Author Topic: Boot Scan Error 0xC000009C {STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR}  (Read 2180 times)

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Offline nickha

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Boot Scan Error 0xC000009C {STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR}
« on: June 29, 2022, 10:17:43 AM »
I did a Boot-Time Scan and, while running, it showed the message:
File C:\Program Files\AVASTSoftware\Avast\Setup\part-prg_ais-1605177f.vpx
 Error 0xC000009C {STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR}

Once finished, I looked up in History and there was a red exclamation sign on the ghost icon. It said: “No threats found by Boot-Time Scan, but we were unable to scan some files”.

I had indicated some folders as Exceptions to spare time, because I’d already done a Full Scan yesterday and these folders were not infected (and they were folders with a lot of pdf’s that took a long time to scan). So I thought maybe these were the files that it was unable to scan. However, yesterday I had also set a couple of folders as Exceptions while doing the Full Scan, and there were no such Data Errors nor did it say that it was “unable to scan some files”.

I do a boot scan very rarely, just to make sure. It’s not something I do regularly. Was this just a benign glitch, was it bcs of the Exceptions (but why didn't it make problems yesterday, in that case?) or should I do something about it?

Offline DavidR

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Re: Boot Scan Error 0xC000009C {STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR}
« Reply #1 on: June 29, 2022, 12:10:41 PM »
The most scary part is that bloody icon - Files that can't be scanned are just that, not an indication they are suspicious/infected, just unable to be scanned.

Some programs (usually security based ones) password protect their files for legitimate reasons, there are others (and avast doesn't know the password or have any way of using it even if it did know it).  Some archive files can't be extracted to be scanned, so will be recorded as 'unable to be scanned'

I'm not entirely sure if the exceptions you set in normal windows usage are also skipped in the boot-time scan, but if they are then I wouldn't expect them to be reported as unable to be scanned.

I rarely do on-demand scans including a boot-time scan, any 'active files' would be scanned by the on-access scanner File Shield.

You could try looking in the boot-time scan log file.
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Offline nickha

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Re: Boot Scan Error 0xC000009C {STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR}
« Reply #2 on: June 30, 2022, 09:17:32 PM »
I’m sorry, my native language is not English. When you say “The most scary part is that bloody icon”, do you mean it for real – that it’s something I should be worried about, or as an irony – that the whole thing is not scary?

I looked at the boot time scan log file, but it says nothing more specific than in my first post:
06/29/2022 07:20
Scan of C:

Scan of *STARTUP

File C:\Program Files\AVAST Software\Avast\setup\part-prg_ais-1605177f.vpx Error 0xC000009C {STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR}
Number of searched folders: 31951
Number of tested files: 197767
Number of infected files: 0




Offline DavidR

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Re: Boot Scan Error 0xC000009C {STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR}
« Reply #3 on: June 30, 2022, 10:43:05 PM »
Yes, I meant that for real.  The icon is what made you think there was a problem, yes ?

As I said " Files that can't be scanned are just that, not an indication they are suspicious/infected, just unable to be scanned."
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Offline nickha

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Re: Boot Scan Error 0xC000009C {STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR}
« Reply #4 on: July 01, 2022, 09:05:41 AM »
Ok, so I tried everything I could, and it didn’t work. I found a 2008 response of yours on the net (see below) quoted on another forum, so I deleted all quarantined items in Malwarebytes and Avast itself, and I abolished all Exceptions. It still said:

File C:\Program Files\AVAST Software\Avast\setup\part-prg_ais-1605177f.vpx Error 0xC000009C {STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR}

Then I followed the part of your 2008 response that read:
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.

The error notification appears right at the beginning, while Avast is scanning itself in Program Files – more specifically, the part-prg_ais-1605177f.vpx file. The reason provided is Error 0xC000009C {STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR}.

#1
I looked up online:
https://forums.techguy.org/threads/0xc000009c-status-device-data-error.1151939/
and found that Error 0xC000009C “usually indicates bad blocks or sectors on the hard drive and it indicates that the requested data could not be found”. The solution suggested was to run a CHKDSK.
To this, the questioner responded: ‘I ran CHKDSK and it found nothing wrong
But when I run Avast Security Startup Scan I get the following:
C:\Program Files\AVAST Software\Avast\setup\part-prg_ais-8af.vpx Erreur 0xC000009C {STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR}’

Now, I (nickha) am afraid to run a chkdsk, because I’m not tech savvy and apparently a rookie chkdsk can cause damage:
https://www.datanumen.com/blogs/4-top-risks-when-you-run-chkdsk-on-hard-drive/
https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/chkdsk-gone-wrong.1798345/


#2
Back to https://forums.techguy.org/threads/0xc000009c-status-device-data-error.1151939/
The tech guy further asked: ‘Has it recently done an update? Are you able to update Avast's virus definitions?’
That’s where their discussion ended.

My (nickha's) Avast seems to update normally (please check below), and I updated the files needed for the Boot Time Scan without a problem.
Program version: 22.5.6015 (build 22.5.7263.730)
Virus definitions version: 220630-4
Number of definitions: 24,886,282
UI version: 1.0.711

#3
I noticed that the “setup” file in Avast Program Files is blue. So I found this info online:
“If file names or folder names show up in blue, it is because file compression or encryption is enabled on that file or folder. Windows automatically compresses files that do not get used frequently, and displays those files in blue.”

In conclusion:
I don’t know what to make of all this. So, basically, Avast is unable to scan some of its own files? And it has to do with updates? Or with a hard drive problem? Or because Windows compressed Avast’s files on my computer? But if the whole Setup folder (and all its contents) is blue, why is Avast unable to scan specifically the part-prg_ais-1605177f.vpx file? What is that file for? If I google search it, it shows only my own question on this forum.

I am sorry, I have a feeling I’m making a fool of myself, and taking your time, but as I said, I am really not tech savvy and I had a strange CardStealer attempt recently:
https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=319977.0

What can I do to resolve this? Does it need to be resolved? Please don’t answer cryptically. With all this info, is it possible that Avast’s own files - those that Avast is unable to scan - might be somehow infected, or is this possibility excluded now and it's simply because they are compressed ? Thank you very much for your time.

Here is your 2008 response in full:
https://www.dell.com/community/Virus-Spyware/AVAST-UNable-to-scan/td-p/3151595
Here is a response from DavidR of the avast! forum [where this question has been asked a few times before], interspersed with a few comments of my own:
Many programs (usually security based ones... such as AdAware and Spybot Search & Destroy) password protect their files for legitimate reasons [to try to protect these files against being tampered-with by malware, or accidentally erased by the user].... (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 [backup] copy is kept (in quarantine/vault/restore) in case you need to reverse what you did. These are usually password protected [to keep the virus/malware from further infecting your system];...    [if you wish] you (c)ould 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.

Files that can't be scanned are just that, not an indication they are suspicious/infected, just unable to be scanned.

Offline Pondus

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Re: Boot Scan Error 0xC000009C {STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR}
« Reply #5 on: July 01, 2022, 11:58:41 AM »

Offline nickha

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Re: Boot Scan Error 0xC000009C {STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR}
« Reply #6 on: July 01, 2022, 12:14:48 PM »
Thank you very much. But I am confused because the files that Avast can't scan, in this case, are Avast's own files, not some random png file. The .vpx file that cannot be scanned is within Avast's own Setup folder.

How can Avast not be able to scan its own file? I understand everything that DavidR and the blog you provide have written, but it does look like a strange glitch in Avast itself. Why would DavidR otherwise say it was really scary (as he did in his first response)? That is why I asked him to confirm if he meant it seriously, and he responded that he meant it for real.

Offline Pondus

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Re: Boot Scan Error 0xC000009C {STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR}
« Reply #7 on: July 01, 2022, 02:39:59 PM »
Quote
Why would DavidR otherwise say it was really scary (as he did in his first response)?
The message is the scary part, not the issue itselfe

Quote
How can Avast not be able to scan its own file?
The file may be highly compressed so the scan engine will not unpack and scan it

Files that can not be scanned is normal, happens to all scanners but all scanners does not report it because it is not something normal users need to know ... it is geek stuff



Offline DavidR

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Re: Boot Scan Error 0xC000009C {STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR}
« Reply #8 on: July 01, 2022, 05:51:11 PM »
Please excuse the delay in a response I have been out for some time.

I think you may have found your answer in your reply:
Quote from: nickha
“If file names or folder names show up in blue, it is because file compression or encryption is enabled on that file or folder. Windows automatically compresses files that do not get used frequently, and displays those files in blue.”

This broadly falls in line with what I said before:
Quote from: DavidR
Some programs (usually security based ones) password protect their files for legitimate reasons, there are others (and avast doesn't know the password or have any way of using it even if it did know it).  Some archive files can't be extracted to be scanned, so will be recorded as 'unable to be scanned'

If Windows has compressed and password protected/encrypted the file/s (to save space) then Avast won't know those passwords and can't extract the compressed password protected file/s content to scan it.

I'm thinking ahead here:
If windows has compressed and password protected the avast file how can avast use it.  The is going to be a balancing act, if a file that had been previously been compressed and pw protected, if a program uses it then when the call is made to use if windows would have to open it, but an external scan attempt isn't trying to run it as such.

Here is where it becomes difficult:
VPS files (Virus Pattern Signatures), usually a .vpx file type, in normal windows boot are protected by the Avast Self Defence module and I have no idea why Windows Compression would be getting involved here as these are usually updated regularly even they may well be large, but they are generally active.  So why would Windows be getting involved in trying to compress these files, that are in what I would consider regular use.

I never allow windows to try and save space (compress and encrypt, etc), generally I'm never short of space I am pretty strict on what I install on my system, so I have never come across issues from Windows automatically compresses files that do not get used frequently.

My personal thoughts would be if you haven't got a serious problem with space I wouldn't use the
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Offline DavidR

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Re: Boot Scan Error 0xC000009C {STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR}
« Reply #9 on: July 01, 2022, 06:02:44 PM »
Following on from your other replies:
Thank you very much. But I am confused because the files that Avast can't scan, in this case, are Avast's own files, not some random png file. The .vpx file that cannot be scanned is within Avast's own Setup folder.

How can Avast not be able to scan its own file? I understand everything that DavidR and the blog you provide have written, but it does look like a strange glitch in Avast itself. Why would DavidR otherwise say it was really scary (as he did in his first response)? That is why I asked him to confirm if he meant it seriously, and he responded that he meant it for real.

As explained in my previous reply, they have been compressed, encrypted/password protected by WINDOWS, Avast doesn't know the compression/encryption method or password if applied by Windows.

Quote from: test
Why would DavidR otherwise say it was really scary (as he did in his first response)?

You are misquoting me:
I said:  "The most scary part is that bloody icon"

I also said in my second reply:  "The icon is what made you think there was a problem, yes ?"
A question which you didn't answer.

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Offline nickha

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Re: Boot Scan Error 0xC000009C {STATUS_DEVICE_DATA_ERROR}
« Reply #10 on: July 01, 2022, 07:22:25 PM »
Yes, my fault. I misunderstood DavidR's remark.

First of all, thank you both so much for these answers.

One final question: how can I stop Windows from compressing/encrypting these files in Avast (and generally)? I didn't set it willingly to do so, and I have no shortage of space; I just never knew this was a thing.

Offline DavidR

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