Not sure what the heck is going on… apparently a file went into my virus chest… good. I want to delete it, and after some research I found out that the delete option in the VIRUS CHEST doesn’t remove the virus from the hard drive… REALLY? Your explanation of this “Delete” feature varies from site to site / FAQ to FAQ.
It isn’t sent to the Recycle bin like other delete options.
In Windows OSes for almost eternity, the deletion of a file doesn’t remove it from the hard drive (unless you take action with a wipe program), it removes the entry in the file table and assigns the space as empty/can be used. This wouldn’t really be any different for avast.
You would be unable to find the file removed from the virus chest using the conventional windows explorer, it requires specialist software to search and find, even then all isn’t lost.
Here is where it differs with the avast virus chest.
It is a protected area.
Files are encrypted when sent to the virus chest.
The file name is also changed, so from outside the virus chest, you can’t view the real name.
Any file recovery program may well be able to try and recover file names and any remnants that haven’t been over written. But they don’t have the correct name, how would they (or other malware know).
Since the file was encrypted any file recovery program would be recovering any remnants that haven’t been over written in an encrypted state, so not much use.
Explanations are unlikely to go into much detail on what happens to deleted files as for the most part that is a common action in windows OSes.
So what you read in the link you gave isn’t incorrect, it just doesn’t go into much detail and for most people in relation to the virus chest, when a file is deleted that is essentially what is happening, because of the above points.
Many people are totally unaware that files deleted only have the file name removed from the file table and the space marked so it can be reused. So they are hardly likely to know of or be using file wiping software.
Thank you Asyn for the link… I already read through that, that’s why I asked for help in the forum.
So deleting the file from the chest will render it useless, correct? The virus can’t spread… That’s all I am asking for. I know how deletion works ( and in most cases HDs can be recovered unless you format extensively- I just wanna know what the delete option in the virus chest does. Does it disable the virus? Is it gone? can it affect your pc?
The Virus Chest is a safe place in Avast Antivirus for storing potentially harmful files and completely isolating them from the rest of your operating system. Files inside the Virus Chest cannot be accessed or run by any outside processes, software applications, or viruses. If you double-click a file in the Virus Chest, only the file properties are displayed.
Thanks Asyn; but I am asking about deletion of files in the chest… can i right click and delete it and it’s “gone” from my pc and won’t harm my system? I don’t want to keep it lingering in there I want to remove it
