Sometimes you get to the end of your virus clean cycle and you tell the cleaner program to fix everything and it will say "file cannot be cleaned" ... this can mean all kinds of things but one of the most common is if it is part of an archive of some kind.
Most of us are using the Windows System Restore settings which automatically create a full backup of your hard drive on a periodic basis. If you happen to have some Trojan running on your machine when this restore archive is created, the virus cleaner programs will find the file and identify it but be unable to delete it.
The way to tell if this is your situation is by the file location. Every cleaner program will identify the file it is flagging and intending to fix. If it is inside your system restore it will look something like this:
C:/Windows/System32/Restore/12F3so4efffw
This filename will be different on varying installations and running different operating systems, but in general it will be a file mentioning the Restore and showing some archive-type filename.
If this is similar to your uncleanable file, the way to fix the situation is the turn off System Restore, restart your machine, then turn System Restore on once again to resume normal operations. This will flush all previous restore points and set you moving forward clean from today.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
You must be logged in as an Administrator to do this. If you are not logged in as an Administrator, the System Restore tab will not be displayed.
Turning off System Restore will clear out all previous restore points.
To turn off Windows XP System Restore:
NOTE: These instructions assume that you are using the default Windows XP Start Menu and have not changed to the Classic Start menu. To re-enable the default menu, right-click Start, click Properties, click Start menu (not Classic) and then click OK.
1. Click Start.
2. Right-click the My Computer icon, and then click Properties.
3. Click the System Restore tab.
4. Check "Turn off System Restore" or "Turn off System Restore on all drives" as shown in this illustration:
5. Click Apply.
6. When turning off System Restore, the existing restore points will be deleted. Click Yes to do this.
7. Click OK.
8. Proceed with what you need to do; for example, virus removal. When you have finished, restart the computer and follow the instructions in the next section to turn on System Restore.
To turn on Windows XP System Restore:
1. Click Start.
2. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
3. Click the System Restore tab.
4. Uncheck "Turn off System Restore" or "Turn off System Restore on all drives."
5. Click Apply, and then click OK.
Here are the instructions for Vista. Win 7 is basically the same.
To turn off Windows Vista System Restore:
1. Click Start.
2. Right-click the Computer icon, and then click Properties.
3. Click on System Protection under the Tasks column on the left side
4. Click on Continue on the "User Account Control" window that pops up
5. Under the System Protection tab, find Available Disks
6. Uncheck the box for any drive you wish to disable system restore on
7. When turning off System Restore, the existing restore points will be deleted. Click "Turn System Restore Off" on the popup window to do this.
8. Click OK
9. When you have finished, restart the computer and follow the instructions in the next section to turn on System Restore.
To turn on Windows Vista System Restore:
1. Click Start.
2. Right-click the Computer icon, and then click Properties.
3. Click on System Protection under the Tasks column on the left side
4. Click on Continue on the "User Account Control" window that pops up
5. Under the System Protection tab, find Available Disks
6. Place a checkmark in the box for any drive you wish to enable System Restore on
7. Click OK
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