FILE CAN'T BE SCANNED

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

I did about 3 scans, and each time the same file comes up saying that it can’t be scanned (23)
I then did a boot scan, and this came up during the scan, while the results of the boot scan’s still that the same file can’t be scanned, saying that the reason’s (23):
C:\windows.old\windows\system32\config\default Error 0xC000003E

I noticed that one of the options, besides deleting or moving to chest, is repair. Is that what I should do?

2

It is just a scan error, it does not mean that the file is infected, just that it cant be scanned for whatever reason…

do not know what error 23 is

I noticed that one of the options, besides deleting or moving to chest, is repair. Is that what I should do?
the repair option is if a legit file have been injected with a malware code.... it will not repair a file that is corrupted
3

It means that you have a problem with your hard disk (the particular file cannot be read).
I’d suggest to back up all the important data somewhere else - as soon as possible.

4

Is there a list of error codes somewhere ?

5

The first one is a Windows error code - open a console and type
net helpmsg 23

Well, the second one is also a Windows code - but not the usual “Win32 error”, but rather the corresponding native/kernel error… which you’d have to look up e.g. here:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc704588(v=prot.10).aspx

6

I looked it up, and it said that 0xC000003E means
STATUS_DATA_ERROR
Any advice on what that means and what I should do next?

7

It means the same as the error code 23 in the usual “Win32 world”.
The advice is still the same - back up your data, the hard disk is probably failing / dying.

8

It appears to be from windows.old. What does that mean? Can it be solved by simply deleting windows.old, whatever that is? How about using the windows vista system restore?

9

It is usually if you upgraded your OS and didn’t do a clean install, that is the old windows folder.

Lots of google hits on this, http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=windows.old, but you would have to exercise care here as removing this folder would mean you couldn’t possibly roll back to the old windows. You probably don’t want to, but it has to be said there are consequences if you do remove it.

See http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/How-do-I-remove-the-Windows-old-folder

Check out some of the other hits on this for the Microsoft site, on how you do it an if you should, etc.