I noticed the last time I did a Full Virus Scan I got a message saying “No threats found by Full Virus Scan, but we were unable to scan some files”. Oddly enough, when I did a Boot-Time Scan I got no message.
I tried to repair my copy of avast, that didn’t fix it. I tried re-installing avast, that didn’t fix it.
I then read a previous post on the forum mentioning that I should read the log file. In the log file there are a few different files/issues.
I know this might be a ridiculous question but I’m paranoid and I’ve never posted info from a log file: Is it safe/secure putting log file info online? There’s no personal info in there (just file names) from what I can tell but I just want to make sure. Thanks.
Essentially there is nothing to fix, files that can’t be scanned are just that, it doesn’t mean they are malicious, just that they can’t be scanned.
Also since you don’t give any of the files that couldn’t be scanned, it would be speculation on why they couldn’t be scanned. Some archive/compressed files for whatever reason may not be able to be unpacked to scan.
Personally on-demand scans are greatly depreciated with an on-access resident scanner like Avast, active files are scanned before they are allowed to be run. Generally I don’t run any on-demand scan outside of as a response to an issue reported in the forums.
Just post extracts (copy and paste) of the log file not attaching the log file should be sufficient to ascertain files and why they couldn’t be scanned.
“Avast will check the files when they are actually run. If it turns out that something is hidden, Avast will block it. While they are in their password-protected state, the files pose no threat to you or your system.”
So in essence, the files that aren’t scanned (even if they are malicious) are only potentially harmful if they are run. If they are run and malicious, avast will recognize it and block it before that happens, posing no threat to the system. Am I correct?
Actually, I’m curious about this. I usually run a scan after anytime I run into a malicious threat (for example, when I see a message that avast blocked something malicious from a webpage). Is that smart or am I just wasting my time (or being too paranoid)?
The web Shield scans content before it is allowed onto your system or browser cache to display or run. So nothing is actually downloaded to your system when the Web Shield alerts. If for whatever reason anything should get to your system then The File System Shield would be the next line of defence.
Five of the files that were in the log file had an Error 0x0000A47E (42110) message which I looked up in previous forums and saw that as a “decompression bomb”, which I’m led to believe is relatively harmless.
Two other entries had me a bit worried and confused. They weren’t file names for something on either of my drives, but instead both said “Volume” along with a list of numbers and letters. The message at the end said “The system cannot find the path specified (3)”. A number of posts I read said that the message usually goes away after re-booting, which I tried multiple times but it hasn’t worked. Anyone know what I should do?
Yes as far as I’m concerned the name “decompression BOMB” is the most dangerous thing and something that should be changed. The “decompression bomb” is an ancient term when computers were low powered and limited resources that massive/highly compressed files could tie the system up for a long period.
Computers today just don’t suffer in this way, hell the Avast off-line installation file is 680MB and that isn’t large compared to other programs.
If you think of it, if “The system cannot find the path specified (3)” then it is unlikely to present a risk.
If all of this is as a result of your running on-demand scans, it is causing you undue stress. These files are otherwise dormant only woken bu the on-demand scan. If these files were active, then the File System Shield would be scanning them.