Avast detecting almost every game as a Virus now??

[rich handsome]

For some reason this past week, Avast has been detecting all my games as viruses. I have to keep clicking "create exception"
I know this is probably better suited for the Avast forums but I doubt anybody there will give me more thorough answers.
Sorry for inconvenience but I would greatly appreciate some help and tips.

[The Giving One]

You should have those exceptions already anyway.

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=9828-SFLZ-9289

Anti-virus Software

Anti-virus software hooks very deep into user systems and can affect disk and network operations which will cause issues with Steam. Some games also use copy protection technology that can appear as malicious software to an AV scanner, resulting in potential false-positive alerts.

You'll want to ensure that your AV software is not interfering with Steam. You may also need to add exceptions for Steam and its games in your AV configuration.

[rich handsome]

Originally posted by The Giving One:

You should have those exceptions already anyway.

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=9828-SFLZ-9289

Anti-virus Software

Anti-virus software hooks very deep into user systems and can affect disk and network operations which will cause issues with Steam. Some games also use copy protection technology that can appear as malicious software to an AV scanner, resulting in potential false-positive alerts.

You'll want to ensure that your AV software is not interfering with Steam. You may also need to add exceptions for Steam and its games in your AV configuration.

I will try to do that.
However why would it start detecting games that I’ve had installed for almost 2 years to suddenly start saying they are viruses?

[The Giving One]

Originally posted by rich handsome ッ:

However why would it start detecting games that I’ve had installed for almost 2 years to suddenly start saying they are viruses?

Probably an update to Avast presenting new false positives. That's often the case. The games are fine and you don't have to worry about infections from Steam downloads.

EDIT.............

It's ok to leave everything in active scans that you do yourself manually. Just not passive scanning (real time). If you do a manual scan and something in the game files detects as malicious, you just have to be careful if you quarantine that from that scan.

It's almost always a false positive, though.

After you make the exceptions, you might need to do this, if the games have issues :

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=2037-QEUH-3335

[Electric Cupcake]

False positives are bad enough, but Avast started requesting to install literal spyware. I dumped it quick after that.

[rich handsome]

Originally posted by The Giving One:

Originally posted by rich handsome ッ:

However why would it start detecting games that I’ve had installed for almost 2 years to suddenly start saying they are viruses?

Probably an update to Avast presenting new false positives. That's often the case. The games are fine and you don't have to worry about infections from Steam downloads.

EDIT.............

It's ok to leave everything in active scans that you do yourself manually. Just not passive scanning (real time). If you do a manual scan and something in the game files detects as malicious, you just have to be careful if you quarantine that from that scan.

It's almost always a false positive, though.

After you make the exceptions, you might need to do this, if the games have issues :

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=2037-QEUH-3335

I made a whole exception to the steam folder. But I am sceptical because what if, I “do” get some sort of infection in my steam folder. This would result in Avast not scanning it and therefore infecting my PC.

[The Giving One]

Originally posted by rich handsome ッ:

I made a whole exception to the steam folder. But I am sceptical because what if, I “do” get some sort of infection in my steam folder. This would result in Avast not scanning it and therefore infecting my PC.

Well, I guess there is always a chance that you can get an infection from another source, just not from downloading the games from Steam.

Those would be picked up by manual scans that you do yourself (active and not passive). Assuming that Avast would even detect it.

You kinda have to be vigilant where that is concerned and be careful what you download and install, as well as where you go on the net.

But if you don't have the exceptions, it will surely cause you issues in the future with your games or Steam or both.

[rich handsome]

Originally posted by The Giving One:

Originally posted by rich handsome ッ:

I made a whole exception to the steam folder. But I am sceptical because what if, I “do” get some sort of infection in my steam folder. This would result in Avast not scanning it and therefore infecting my PC.

Well, I guess there is always a chance that you can get an infection from another source, just not from downloading the games from Steam.

Those would be picked up by manual scans that you do yourself (active and not passive). Assuming that Avast would even detect it.

You kinda have to be vigilant where that is concerned and be careful what you download and install, as well as where you go on the net.

But if you don't have the exceptions, it will surely cause you issues in the future with your games or Steam or both.

Makes sense. I usually don't ever download anything, especially games not from Steam. However, if I were to do a full system scan on my PC, and uncheck the exception for the Steam folder, could I still scan my folder just in case? Or do you think they will scan almost every game in my directory as a virus?

[The Giving One]

Avast will probably also detect the games as false positives if you do an active, manual scan, yes. That's possible, considering that Avast is doing that now in real time.

Just so we are clear, the exceptions I have suggested are for real time scanning only. Not active scans that you can schedule and/or run yourself.

You can feel free to scan manually as you like, but I would not just blindly allow Avast to quarantine anything from the games, as they will surely be false positives.

You can test this if you wish by letting Avast quarantine any flags, then verifying the game files, then seeing what was quarantined.

If the files match, that's a false positive. But I would not really suggest doing this, honestly. Just a way you can test it.