Whitelisting (fun!)

I've noticed that most people skip this one crucial step after they installed or updated the Firestorm viewer because they find it difficult or just tedious, and yes I am guilty of that, but it's such an important step.

But why would you?

Well, whitelisting reduces the interference and improves the stability and performance of your viewer, by telling your virus scanner to ignore/exclude certain folders and programs.

Your virus scanner can cause many bugs, for example: Teleport crashes, slow rez, textures/mesh not showing up, pc/laptop overheating, disconnects, and many more.

Where to begin

So I will try to explain how you can do this, I will give an example by using the Windows Virus and Treat protection on Microsoft Windows 10 and 11.

-The first step is just log in to your Second Life on the latest Firestorm, open up the "Help menu" on the Firestorm Viewer and click on the "Whitelist adviser". (this option is new on the latest Firestorm viewer V7.1.9.7)

In the adviser, you will find which folders and programs you need to whitelist in your virus scanner. They will include the exact location on your system but don’t worry, if you’re on an older version I will mention the location below.

For example:

The folders:

C:\Program Files\Firestorm-Releasex64

C:\Users\(yourpcname)\AppData\Roaming\Firestorm_x64

C:\Users\(yourpcname)\AppData\Local\Firestorm_x64

Programs:

Firestorm-Releasex64.exe
C:\Program Files\Firestorm-Releasex64\Firestorm-Releasex64.exe

SLVoice.exe
C:\Program Files\Firestorm-Releasex64\SLVoice.exe

SLPlugin.exe
C:\Program Files\Firestorm-Releasex64\SLPlugin.exe

dullahan_host.exe
C:\Program Files\Firestorm-Releasex64\llplugin\dullahan_host.exe

Now you know what you need to whitelist follow the next steps.

View Hidden files and folders

Windows 11

Open File Explorer from the taskbar.

Select View > Show > Hidden items.

Windows 10

Open File Explorer from the taskbar.

Select View > Options > Change folder and search options.

Select the View tab and, in Advanced settings, select Show hidden files, folders, and drives and OK.

Now the real work


-Press the Windows button on your keyboard search for "virus" and open up the Virus & Threat Protection.

-Go to manage settings

-Scroll down to Exclusions

-Add or remove exclusions

Windows will ask you for your permission to make changes, this is normal.

- Click on Add an Exclusion, and pick a file or folder depending on which section you want to do first, you need to add them all one by one.

Last word

Keep in mind, after every update you will need to redo these steps, even if your virus scanner tells you that it's already been done. Remove the old ones, reboot your pc, and start from the beginning.

For more information go to wiki.firestormviewer.org/antivirus_whitelisting

Reboot your PC &
Enjoy your Second Life