Buzz
As a preventive measure, antivirus software typically temporarily locks newly created files on computers until they are scanned and deemed safe. Specifically, on Windows 10 machines, this caused issues for the Google Chrome web browser when it used the 'importantFileWriter' to export certain files.
Bruce Dawson, a Google engineer, stated: 'Antivirus software and other virus scanners may quickly lock new files, causing issues when saving bookmarks and other files using the importantFileWriter class.'
This implies that Windows 10 users will encounter issues, such as when trying to save bookmarks, due to the web browser struggling to create corresponding files.
As per the recently disclosed report, a recent improvement by the Chromium project allows the Chrome web browser to run smoothly on Windows 10, even when antivirus software is active.
The bug fix addresses this issue by iterating the ReplaceFile command multiple times, creating duplicates of old files, then replacing subsequent files. The solution also involves a machine learning aspect, meaning over time, Chromium will autonomously adjust the necessary retry attempts to overcome Race Condition occurrences (a scenario where two or more threads simultaneously access and want to modify data).
Dawson mentioned: 'This change also adds additional measuring devices to record retry attempts, serving for future adjustments.' The engineer also added that the antivirus software bug locking newly created files in Chrome on Win 10 only affects Windows systems, which is why the bug fix was implemented into important_file_writer.cc specifically for the Windows operating system, as shown in the above screenshot (line 45).
Since the bug fix has been merged into the repository since December 30, 2020, it is expected that the next version of Google Chrome will come with it. Chrome users should keep an eye on upcoming updates and ensure their web browsers are updated to the latest version.
