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I cannot download anything because of "Virus Scan Failed" error.

Anonymous
2024-12-14T18:46:57+00:00

I have read through many other people having this problem.

I do not have any Mcafee products installed, no extensions, no webadvisor. I cannot find any other 3rd party, secretly installed antivirus programs.

I have done the Chrome://Restart thing, it restarted Chrome but did not fix anything.

I have already navigated to Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\­Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Attachme­nt and swapped the 03 to a 0 to turn off virus scanning. This did not change anything.

I have tried downloading other things, doesnt work. I cannot even save a .jpg off the internet right now. This is completely ridiculous.

I need a solution and quickly! I have already wasted over an hour trying to solve this and am running out of time on a project.

Please help me out, this is completely out of the blue, everything worked fine one day and now this, and I really need to run a new application.

Thanks

edit: Forgot to mention, I did try and download using Edge. It just downloads and says "couldnt download, download error". So not useful either.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Security and privacy

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-12-20T13:18:28+00:00

    Dear Das Kommish

    Thank you for posting in the Microsoft community.

    The “Virus Scan Failed” error is usually related to a built-in security feature of Windows or some configuration conflict, which may be caused by Windows Defender (or a third-party antivirus software) or some policy in your system.

    Here are some detailed solutions that you can try step by step:

    Check and reset Windows Defender settings

    Windows Defender is an antivirus program built into Windows that may be blocking downloads.

    Steps to do this:

    1. Open the Windows Security Center:

    Press Windows + S, search for Windows Security and open it.

    1. Check the virus and threat protection settings:

    Click Virus and Threat Protection > Manage Settings.

    Temporarily turn off real-time protection and cloud-provided protection.

    1. Test downloads:

    After turning it off, try downloading the file again.

    If it succeeds, the issue is with Windows Defender and you can re-enable the protection after the download is complete.

    Empty browser cache and reset browser

    Browser cache or configuration issues may also cause downloads to fail.

    Chrome reset steps:

    1. Open Chrome and click the three-dot menu in the top right corner > Settings.
    2. Slide to the bottom and click Reset Settings > Restore Settings to Default.
    3. Clear your cache:

    Press Ctrl + Shift + Delete, select All Time, check Cached images and files, and then click Clear data.

    Edge browser reset steps:

    1. Open Edge, click the three-dot menu in the upper-right corner > Settings.
    2. Click Privacy, Search and Services, and scroll down to Clear Browsing Data.
    3. Click Clear data now, select All time, and check all the options.

    Disclaimer: Your browser automatically saves temporary internet files to help pages load faster. Clearing this cache will sometimes fix page display problems. Please back up all your personal files first, such as Favorites, to ensure you do not lose data.

    Check the registry (you've already tried this, but need to confirm)

    You have already mentioned modifying the registry, but make sure the following steps have been done correctly:

    1. Press Windows + R, type regedit and press Enter.
    2. Navigate to the following path:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Attachments

    1. Locate the ScanWithAntiVirus key:

    If it does not exist, right-click on a blank space and select New > DWORD (32-bit) value named ScanWithAntiVirus.

    Set the value to 1 or 0 (0 is to turn off virus scanning).

    1. Restart your computer and test the download

    Disclaimer: Modifying the registry or workgroups is usually geared towards advanced users, administrators, and IT professionals, and it can help fix some problems, however, improper registry modifications can cause serious problems. Therefore, please make sure to strictly follow the steps below. For further protection, make a backup of the registry before modifying it. For more information on how to backup and restore the registry ref:

     How to back up and restore the registry in Windows - Microsoft Support

    Check system files and settings

    Corrupted system files may cause download problems. Use the following command to repair system files:

    Procedure:

    1. Press Windows + S, search for Command Prompt, right-click and select Run as administrator.
    2. Run the following command:

    sfc /scannow

    This will scan and repair the corrupted system files.

    1. If the problem persists, run the following command:

    DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

    This will repair the system image.

    Test that the download is back to normal.

    Checking for Third-Party Software Conflicts

    Even if you don't have McAfee installed, there may be other third-party software (Norton, Kaspersky, third-party VPNs, download managers, or firewalls) interfering with your downloads, so you'll need to remove them manually.

    Checking for disk errors

    A cyclic redundancy check error may indicate a problem with the hard disk that prevents the file from being saved correctly.

    Procedure:

    1. Open a command prompt (run as administrator).
    2. Type the following command and press Enter:

    chkdsk C: /f /r

    You will be prompted to check the disk at the next boot, type Y and restart the computer.

    Best Wish

    Shawn.Z-MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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