Application cannot be executed file is infected

Application cannot be executed file is infected

Maybe you are not checking on the right location that’s why you cannot find the source of the infection. Here’s a little explanation why sometimes your antivirus can’t find the original source and will only start detecting once the virus starts moving or spreading. All antivirus are capable of running full system scan on the computer.

This involves scanning of all connected hard drives and removable drives like USB flash drive, CD, DVD, and so on. When you start a full system scan, the antivirus has already a preset on where to begin the checking and what locations to check. Obviously, ordinary users will think that every single location in the hard drive will be checked thoroughly because that’s what full system scan is for.

But they didn’t know that there is one spot in the hard drive that is automatically exempted from being scanned. The folder’s name is called System Volume Information. You can find it at the root of every drive. This is hidden so you really won’t see it immediately. It is a hidden system folder.

I don’t know if all or most antivirus programs are also like this but this is what I noticed with NIS or Norton Internet Security. NIS, by default, exempts this folder from any kind of scan whether real time or the custom scan. I don’t know what the reason is but as with my experience with different viruses, this folder is the main target of most virus especially Trojan horses.

I think the reason why this is the favorite spot is that this folder holds all the restore points or the restore information of the operating system. And when a virus infects it, the restore information is modified and damaged so it will no longer be possible to restore the computer to its previous state.

So what you can do to check if this folder or the files inside are infected, open Windows Explorer, click Tools, and select Folder Options. Select View tab. Browse down, select “Show hidden files and folders”, and uncheck “Hide protected operating system files [Recommended]”. Click OK. Once all files and folders are visible, go to the root of drive C, find the folder System Volume Information, right-click on it and select Scan. See image.

But most of the time, in severe cases, when this folder is heavily infected, cleaning the computer is already useless because the computer or the operating system no longer works normally. Different errors can be experienced even without doing anything. So, in your case, if you still encounter errors even after cleaning the computer your last option is to format the hard drive and install Windows again.