [No detection] from the drop down menu.

For more information regarding File Guard, please see our comprehensive guide.