How to exclude NovaBACKUP from Windows Defender Antivirus to speed up backups (21.x and newer versions)
NovaBACKUP 21.x and newer versions only!
Occasionally, certain Anti-Virus software may incorrectly flag or interfere with your NovaBACKUP software from properly running. This can result in a failed backup job, unusually slow backup speed (transfer rate), failure for the application to start entirely, or the inability to see destinations to backup your files to. Please also confirm no files shown here have been quarantined by your Antivirus software if you cannot find the file in the listed location.
This guide discusses how to exclude NovaBACKUP (20.1 and older legacy versions) processes, file types, and program folders from Windows Defender Antivirus, to speed up backups. We have an alternate guide on the subject of how to exclude the required items from other anti-virus software here.
Please see the files below and add the following folders to your Antivirus exception lists if you are experiencing any of these issues and are running an Antivirus Software on your machine.
File Types to Exclude: (File Extensions)
.DAT
.NBD
.NDD
.NDF
.NDI
Files to Exclude: (Processes or Executables)
C:\Program Files\NovaStor\NovaStor NovaBACKUP\engine.exe
C:\Program Files\NovaStor\NovaStor NovaBACKUP\NovaBackX.exe
C:\Program Files\NovaStor\NovaStor NovaBACKUP\nsCtrl.exe
C:\Program Files\NovaStor\NovaStor NovaBACKUP\nsService.exe
C:\Program Files\NovaStor\NovaStor NovaBACKUP\DR\DRBackup.exe
C:\Program Files\NovaStor\NovaStor NovaBACKUP\DR\x64\drdiag.exe
Note: If you have the NovaBACKUP 21.x client installed in a folder location that is not the default (above paths) then you can reference the above default path structure for the folders and files listed above, to know how to exclude them in your case in that custom client folder location.
Folders to Exclude (Program Folders):
C:\ProgramData\NovaStor\NovaStor NovaBACKUP\
AND
C:\Program Files\NovaStor\
plus the Temporary Files directory, if not the default of
C:\ProgramData\NovaStor\NovaStor NovaBACKUP\Temp\
plus the 'FPIDataDir' directory, if not the default of
C:\ProgramData\NovaStor\NovaStor NovaBACKUP\FPI\
FYI: The 'FPIDataDir' directory can be set to a custom local disk (not a network folder) folder location by editing the nsconfig.ini configuration file for the client, which we have instructions for on how to do that here. This folder can take up quite a bit of disk space, and since the default is to store that data on the OS drive then this can be a problem for some, for the disk space usage that it will end up taking after some time.
FYI: The Temporary Files directory can be set to a custom local disk (not a network folder) folder location in the Default Settings -> Advanced Options -> "Temporary Files directory:" option setting, inside NovaBACKUP software, this folder will also need to be added to your exclusions. Note: In version 21.x not very much data will be stored into this Temporary Files directory if you only end up using the modern 'Local Backup' and 'Cloud Backup' device types (the non-legacy device types).
How to configure Windows Defender exclusions:
The instructions for Windows Defender are shown below to add the exclusions. You can see the highlighted sections shows what to click on to get the various methods of exclusions that can be added to Windows Defender.
First of all, load up Windows Defender (Windows Defender Security Center) and then click on the shield icon in the Windows Defender toolbar on the left of the screen, highlighted in the screenshot, then click on "Virus & threat protection settings", highlighted near the bottom:
You should see the "Virus & threat protection settings" screen, click on "Add or remove exclusions".
On the next screen click the "+" button, to the left of "Add an exclusion", and then choose "Process" and add all of the Processes mentioned in this article, when done adding the Processes click on the "+ Add an exclusion" button and continue adding the other two methods of exclusions described in this article after the Processes section. You will be using three methods of exclusions, those are File type, Process, and Folder. An example of what this would look like at this stage is shown in the screenshot below:
If using an older version of Windows Defender the "Add an exclusion" screen may look like this: