I have used avast to clean my computer of the virus and there are some files it finds that are password protected. i can only assume that they hold the virus because every time i do a clean after leaving the computer for some time the virus is back. I’m scared to use it so have been using smart phone instead, it’s my first virus.
Without more detailed information we would be speculating.
What was the file name and location of the win32:Malware-gen detection ?
There are many legitimate reasons why files can’t be scanned:
Files that can’t be scanned are just that, not an indication they are suspicious/infected, just unable to be scanned.
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Many programs (usually security based ones) password protect their files for legitimate reasons, there are others (and avast doesn’t know the password or have any way of using it even if it did know it).
When you run scans with the above programs and you delete harmful entries that they detect, a copy is kept (in quarantine/restore/backup) in case you need to reverse what you did. These are usually password protected, you should do some housekeeping and delete old backup/recovery/quarantine entries (older than two weeks or so), this will reduce the numbers of files that can’t be scanned.
By examining 1) the reason given by avast! for not being able to scan the files, 2) the location of the files, you can get an idea of what program they relate to. You may need to expand the column headings to see all the text.
If you can give some examples of those file names, the locations and reason given why it can’t be scanned might help us further ?
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I rather doubt your hypothesis that these hold the virus, but that as I said would require more information.