When scanning, it gets stuck on....

[sunsets]

Windows Vista SP1. Avast Free HE, Malwarebytes', and Super Antispyware FE. All have the latest updates.

Today, when scanning, it is stuck on C:\Program...\Microsoft Office Activation Assistant.res. IOW, it won't get past it. I checked log viewer. For yesterday, under warning, it says System 1636 Function setiface Update Packages () has f....  There is nothing for today. I paused the scan, waited a few minutes, and still stuck. I rebooted my computer and tried again. It still stuck.

I have a trial version of Microsoft Office on my computer. I did a google search and found I could delete Microsoft Office Activation Assistant. Since it has never been stuck on it before, why today?

[Lisandro]

Since it has never been stuck on it before, why today?

Maybe an avast false positive
To know if a file is a false positive, please submit it to VirusTotal and let us know the result. If it is indeed a false positive, send it in a password protected zip to virus@avast.com. VirusTotal has a file size limit of 10Mb. Please, mention in the body of the message why you think it is a false positive and the password used. Thanks.

[sunsets]

If it is a FP, wouldn't I get a pop up warning window? I have in the past with FPs.

I looked in the Microsoft Office Activation Assistant folder and didn't find anything pertaining to res. Since I can't find res, I can't send the whole MOAA folder to Virus Total since it's too big.

[Lisandro]

If it is a FP, wouldn't I get a pop up warning window? I have in the past with FPs.

Yes, my fault... maybe the file is crashing the scanning by another reason...
Is there any other info into avast logs?

[DavidR]

I don't believe it is an FP as you say there is no alert just the scan getting stuck.

Often the last recorded file isn't the problem but the next one in order, same folder next in alphabetic order, though I'm not sure if avast sticks strictly to this scenario.

Are there any very large files in that folder, such as .cab or other archive files, etc. ?

I don't think that the error in the log viewer is related to this particular problem, but if avast did happen to check for updates whilst a scan was under way it is possible that your CPU and RAM would be working overtime.

What sensitivity was the scan you made (Standard is the default) and did you elect to scan archives ?

If you tried a Thorough scan or elected to scan archives, try a Standard scan without archives.

[wyrmrider]

does a boot time scan complete?

[sunsets]

I used Standard Scan with Scan Archive Files enabled.  I always update before I scan.

After reading David's message, I did a Thorough Scan with Scan Archive Files enabled. I didn't have a problem. After it finished, I did a Standard Scan with Scan Archive Files enabled again. I didn't have a problem.

I don't know what happened. When it's scanning, I'm not doing anything else on the computer. If it happens again, I'll keep on trying before I ask for help.

Thank you Tech and David for taking the time to help.

[sunsets]

does a boot time scan complete?

I've never been able to get a boot time scan to complete. It turns off my computer.

[wyrmrider]

Hmmmm
interesting
perhaps one of the avast insiders will want to look at your logs

32 bit or 64 bit vista?

[sunsets]

Hmmmm
interesting
perhaps one of the avast insiders will want to look at your logs

32 bit or 64 bit vista?

I'm using 32 bit. I've mentioned not being able to do a boot scan before, in another thread. I did a search for it, but I can't find it. I'm probably not searching right. If I remember correctly, someone suggested it could be my hard drive, even though I've had my computer since June. I've tried doing a boot scan twice, and it always shuts down.

Thank you wyrmrider for your help, too.

[igor]

If your computer shuts down (powers off) during a boot-time scan, it's a hardware problem.
Could be a problem with the hard disk, possibly also overheating of the CPU or memory modules... hard to say.

[wyrmrider]

well try the fan trick
have you tried safe mode? that would get rid of all other software running
I think you have already tried with archeves off
another thing I've seen is large old quarantine files from like Norton which can be huge or files from programs like Downloadexpress plus which saves huge encrypted adwarefiles on your hardrive.
These can stall a system
also if the system runs out of memory for temp files (if used) this can hang a system but I think we would have seen some evidence of this

[sunsets]

Thank you both. I run a hardware diagnostics tool once a month, and a problem is never found.

My computer's Window's Experience Index Score is 3.0, with Processor 4.8 calculations per second, Memory 4.7 memory operations per second, Graphics 3.5 desktop performance for Windows Aero, Gaming graphics 3.0 3D gaming and business graphics performance, Primary hard disk 5.7 primary disk data transfer rate.

I don't play games online. I only use my computer for e-mail, a few BBs, a few web sites, word processing (all files are transferred to DVDs), and iTunes.

My C Drive has 357 GB free (70%) of 456 GB. HP's Factory Image is on Drive D has 1.26 GB free (10%) of 9.0 GB.

[igor]

The thing is that a full disk scan is quite an intensive process. The problems may not be revealed during a diagnostics (what kind of diagnostic tool is it anyway?), and things like browsing, e-mail, office stuff don't stress the computer much. A long scan, however, is a bigger stress-test for the system...

[sunsets]

Thank you. It's probably too much stress.  The diagnostic tool is a HP program that came with my computer. It says it's powered by PC Doctor.