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/3151595Here 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.