Stupid question number-- I forget!!

[TheRick]

O.K. All of the sudden when I run a scan it list a long list of files that is says were not able to be scanned because they are locked ---
what up??

[Lisandro]

Are you using other applications meanwhile?
Which are the path and name of some (of most) of the files?
Which is your OS?

[Eddy]

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=8954.msg74041#msg74041

[TheRick]

I am running Xp home -- most of the files are c/:documents (or something like that)
However I do not have any password protection on those files that I know of

[Lisandro]

However I do not have any password protection on those files that I know of

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, the ones you're talking about. Lavasoft stores its 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.

[lakrsrool]

If you had been scanning WITHOUT archived files to be scanned before and then on  A subsequent scan enabled the archive scan this will often result in a LONG LOG of messages that files are password protected and cannot be scanned as a result.

[Lisandro]

If you had been scanning WITHOUT archived files to be scanned before and then on  A subsequent scan enabled the archive scan this will often result in a LONG LOG of messages that files are password protected and cannot be scanned as a result.

If you want the log, just remember to check the proper option into the Report settings of avast: Soft errors and Skipped files.