First, many thanks for Clamwin.

I have been having problems with random system slow downs, everything grinding to a near halt and especially ms office going into non responsive mode. I've had sessions with MS level 3 support, i've tried malware bytes and increasingly pro versions of bitdefender. Clamwin found a load of worms and trojans that neither BD nor Malware identified, and as many of them are reporting in MS office templates i am sitting here in hope this could be the breakthrough i've been looking for.


Set Up

I have read the FAQ and a few other help bits and your opening post re not scanning system files due to permission. Can't see answers to these few points.

1) 100mb limit. In the default settings there is a don't scan over and 100mb applied. Is there a particular reason for this? I've always assumed all files would be scanned.

2) File permissions. I accept what you say about system files not being scanned due to lack of permission, but can you clarify what constitutes system? Many of my skipped files are in user profiles and appdata. As this is also where the worms and trojans were found i want to be sure everything in those areas that should be scanned, is scanned. Is there a way to allow permission so that even if a file doesn't need to be scanned necessarily, it is?

3) 99% of my skipped files were permission reason, but a small group were 'invalid argument'. any ideas on that one? Example copied below. I disabled html in this post so it doesn't try and become a link.

WARNING: Can't open file C:\Users\Nick2\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\LocalLow\Microsoft\CryptnetUrlCache\Content\6BADA8974A10C4BD62CC921D13E43B18_D9817BD5013875AD517DA73475345203: Invalid argument



Again, many thanks and keep up the good work. If I can help in any way, tell me.

Nick

I don't worry about permissions, and I suggest that you don't also. There are many reasons why permissions are lacking, and most of the time it is not due to a virus/malware. Usually it is because an operating system file is in use. Windows has lots of OS files, and some are always in use.

You shouldn't normally need to scan a file that is over 100 mb in size. Most Windows viruses will be in a file that is 1 mb or less. An exception is file infecting viruses, but you can manually scan large files if you want to. Re: zipped files--a virus in a zipped file can not usually harm you unless/until you unzip it.

Don't worry about invalid argument. This is due to ClamWin not being able to process a file. If the file is invalid for ClamWin to scan, it is probably invalid for a virus/malware to use also.

Remember that ClamWin is an on-demand scanner that only scans when you tell it to or when you have scheduled a scan. The ClamWin developers recommend that you use ClamWin as backup scanner to a real-time, always on antivirus. Be sure to exclude ClamWin's quarantine and database folders from the other AVs scans--also every .exe file in the ClamWin/bin folder to minimize conflicts.

Thanks for using ClamWin!

Regards,