Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge get major Windows 10 antivirus update

Antivirus Software
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and other Chromium-based browsers will now run smoothly on Windows 10 systems running antivirus software as the result of a new Chromium update.

Up until now, certain functions failed to work properly in these browsers when a system running the operating system had either Windows 10 antivirus software or a scanner configured to briefly lock new files.

These issues were even more noticeable on machines where a user's browser was installed on their system drive and their antivirus software was set up to scan new files created by third party programs such as Google Chrome. This led to problems when users tried to save bookmarks and other files using their browser.

Retry ReplaceFile

In a new post on the Chromium Gerrit, engineer Bruce Dawson who runs Google's Chrome for Windows team provided further insight on the new commit intended to fix Chromium-based browser problems on Windows 10 systems with antivirus software installed, saying:

“Anti-virus programs and other scanners may briefly lock new files which can lead to frequent problems with saving bookmarks and other files that use the ImportantFileWriter. This attempts to deal with this by retrying the racy ReplaceFile step a few times. This change also adds instrumentation to record how many retries are needed, for future tuning. It also moves the SetLastError call as close as possible to the function that will consume the last error code. This is only done on Windows because that is hoped to be the only place where it happens.”

The commit has now been merged into Chromium and it will likely be included in the next update for Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and other Chromium-based browsers.

Via Windows Latest

Anthony Spadafora

After working with the TechRadar Pro team for the last several years, Anthony is now the security and networking editor at Tom’s Guide where he covers everything from data breaches and ransomware gangs to the best way to cover your whole home or business with Wi-Fi. When not writing, you can find him tinkering with PCs and game consoles, managing cables and upgrading his smart home. 

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