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Bemused
Former Member
Message 1 of 17

Virus Scan Freezes

Greetings from Britain - the home of Royal romance!!!

Can you please give me some advice on this.

Last week I ran a manual scan which worked fine, showed no infections or problems but seemed to take a long time (certainly longer than a scheduled scan).

Today I ran another manual scan which froze at 1% after scanning about 3,000 files. I looked on this forum and noticed others with similar complaints.

I decided to run the scan again and this time it got to 40% before it appeared to stop working (on a different file completely). I left it alone and, after 10 minutes or so, it started up again and completed the scan - again with no issues or problems.

Can I ask why is it freezing like this? Obviously I can't rule out the possibility of a virus but I'm normally pretty careful and there is no evidence of one.

However, there is evidence of problems with other McAfee users, so is this a McAfee problem?

The current version of McAfee does not have a particularly good track record in my experience. The automatic updater clearly doesn't work unless you leave the computer alone for 10 minutes (something I rarely do) so I have to manually update each day which is a right royal pain.

Is it possible the scan is now being halted by other activity on the computer? When I run a manual scan, I tend to leave the computer to its own devices until it finishes in about an hour. Is it possible the automatic updater is interrupting it and that's why it stalls for 10 minutes?

I have recently installed Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 and the latest iTunes but there appears to be no problems with either.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

My details are as follows:

Windows Vista Home Premium 32bit SP2

Security Center 10.5

Virus Scan 14.5

Dat 6170

Firewall 11.5

Anti Spam 11.5

Parental Controls 12.5

Cheers

Bemused

16 Replies
Bemused
Former Member
Message 2 of 17

Re: Virus Scan Freezes

sorry guys - is anyone there???? any advice is appreciated.

Bemused
Former Member
Message 3 of 17

Re: Virus Scan Freezes

Slight update to my situation. Tried to run several manual scans last night and all of them froze around 1% after 3107 files.  It was the same file  - I think something to do with Office 2010 Professional Plus but can't be 100% sure. I installed that recently but as it was downloaded direct through Microsoft I doubt there was a virus attached.

I then tried a scheduled scan by changing my settings. This time the Virus Scan kicked into life at the appropriate time and went past the 3107 mark. It stalled slightly around 7,000 files and again around 80,000 (40%) but after I didn't touch the mouse for sometime it started up again and finished the scan with no problems (although it took the best part of 2 hours when it used to take an hour).

As I said before I'm not ruling out the possibility of a virus but I'm reluctant to start taking drastic measures without some response from McAfee.

For starters, the only thing currently affected is McAfee itself. Everything else is working fine. Even McAfee is downloading and installing its updates fine, although the other day I did get a message come up saying installation error on one DAT update (it corrected itself second time around).

At the start of the month I had a major update to Security Center, so I'm wondering if that has anything to do with it.

I've had a trawl through all the past threads on this forum and I see a lot of similar issues.

I'd like to know if this is a McAfee problem and also if I'm protected properly. It's very difficult to know what to trust at the moment.

k3tg
Reliable Contributor
Reliable Contributor
Message 4 of 17

Re: Virus Scan Freezes

I am only a volunteer here and don't have a lot of time to help as much as I would like to but I will offer you a couple of things to try.

First of all I would suggest you see this document from McAfee as it may have some suggestions to help   please be sure to run the McAfee Stinger scan which is included in the link.

You may also want to try to run the McAfee Virtual Technician which is found at the top of this page under Useful Links under Technical Support. MVT will scan your computer for any McAfee related issues and if it finds any it will attempt to fix them for you. You could also contact Technical Support Chat which is free and if necessary provided you give them permission to do so they could remote connect into your computer to see if they could find any conflicts which might be preventing your computer from completing the scan.

If none of the suggestions work in the link try this free program http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php after installation check for the latest updates and run the program and let it clean everything it finds and reboot the computer if necessary. You may also want to do the same for this program as well www.superantispyware.com

Another suggestion is to try to reinstall the software by removing it via Add/Remove programs and reboot the computer. Then go to Useful Links and run the MCPR removal tool which will remove any remaining traces of the software that didn't completely get removed from the normal uninstall and reboot again. Then login to your online McAfee account and download and install your software again and see if the issue has been corrected

Let us know if this works for you as some of the other moderators may chime in and offer something additional to help you and good luck.

Bemused
Former Member
Message 5 of 17

Re: Virus Scan Freezes

Apologies - see post below. Got two versions of it. Not from my home computer I hasten to add, so nothing to do with a virus!!!

Message was edited by: Bemused on 20/11/10 12:23:54 CST
Bemused
Former Member
Message 6 of 17

Re: Virus Scan Freezes

Thank you Tom for your suggestions - I have seen you give this advice to others.

I will have a look at it over the next week.

I am not particularly computer literate and very hesitant to tinker with my settings unless necessary.

I suppose my hope (or cynicism) was that this was a McAfee problem. The scheduled scan worked (albeit slowly) so I was still clinging on to the belief that my system hasn't been infected.

I also don't believe the current version of McAfee is particularly reliable. I thought there was something wrong with my computer when the auto updater failed to work a few weeks back but then I was told others have the same issue and the only feasible workaround was to manually update.

Now I see on this forum several threads (both past and present) with similar problems to me about the Virus Scan being slow or freezing. So you can see why I am a little sceptical.

However, I accept it will probably do no harm to have some sort of software to kill off any spyware/malware.

Before I download everything, can I confirm a few things please. Firstly, will the Stinger, Malwarebytes and Anti Spy software conflict with my current McAfee. Secondly, can I keep it on the system or does it have to be uninstalled after I have finished with it. And if it does stay on the system should I perform regular updates like I do with McAfee.

Apologies if these questions are stupid but I'm trying to cover all bases. Also, I get the right jitters when I see instructions like turn off System Restore which will wipe out all previous entries.

Again, any advice is greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Bemused

Peacekeeper
Message 7 of 17

Re: Virus Scan Freezes

Be nice to have the name of the files it is freezing on.

Some answers

Malwarebytes and superantispyware are ok to leave on your PC provided you do not purchase them and thus activate their real time scanner which will clash with Mcafee.

I use them as well as an adjunct to Mcafee as all scanner do not cover 100% of threats.

The scanner freezes on ZIP files, any large files ie 1-4Gb ones. It is hoped that the new 2011 version being released to we beta testers next week has a faster scanner though the speed here is not the issue more the locking up.

If possible try

custom scan and set to scan  Program files and docs only and exclude compressed files does it run ok?

Message was edited by: Peacekeeper on 22/11/10 6:38:11 AM
Bemused
Former Member
Message 8 of 17

Re: Virus Scan Freezes

Hi Tony

Ran another manual scan tonight. Got stuck on two files but left it alone for a while and the scan completed fine - albeit taking longer than usual.

The two stoppages were:

After 1% this file:

C:\...\ProPrWW.cab

And after 41% this file:

C:\Users...\OWP65A6.tmp\ProPlusr.WW\ProPrWW2.cab

As I say I left the computer alone and it restarted the scan and finished with no issues/problems/viruses etc.

I am up to date with Windows and McAfee.

I have just installed Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus via Microsoft's Home Use Program and I also installed the latest iTunes a couple of weeks back, so I expected the scan to take a bit longer due to the increase in files.

But I am now thinking the size of the Office files is maybe causing the lock-up. Does this sound feasible? I previously believed it was freezing permanently but the scheduled scan got to the end and now the manual scan has done the same once I left it alone.

I freely admit I may be being impatient and it just needs time to navigate the bigger files but I'd appreciate your feedback.

Thanks very much for your assistance

Bemused

Peacekeeper
Message 9 of 17

Re: Virus Scan Freezes

Those files are only 124 and 148MB so google says. Big files are 1gb +.  Also are they necessary they are install files so does moving them off disk say to a usb stop Office working?

Try that and if office still fine maybe store them offline.

Try the custom scan as suggested and see how it goes

Message was edited by: Peacekeeper on 21/11/10 12:13:21 PM
Bemused
Former Member
Message 10 of 17

Re: Virus Scan Freezes

Thanks Peacekeeper. I will have a play over the next few days. At least it appears as if the problem is with the new version of Office and not a virus as I first feared.

Thank you very much for your help. I will keep you posted.

Bemused

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