The article helps you to determine whether configuring on-access scanner exclusions addresses performance issues or not.

IMPORTANT: This solution is provided for testing purposes only. Make sure that you reverse the changes after you finish testing.

The on-access scanner (OAS) controls Buffer Overflow Protection, Access Protection, and ScriptScan. If you stop OAS from the VirusScan Console, or stop the McShield service in services.msc, it stops the OAS and other VSE features.

Use the steps below to configure the OAS so that no files are scanned, but other VSE features are enabled. It shows if exclusions or low-risk processes prove to be effective or if other VSE components are involved.

1. Click Start, Programs, McAfee, VirusScan Console.
2. Double-click On-Access Scanner and select All Processes or Default Processes (as available).
3. If needed, select Configure one scanning policy for all processes.
4. Click Scan Items.
5. Under What to scan, select Specified file types only.
6. Click Specified and Add.
7. Type ZZZ and click Add.
8. Click OK.

Now, the on-access scanner scans only files of the type ZZZ.

If this test resolves your performance issues, see KB66909 for information about Exclusions and Low-Risk Processes. If you still experience performance issues, you must investigate other possible causes such as Access Protection, Script Scanning, or possible third-party software conflicts.