Author Topic: Scan results  (Read 5323 times)

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bob4563

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Scan results
« on: March 13, 2014, 08:48:51 PM »
After I run a full scan, and look at the results, I have many files that say "archive is password protected". How do I scan these files?

Offline Lisandro

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Re: Scan results
« Reply #1 on: March 13, 2014, 10:48:07 PM »
avast can't scan files that are password protected, it doesn't know the password.
There are many legitimate reasons why a file was password protected. For instance, Lavasoft Ad-aware and SpyBot store their data in a password-protected ZIP archives (to prevent other similar tools from messing up with them). It's really nothing to worry about - it's normal.

In AdAware and S&D, when you fix/remove things it keeps backup/recovery information so you can restore anything that was mistakenly fixed/removed, etc. After a reasonable time your system has suffered no adverse effects, you can get rid of the older recovery/backup points. This should reduce the number of protected files.

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.
Also, the packaging of the file could have some error, or use a non-standard pattern...

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