Question about msert

Question

I had a problem with 'pc app store' and ran msert. As it was running it showed a bunch of infected files, but when it finished it's scan it told me that it had found no infected files. ???

Answer 1

Microsoft Safety Scanner (msert) can show detections during the scan but still report “no infection found” at the end in a few common situations:

1. Items detected but successfully cleaned or removed
   During the scan, msert shows each suspicious or infected file it inspects. If it is able to clean or remove all of them, the final result may indicate that no active infection remains. In other words, the intermediate messages show what was found, while the summary focuses on what is still a problem.
2. Suspicious items that are not confirmed malware
   Some items may be flagged as suspicious during scanning but not classified as confirmed malicious software in the final result. In that case, the summary can still say no infection was found.
3. Partially or fully removed infections reported differently
   The related Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT) has four possible outcomes after a run:
   • No infection was found.
   • At least one infection was found and was removed.
   • An infection was found but was not removed.
   • An infection was found and was partially removed. Microsoft recommends using an up‑to‑date antivirus product to complete removal when infections are partially removed or not removed.
4. Check the log file for the exact result
   To see precisely what msert did:
   1. Press Start and type or paste: %systemroot%\debug and press Enter.
   2. Open the file named msert (for Microsoft Safety Scanner) or mrt.log (for MSRT, if that’s what was run).
   3. Scroll to the most recent entry and review the result and any instructions.

If the log indicates infections were found but not fully removed, run a full scan again and then follow up with an up‑to‑date antivirus product (such as Microsoft Defender) to ensure the system is clean.

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References:

• Antivirus and antimalware software: FAQ
• Remove specific prevalent malware with Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool (KB890830)
• How to troubleshoot an error when you run the Microsoft Safety Scanner
• How to troubleshoot an error when you run the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool

Answer 2

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