Hi!
I tried to post this to the Patch TEST Forum section (https://www.lfs.net/forum/66-Patch-TEST-Forum), but since it looks like only devs and moderators can create new threads there, I decided to post this into technical assistance. For now, I didn't post this into Bugs - Program section (https://www.lfs.net/forum/10-Bugs---Program), because this is not a LFS bug. Scawen or one of the mods, feel free to move or copy this thread to the more appropriate place if necessary
Every time a new test patch or, to a lesser extent, official patch of LFS gets released, various different antivirus softwares get overzealous about this exe. Most likely (but not certain) reason is because the new patch exe is very new, so it doesn't have any reports telling that this file is safe. What this can cause is one or more of the following, but not limited to, issues:
- Game not getting downloaded at all, or only partially
- Game not starting at all
- Game only barely starting, after many tries. You may encounter some error messages, like this one I did receive in 2019: https://www.lfs.net/attachment/193681
- Game starting, but then suddenly shutting down
And then, in almost all of these cases, you will almost immediately get a notification from your antivirus software, that the LFS.exe is potentially dangerous. Even if you choose to allow it, some antivirus softwares (like Avast), will still think it's potentially dangerous and prevent you from going forward. One thing you can do is wait after allowing it. Usually after a while though (it is possible enough users reporting it safe causes it to be safe), the issue goes away. This issue with antivirus softwares may apply to both LFS.exe and LFS_Editor.exe.
Scawen has stated this: https://www.lfs.net/forum/post/2094495#post2094495
How to report LFS.exe as false positive:
False positive means that antivirus software mistakenly thinks the file you're trying to open is malware etc. when it's actually not. Usually in the antivirus software itself, you can report it safe. But alternatively, I've posted some links for several different antivirus software sites, where you can report LFS.exe being false positive. Feel free to tell me more links about these
- Avast: https://www.avast.com/report-false-positive#pc
- AVG: https://www.avg.com/en-ww/report-false-positive#pc
- Avira: https://www.avira.com/en/analysis/submit
- BitDefender: https://www.bitdefender.com/en-us/business/submit
- Eset: https://support.eset.com/en/kb141-submit-a-virus-website-or-potential-false-positive-sample-to-the-eset-lab
- F-Secure: https://www.f-secure.com/us-en/support/submit-a-sample
- KasperSky: https://opentip.kaspersky.com/
- MalwareBytes: https://forums.malwarebytes.com/forum/122-false-positives/
- McAfee: https://www.mcafee.com/en-us/consumer-support/dispute-detection-allowlisting.html (only allows ZIP, RAR and pre-extracted files)
- Microsoft/Windows Defender: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/wdsi/filesubmission
- Norton: https://submit.norton.com/
- Sophos: https://intelix.sophos.com/
- Trend Micro: https://helpcenter.trendmicro.com/en-us/article/tmka-14388
What you should NOT do?
Well, obviously you should NOT tell the LFS.exe is false negative (stating that antivirus softwares are incorrect thinking LFS exe is safe)
But on more serious note: if it's obvious that your issue is caused by antivirus software's behavior and not by LFS itself, please do not report about it in LFS Patch Test Forum, Bugs - Program etc. Do not tell Scawen to fix this issue clearly caused by antivirus software. You may wonder why? Because:
Scawen cannot do anything against any overzealous antivirus software
Your message is essentially useless for him, and if you already know the issue is obviously caused by overzealous antivirus software, it is also complete waste of time for you as well. It doesn't matter how many times you report it, Scawen simply can't do anything at all to fix it! Remember: Scawen is responsible for developing Live for Speed, Scawen is not a developer of any antivirus software!
The only thing what Scawen can do here in LFS, is to add a disclaimer to the downloads page, or to the F.A.Q page, stating that various antivirus softwares may detect LFS as false positive. (Or to move this thread to Patch TEST Forum and/or Bugs - Program section). But of course that disclaimer itself doesn't prevent antivirus softwares falsely reporting LFS (test) patches potentailly being malware.
Also, remember LFS Terms and conditions, rule 1.3: https://www.lfs.net/agreement
How can I detect is the issue obviously caused by antivirus software and not by LFS?
Like I stated in the title, and in this post already: this statement only applies to situations, where it is obvious that your issue is caused by antivirus software and not by LFS.
Easiest way to notice the issue is obviously caused by antivirus software is that if you almost immediately get a notification/report from your antivirus software about LFS, then it is clear that your issue with LFS was caused, not by LFS, but by that antivirus software.
Alternatively, what you can do is to try to disable the antivirus software for time being and then try to see if the issue comes again. One method, what Flame CZE told me in Discord is that he has excluded his LFS instance folder from antivirus realtime checks. If the issue does come out, without any antivirus softwares then it is very likely that the issue is indeed in LFS.
Finally: if you're unsure, is the issue caused by LFS or antivirus software, then of course, you can report about it in LFS Forum. It's always better to report it in that case than not
I tried to post this to the Patch TEST Forum section (https://www.lfs.net/forum/66-Patch-TEST-Forum), but since it looks like only devs and moderators can create new threads there, I decided to post this into technical assistance. For now, I didn't post this into Bugs - Program section (https://www.lfs.net/forum/10-Bugs---Program), because this is not a LFS bug. Scawen or one of the mods, feel free to move or copy this thread to the more appropriate place if necessary
Every time a new test patch or, to a lesser extent, official patch of LFS gets released, various different antivirus softwares get overzealous about this exe. Most likely (but not certain) reason is because the new patch exe is very new, so it doesn't have any reports telling that this file is safe. What this can cause is one or more of the following, but not limited to, issues:
- Game not getting downloaded at all, or only partially
- Game not starting at all
- Game only barely starting, after many tries. You may encounter some error messages, like this one I did receive in 2019: https://www.lfs.net/attachment/193681
- Game starting, but then suddenly shutting down
And then, in almost all of these cases, you will almost immediately get a notification from your antivirus software, that the LFS.exe is potentially dangerous. Even if you choose to allow it, some antivirus softwares (like Avast), will still think it's potentially dangerous and prevent you from going forward. One thing you can do is wait after allowing it. Usually after a while though (it is possible enough users reporting it safe causes it to be safe), the issue goes away. This issue with antivirus softwares may apply to both LFS.exe and LFS_Editor.exe.
Scawen has stated this: https://www.lfs.net/forum/post/2094495#post2094495
How to report LFS.exe as false positive:
False positive means that antivirus software mistakenly thinks the file you're trying to open is malware etc. when it's actually not. Usually in the antivirus software itself, you can report it safe. But alternatively, I've posted some links for several different antivirus software sites, where you can report LFS.exe being false positive. Feel free to tell me more links about these
- Avast: https://www.avast.com/report-false-positive#pc
- AVG: https://www.avg.com/en-ww/report-false-positive#pc
- Avira: https://www.avira.com/en/analysis/submit
- BitDefender: https://www.bitdefender.com/en-us/business/submit
- Eset: https://support.eset.com/en/kb141-submit-a-virus-website-or-potential-false-positive-sample-to-the-eset-lab
- F-Secure: https://www.f-secure.com/us-en/support/submit-a-sample
- KasperSky: https://opentip.kaspersky.com/
- MalwareBytes: https://forums.malwarebytes.com/forum/122-false-positives/
- McAfee: https://www.mcafee.com/en-us/consumer-support/dispute-detection-allowlisting.html (only allows ZIP, RAR and pre-extracted files)
- Microsoft/Windows Defender: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/wdsi/filesubmission
- Norton: https://submit.norton.com/
- Sophos: https://intelix.sophos.com/
- Trend Micro: https://helpcenter.trendmicro.com/en-us/article/tmka-14388
What you should NOT do?
Well, obviously you should NOT tell the LFS.exe is false negative (stating that antivirus softwares are incorrect thinking LFS exe is safe)
But on more serious note: if it's obvious that your issue is caused by antivirus software's behavior and not by LFS itself, please do not report about it in LFS Patch Test Forum, Bugs - Program etc. Do not tell Scawen to fix this issue clearly caused by antivirus software. You may wonder why? Because:
Scawen cannot do anything against any overzealous antivirus software
Your message is essentially useless for him, and if you already know the issue is obviously caused by overzealous antivirus software, it is also complete waste of time for you as well. It doesn't matter how many times you report it, Scawen simply can't do anything at all to fix it! Remember: Scawen is responsible for developing Live for Speed, Scawen is not a developer of any antivirus software!
The only thing what Scawen can do here in LFS, is to add a disclaimer to the downloads page, or to the F.A.Q page, stating that various antivirus softwares may detect LFS as false positive. (Or to move this thread to Patch TEST Forum and/or Bugs - Program section). But of course that disclaimer itself doesn't prevent antivirus softwares falsely reporting LFS (test) patches potentailly being malware.
Also, remember LFS Terms and conditions, rule 1.3: https://www.lfs.net/agreement
How can I detect is the issue obviously caused by antivirus software and not by LFS?
Like I stated in the title, and in this post already: this statement only applies to situations, where it is obvious that your issue is caused by antivirus software and not by LFS.
Easiest way to notice the issue is obviously caused by antivirus software is that if you almost immediately get a notification/report from your antivirus software about LFS, then it is clear that your issue with LFS was caused, not by LFS, but by that antivirus software.
Alternatively, what you can do is to try to disable the antivirus software for time being and then try to see if the issue comes again. One method, what Flame CZE told me in Discord is that he has excluded his LFS instance folder from antivirus realtime checks. If the issue does come out, without any antivirus softwares then it is very likely that the issue is indeed in LFS.
Finally: if you're unsure, is the issue caused by LFS or antivirus software, then of course, you can report about it in LFS Forum. It's always better to report it in that case than not
