Apply function doesn't work

[as12andrew]

HI new to the forum. I was recently led to avast by a techie friend. I apologise ahdea of time for my lack of computer knowledge. I have tried the search function and found some reasons that it may not be working, i will give malwarebyte a shot. I am having prblems with the apply function not working on all but onw of the items found to be a high risk. Do the items not placed in the chest pose a risk? is it better to delet the items found?

the os is windows 7 64 bit home premium

I have attached a screen shot. the one item goes all the way from 000001 to 000461

thanks in advance for your time.

[as12andrew]

here si the second screen shot

[DavidR]

The Apply function will only function when there is an appropriate action that can be taken.

There is only one entry in your list that any action can be taken against (the last but one).

The first batch are memory block addresses (and the process responsible for loading them) in the case of security applications, they are most likely to be unencrypted virus signatures. However, some of them aren't security applications so I don't know why they might have been flagged.

Did you do a custom scan with memory area selected and scan archives - Avast will detect them if you ask it to scan Memory in a Custom scan ?

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.

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You appear to also be running McAfee ?
It looks like it has loaded unencrypted signatures into memory.
Having two resident scanners installed is one too many and not recommended as rather than provide twice the protection it can cause conflicts that could leave you more vulnerable.

[CraigB]

100% agree with DavidR that you should not have two av's on your system even if one is turned off, if you wish to keep avast please delet McAfee and then google complete list of uninstaller's and download the one for McAfee and run then you should do a clean of your system with something like ccleaner from piriform, other than just cleaning your system this tool will help the performance of it to.

[as12andrew]

thanks to both of you for your prompt replies, it's helping me understand. I did make a custom scan in which I tried to include everything that can be possible scanned, I thought that might be better/more thorough. I will perform the recommendations. thanks again.

[DavidR]

You're welcome.

An on-demand scan, even the pre-defined scans will be scanning many inert or dormant files, doing a custom scan even more so as the Quick or Full System scans are looking at files that a) are vulnerable to infection and or b) present an immediate risk if infected, .exe files, etc.

The pre-defined Quick or Full System scan, without archives should be adequate. 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 File System Shield should have scanned them and before an executable is run that is scanned.

So as you can see the important files are covered in the Quick or Full System scans, as you are running resident on-access scans when they are accessed, which slightly depreciates the need for an in depth on-demand scan.

I schedule a Full System scan (no memory or archives) once a week and that is fine for my needs, you have to decide what type of scan you need.