Scanning of archived files

[Johnboy]

Hi everyone.
As a complete newby and less than well-versed in computer nous, I downloaded the Avast programme on recommendation!
 
I have a complete trust, so far, in Avast and its capabilities to come through with the business... Found 4 virus/worms of the win32.sober kind and Trojano. 620 on my first pass with it and has prevented 8 infected EMails from doing their damage - win32. sober1 yet again.  These were from obscure addresses, but some were reputable ie. Tesco and I have never dealt with any of them??

My problem is this -  >:(I am given the message after archive scan that my Archived files cannot be scanned as they are "password" protected. I haven't protected anything - can anybody give me some help, please.
I would like to see if anything is sinister in the locked away stuff and would be grateful for any advice.
Many thanks.
Johnboy  

[DavidR]

There is nothing sinister, some programs protect their files by password, Spybot S&D is just one. Since avast doesn't know the password, it is letting you know.

It would be helpful if you gave us the path to some of the protected files.

[Johnboy]

Thanks for the input David I'll look at the results and post them tomorrow.
Thanks again.
Regards