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How to set up antivirus (AV) exclusions to improve stability and performance of Autodesk software

Issue:

Adjusting antivirus programs to make the Autodesk software run more efficiently.  

Causes:

Antivirus software and a Microsoft Defender can affect the installation and performance of Autodesk programs.

Solution:

Folder exclusions

After the program is installed, it may be useful to exclude the following Autodesk folders in antivirus settings:

  • C:\Program Files\Autodesk\
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\common Files\Autodesk Shared\
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Autodesk\
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\common Files\Autodesk\
  • C:\ProgramData\Flexnet\
  • C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\
  • C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\
  • C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Autodesk\
  • C:\temp\AutoDeskViewer\
  • C:\Program Files\Common Files\Autodesk Shared\

File Type Exclusions

Also, creating exceptions for the various types of files used by Autodesk products can be helpful.  Here is a list of some file types used by Autodesk programs:

3ds, ac$, apj, .atc, bak, ctb, cui, cuix, dcl, dst, dwf, dwg, dwl, dwl2, dwt, fbx, ipt, iam, idw, ipn, ipj, lin, ma, mat, max, mb, mns, mnu, pat, pgp, rfa, rft, rte, rvt, rws, dat, slog, shp, shx, stb, sv$

Additional file types: The following may also be necessary to be added:

.xml, .mms, .grs, .sq* (sqlite), .wdp, .ldb, .mdb, .mui, .aux, .chm, revit*.xml.zip, .xls, .json*, .dyn

Licensing Related Exclusions

These are some license components that may need to be added as exclusions to the antivirus program:

For Autodesk 2020 software and newer versions:
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Autodesk\ Shared\AdskLicensing\Current\AdskLicensingAgent\AdskLicensingAgent.exe
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Autodesk\ Shared\AdskLicensing\Current\AdskLicensingService\AdskLicensingService.exe
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Autodesk\ Shared\AdskLicensing\Current\helper\AdskLicensingInstHelper.exe
For Autodesk 2020 and newer versions with maintenance subscription license:
  • C:\Program Files\Common Files\Macrovision Shared\FlexNet Publisher\FNPLicensingService64.exe
  • C:\Program Files\Common Files\Autodesk Shared\AdLM\R14\LMU.exe (the folder R14 may differ depending on the version of the product installed - i.e it could be R12, R10...).
  • C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Autodesk AutoCAD 201x\acad.exe (or the exe of the Autodesk program that is running).

NOTE: When using AutoCAD Electrical, an exception may need to be added to the following location:

C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Acade<version>

Temporary Files

Temporary files can be created in %temp% Windows folder with extensions:

adsklib, dll , log, tmp,  xml

Allowed Programs

Look for keyword Exclusion of apps and programs (or similar option) within the antivirus settings to exclude the recommended entities.