Chrome users should be able to use their browser without encountering issues with the antivirus tools included on Windows 10 thanks to a new update from Google.

As per a commit posted to the Chromium Gerrit, certain Chrome functions are not able to operate as-intended when Windows 10 antivirus is set to scan local storage.

“Antivirus 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,” explained Bruce Dawson, a Google software developer.

In a bid to address these issues, an imminent edition of Chrome on Windows will be configured to “retry the racy ReplaceFile step a few times”. This measure will only be in place on Windows, because the problems are thought not to affect other operating systems.

Google Chrome updates

Google’s flagship web browser, which dominates the market, has suffered a number of difficulties in recent months – on top of the Windows 10 antivirus quirk.

The company has released five zero-day security patches for Chrome since October alone, for example, with a number of the flaws already actively exploited in the wild.

It was also found that reluctance to install patches and updates means almost 50 different versions of the browser are in circulation, leaving many users open to multiple security vulnerabilities of varying severity.

On top of security woes, the new M1-native version of the browser – designed specifically for Apple’s new range of Macs – was found to cause a number of issues, even going so far as to crash the new devices.

Addressing security bugs and other issues is part-and-parcel for any development team, but Google will likely be hoping for a less eventful December.

Source: techradar.com