i have been having trouble with startup and very sluggish pc. tried the virus cleaner tool(avast found 2 win32 virus’s about a month ago). but there were 5 files that could not be scanned. Why is this. Could these files be what is causing my problems?
Hi,
Maybe you have a lot of start up programs running. These slow down the PC.
Programs like MSN messanger, software, tools and so on…
I suggest you use freeware ccleaner tool from ccleaner.com to remove unwanted crap, uninstall software you do not use anymore, and remove unwanted startup programs.
Karl
A little information about your system wouldn’t go amiss, RAM, CPU, etc.
- What Operating System are you using ? is it up to date ?
- What avast! version and VPS file (virus database) number, e.g. 0630-2 (see about avast!) ?
What other security based software do you have that might be active at start-up, e.g. SpySweeper, Spyware Doctor (StartUpGuard), PrevX, WinPatrol, ProcessGuard, etc. ?
avast! gives reasons why files can’t be scanned, what were they and what were the file names and locations ?
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.
Files that can’t be scanned are just that, not an indication they are suspicious/infected, just unable to be scanned.