Moving unscannable files to chest

[RF]

Hello -

Whenever I do a scan I get an error message that Avast couldn't scan certain files. When I check the Avast box to see what they are, there are probably hundreds of files listed, each with the comment "Archive is password protected". The path is C:\System Volume Information\_restore{2E2....and so on}. They are Adobe files and since flash is the only Adobe product I use, I think this occurs because I recently caught them trying to install an installer on a flash upgrade, so I aborted the procedure, and then did a system restore to take me back prior to the event. When I do a boot-time scan, the results are normal and apparently everything is scanned, since there is no error message.

In the Avast box where these files are listed, there is a place in the lower right for the user to select how to treat these files. Assuming it doesn't create system stability issues, I'd like to put them in the chest, but since they are not flagged as infected, there is no option to use that feature. How can I get rid of these files so that when I do a scan they don['t appear in the results?   

Thanks in advance.

Avast Free 6.0.1289/ XPpro

[DavidR]

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

However, this isn't a general rule when it comes to restore points:
Infected/Suspect Restore Points - There really is little benefit in chasing a detection in the system volume information folder. It is only there because it had previously been deleted or moved from the system folders and this is a back-up created by system restore.
 
- Worst case scenario it isn't infected/suspect and you delete it; you can't use that restore point in the future, not much of a loss and the older the restore point is the less of an issue it is.
 
- So if there is any suspicion about a restore point then it is best removed from the system volume information folder or it could bite you in the rear at some point in the future when you use system restore if it included that restore point.

[RF]

I removed all but the last restore point and then rescanned - first with a quick scan, and then with a full scan. Removing the old restore points using the GUI (C-Cleaner, in this instance) does not get rid of these files. After a quick scan they don't appear, but after the full scan, my normal scanning mode, they do appear.

Setting Windows Explorer to show the operating system files doesn't bring them up. Even with full administrator rights the OS threw up a warning and moreover didn't even show them.

So, at the moment, the offenders, benign or not, seem to be hard-wired into the results of every scan.

[Pondus]

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Delete-a-restore-point

XP
http://windowxptutortips.blogspot.com/2006/07/how-to-delete-system-restore-points.html

[RF]

Thanks Pondus, running Disk Cleanup with the option to remove all but the last restore point fixed the problem. Apparently, there is "fake restore point removal" and "real restore point removal". In this case, real restore point removal was required.

It's been awhile since Microsoft took a couple of hours of my life away. I was about due.