Windows 10: Microsoft Safety Scanner 64-bit scanning showing 164 infected files however final scan...

I just ran the second scan of "Microsoft Safety Scanner 64-bit" on my computer full scan which is about 17 hours scanning process long.While it is scanning, the popup windows count says it has found a 164 detected infected files up until the near end however as soon as the scanning process finishes, it says 0 infected files found and the scanning report doesn't say much...I am infected with a virus that deleted the scan results and stopped the cleaning process? %SYSTEMROOT%\debug\msert.log---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Microsoft Safet

:)

 

Microsoft Safety Scanner > Files Infected count

There's a bit of a UX problem with the scanner. As it is running it may encounter files that are suspected of being infected but indicate a count as: "Files Infected: XX"

This suggests the files are infected and apparently no list of these potentially infected files are provided.

1. Change the label to "Possible Infected Files"
   
2. Write to the msert log the list of possibly infected files for further review/action.
   

I say this as I let the tool run for over 3 hours, racking up over 20 "Files Infected". My computer was disconnected from the Internet during the scan. So I was surprised that the files in question were somehow "cleared" despite a lack of Internet connection.

From the log:

Results Summary:

----------------

No infection found.

Failed to submit MAPS report: 0x80072EE7

Failed to submit clean hearbeat MAPS report: 0x80072EE7

Microsoft Safety Scanner Finished On Sun Apr 30 13:20:56 2023

If the suspected files couldn't be submitted, then how were they cleared? Which files were suspected?

I appreciate the tool just cannot trust the results.

 

Microsoft Safety Scanner 32-bit or 64-bit

In a thread about changing the default search engine, there is a reference to going to the Microsoft Safety Scanner, downloading it and running a system scan. However at the page for the scanner

Microsoft Safety Scanner Download

It clearly states there are two versions (32-bit & 64-bit) of the scanner. How do we know which we should use for our system?

Since I KNOW there is either a virus or malware in my system causing constant issues, I need to run this scan and remove the issue so it is rather urgent for me to get this done therefore I am rather in a hurry to get an answer to this question of which
Safety Scanner to download, 32-bit or 64-bit.

Thank you!

I am running Windows 10

Office 365 Home

 

Microsoft Safety Scanner finds 19 infections but reports clean

I'm running Windows 11 Home and downloaded Microsoft Safety Scanner (MSS) 1.379.184.0 today. I ran MSS twice using the full scan option. Each run took over an hour. The first time, it indexed the "Files Infected" counter up to 19 before completing scanning >2,400,000 files. Then it showed a final screen with zero infections.

I ran it again and had exactly the same result: the "Full scan in progress" screen showed a counter that incremented up to 19 files infected, but the final screen shows zero. Here's the message on the final screen:

"The scan completed successfully and no viruses, spyware, and other potentially unwanted software were detected."

Both times, the final log file also shows no infections. See below.

Does that mean it found and fixed 19 problems, or found nothing, or aborted the disinfection process with 19 problems still on the drive?

What would you recommend doing next?

Thank you.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft Safety Scanner v1.379, (build 1.379.184.0)
Started On Fri Nov 11 11:20:30 2022

Engine: 1.1.19800.4
Signatures: 1.379.184.0
MpGear: 1.1.16330.1
Run Mode: Interactive Graphical Mode

Results Summary:
----------------
No infection found.
Successfully Submitted MAPS Report
Successfully Submitted Heartbeat Report
Microsoft Safety Scanner Finished On Fri Nov 11 12:25:35 2022

Return code: 0 (0x0)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft Safety Scanner v1.379, (build 1.379.184.0)
Started On Fri Nov 11 12:30:42 2022

Engine: 1.1.19800.4
Signatures: 1.379.184.0
MpGear: 1.1.16330.1
Run Mode: Interactive Graphical Mode

Results Summary:
----------------
No infection found.
Successfully Submitted MAPS Report
Successfully Submitted Heartbeat Report

Return code: 0 (0x0)