If you do want to run Antivirus on your machines then we recommend the following:

• Run AV on all machines including servers.
• Disable any Scheduled Scans on any OnAir computers - otherwise when it comes to do its periodic scan it could cause audio to stutter. Instead, manually run a full scan as part of your regular maintenance procedure when you can take the computer out of service
• Exclude all folders that contain Myriad/Scoop etc. files - this will reduce the load on the computer as Myriad and Scoop opens hundreds of files per hour as they checks the Audiowall, play audio, works down the log/edit scripts etc.
• Exclude certain file extensions - inf, lst, ls3, cm3, wav, wma, mp3, mp2, ogg, mdb, OAC. Some AV packages don't allow exclusions (for instance some editions of AVG Free) and these MUST NOT BE USED.

If everything runs ok, but you get a regular pause once or twice a minute then you have possible forgotten to add OAC to the exclusion list.

Myriad rights to a file with a .OAC extension next to the Station Database file every 20 or 30 seconds to say that it has On Air Control. It also checks it again periodically to check that it still has it.

As the antivirus scans this file it locks it and this can cause Myriad to pause until it’s finished scanning.

In the office we have tested and support Symantec Corporate Edition 10.0 and earlier and Microsoft Forefront.

We have not tested Symantec Endpoint Protection.

We also recommend you avoid 'free' Antivirus packages as these often have limited feature sets as they obviously want you to upgrade to the paid for service.

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Peter Jarrett, Technical Director
P Squared Ltd.

Bill Bailey: "No win, no fee, no basis in reality. Just a room above a minicab office in Acton and a steady stream of greedy simpletons whose delusion is only matched by their clumsiness"