Hello…I’m so very new to Avast and put it on all my computers. When I go to scan I check everything I want to be scanned and then when I click scan part where it says :scan archive files" is disabled…am I doing something wrong or is it supposed to be like that? Thanks for any help 
Hi, welcome to the forum.
Be reassured: nothing is wrong.
To scan archive files click on the box illustrated where the tick is. This normally isn’t necessary, except maybe for a first scan, where you want everything examined, as it will scan non-executables; zip files etc. These would be scanned anyway when executed, and blocked if there was malicious detectable content.
The scan will take quite a bit longer with this option selected. (As would a “thorough” scan.)
I’d do it for the first scan after an install, but not bother for subsequent scans.
No you are doing nothing wrong, by default Archives aren’t selected, you can however tick the option to scan Archives.
My question is pertaining to scan results after a scan i get the results but they all say unable to scan archive is password protected but when i highlight one and click on the action button it does give me options what do i do to fix this and how do i know if there is an infection?
Files that can’t be scanned are just that, not an indication they are suspicious/infected, just unable to be scanned.
Many programs (usually security based ones) password protect their files for legitimate reasons such as AdAware and Spybot Search & Destroy, 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 ?
so, if the archive is password protected, there’s no way to scan it?
That is correct, avast doesn’t know the password and has no way of inputting it even if it did.
Archive (zip, rar, etc.) files are by their nature are inert, you need to extract the files and then you have to run them to be a threat. Long before that happens avast’s Standard Shield should have scanned them and before an executable is run that is scanned. So there really in no need to even scan them for routine scans.