I believe it does modify the exe, or libraries (dll), and/or config files stored locally (c:\mitchell\apppath) and remotely (M:\mitchell\apppath).
The series of troubleshooting started with the old computer when launching the icon on the workstation computer tanked the CPU, yet mouse movement was possible. Completely unresponsive to task manager calls, or any action. The machine was essentially locked up.
We brought in a freshly loaded, brand new computer with of course 6.0.1367. Once mapped and set up in the exclusion lists, the exact same lockup occured. System event logs showed no signs of an obvious culprit. It was like the lock up halted all system processes.
We then disabled all the shields, and set exclusions in each shield for wildcards, direct paths, and so on. Same exact thing on both machines. Lockups. Now the other calls started coming in. More users experienceing lockups. We service alot of these sites, they are at home insurance adjusters.
Best solution was to cripple Avast and make it look like it was running on the surface, diasble Security Alerts, and pray. We are currently testing and pursuing other AV as a result of this, and the marketing bombardment that exists now in the free versions.
So in a nutshell, yes a very dynamic application in a home business environment, that use to work flawlessly, with proper exclusions, is now locking up in particular on 64-bit machines when launching the mapped .exe file, that calls both local and remote applications and libraries.