But I would like an input from someone who knows more and better than I do. Is an anti virus truly safe? Do they not scan computer files? If yes, does my wallet.dat file not get scanned in the process? Sure, you can add the Bitcoin folder to the list of exceptions. But still, the popular and best anti viruses are closed source. I do not trust them.
i use AV, but i do go through the settings and disable stuff that sends questionable files/data to their servers for analysis as i dont want parts of private files being sent off yonder. so no cloud based stuff. check all settings.
definitely exclude your drive/folder that has the blockchain as the blockchain has had snippets of viruses uploaded in the past. the AV will "fix" the blockchain invalidating it.
the other day someone send a bitcoin addy via email to me and my AV deleted it in outlook before my eyes. as in i saw it and then watched it get deleted in a second. i was NOT impressed. some update enabled email scanning and once i found the setting and disabled it the email went through.. with a modified subject field that said "spam.. extortion protection" as it said it found a crypto address.
WTF