Patent ID: 7861296

Claim:
In a computer that includes system memory and a computer storage device that stores a file, the system memory accessible to a Central Processing Unit, a method of loading data in the file into the system memory in anticipation that the file will be scanned for malware, the method comprising: (a) identifying a pattern in which data in the file was loaded into system memory when scanned for malware; (b) determining an optimal seek pattern based on the identified pattern; (c) generating a load pattern in which data from the file, used to determine whether the file is infected with malware, is loaded into system memory from the computer storage device that minimizes reading time required to read the data from the file based on the optimal seek pattern, wherein the optimal seek pattern identifies an optimized order in which the data in the file is loaded into the system memory; (d) computing a priority score for the data; (e) computing priority scores for other data; (f) pre-fetching the data in the file into system memory in accordance with the generated load pattern, the data pre-fetched prior to any actual demand for the data, the data pre-fetched based on an expected demand for the data as determined by the priority score for the data relative to priority scores for the other data; wherein generating the load pattern includes: determining a file type for the file; determining if a known scanning pattern is available for the file, the scanning pattern for scanning the data from the file used to identify malware; if no known scanning pattern is available, accessing a second scanning pattern in which data of a second file that is different from the file was loaded into system memory, wherein the second file is of the same file type as the file and wherein the second file is one of a plurality of files that have been previously scanned to create scanning patterns for data from the files used to identify malware; and generating a default scanning pattern for the file based on the second scanning pattern.