Windows 10: Why does a Microsoft Safety Scan, in progress, show “65 infected files” and “no viruses...

Help me understand the results. I was using Microsoft Safety Scan 1.395.1065.0 to scan my computer and over 2 million files were scanned. Periodically I check the progress of the scan and noted that 65 files were infected. When the scan was complete a message appeared noting that “The scan completed successfully and no virus, spyware, and potentially unwanted software were detected”. I ran the scan a second time got the same results - 65 infected files. So why did the scan results note that no virus, spyware, and potentially unwanted software were detected but during the re-scanning process t

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Safety Quick scan shows 4 files infected while running,

Safety Scan detects 4 infected files while running, then when the scan is completed there is a message that no viruses, spyware or other potentially unwanted software was detected. How can I remove the troyan viruses? Thanks.

 

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.

 

MSERT scanned 23 files infected, viruses/malware

If the Microsoft Safety Scanner shows clean (no detections found) when finished, then it's most likely that MSERT suspected a possible threat during the scan, displayed it as such (infected files) but determined the file(s) were not an actual confirmed threat(s) upon completion.

Keep in mind that Microsoft Safety Scanner (MSERT) is intended to be a supplement to an existing anti-virus program (not a replacement).