Advice Request Unable to open files on a lot of files when scanning.

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SumTingWong

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I am currently running ESET Internet Security trial and when I am running on demand scan ( smart scan ), I get a lot unable to open files for a lot of files when I open the scan windows.
 

RoboMan

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Totally normal. Either you weren't logged in an administrator account when you scanned, therefore you didn't have enough privileges to open a file for scanning, or the mentioned files were password protected, system files, or used by another process, so ESET couldn't decompress them. Doesn't mean infection or problem. :)
 
E

Eddie Morra

Totally normal. Either you weren't logged in an administrator account when you scanned, therefore you didn't have enough privileges to open a file for scanning, or the mentioned files were password protected, system files, or used by another process, so ESET couldn't decompress them. Doesn't mean infection or problem. :)
ESET can only be installed when you have administrator rights and it installs for all the users on the system regardless if others are standard rights or not. The ESET KM drivers will be loaded and service/s will be started at boot before sign in and thus regardless of the user account being used, ESET has the privileges it needs to do the work it'll do on any other user account.

I once used ESET for 2 years in a row and do not recall ever seeing it happen not even a single time.

OP can you give us examples of which files are being blocked from being accessed?
 

RoboMan

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Jun 24, 2016
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ESET can only be installed when you have administrator rights and it installs for all the users on the system regardless if others are standard rights or not. The ESET KM drivers will be loaded and service/s will be started at boot before sign in and thus regardless of the user account being used, ESET has the privileges it needs to do the work it'll do on any other user account.

I once used ESET for 2 years in a row and do not recall ever seeing it happen not even a single time.

OP can you give us examples of which files are being blocked from being accessed?
Despite how it installed, if an user account is standard (no administrator privileges) every action that requires elevation will prompt for it. If ESET doesn't prompt, then it doesn't scan files which require administrator permissions to read/open. And it actually does, depending on the scan. Try it on your SUA and check.

EDIT: directly from ESET support:

(15:59:18) Adrian A. said: You can perform an in-depth scan and eset will scan everything in your system. It will not ask for permission to access files and folders because it is scanning the backend

If you needed a full access to the file, then you'd get an error like the one mentioned. That's why we have the option to scan as admin.

KB2909Fig1-3c.png
 
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SumTingWong

Level 28
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Well-known
Apr 2, 2018
1,706
Totally normal. Either you weren't logged in an administrator account when you scanned, therefore you didn't have enough privileges to open a file for scanning, or the mentioned files were password protected, system files, or used by another process, so ESET couldn't decompress them. Doesn't mean infection or problem. :)
ESET can only be installed when you have administrator rights and it installs for all the users on the system regardless if others are standard rights or not. The ESET KM drivers will be loaded and service/s will be started at boot before sign in and thus regardless of the user account being used, ESET has the privileges it needs to do the work it'll do on any other user account.

I once used ESET for 2 years in a row and do not recall ever seeing it happen not even a single time.

OP can you give us examples of which files are being blocked from being accessed?
Despite how it installed, if an user account is standard (no administrator privileges) every action that requires elevation will prompt for it. If ESET doesn't prompt, then it doesn't scan files which require administrator permissions to read/open. And it actually does, depending on the scan. Try it on your SUA and check.

EDIT: directly from ESET support:

(15:59:18) Adrian A. said: You can perform an in-depth scan and eset will scan everything in your system. It will not ask for permission to access files and folders because it is scanning the backend

If you needed a full access to the file, then you'd get an error like the one mentioned. That's why we have the option to scan as admin.

I am getting bunch of unable to open files when I perform a scan on my C drive. I ran it as an admin, and there is only one account on this machine with ESET installed and that account is admin.
 
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