Qtined files may be interfering w/ back up - can I just delete?

[liber8ed1 0]

Been trying for days to create a back up and it keeps failing.  According to this page https://www.pagestart.com/win7br0x8100003701.html  the issue can sometimes be caused by quarantined files created by the antivirus program.  I have located the quarantined files from my ESET Internet Security (it's crazy that they are tucked away somewhere in the app data and not accessible from the ESET program itself!) and wanted to know if there would be any problem with  me just deleting those files?  I really need to get this backup done since my HD is getting flaky.

WIN7 Pro

ESET Internet Security

Dell Precision T1600

Thanks for any answers in advance!

 

[Marcos 4,919]

Quarantined files are stored in an encrypted form on the disk and therefore cannot cause any issues during a backup. Feel free to the delete the content of quarantine.

[liber8ed1 0]

7 minutes ago, Marcos said:

Quarantined files are stored in an encrypted form on the disk and therefore cannot cause any issues during a backup. Feel free to the delete the content of quarantine.

I think the reasoning given was that the encryption could create problems accessing the files and would cause the backup to shut down.  I dunno, I'm just working my way through all the possible solutions I can find, hoping that something will work and it won't end up being hard drive failure.   

Thanks very  much for your quick answer!

[Marcos 4,919]

Excluding the process that performs backup should resolve any backup-related issues.

[itman 1,629]

I've used the Win 7 backup feature running from Win 10 to create a Win 10 image backup. I had files in Eset's Quarantine folder at the time I performed the backup. The backup completed successfully w/zip issues.

Bottom line - whatever the issue you are having with the Win 7 backup running is not due to an files in Eset's Eset's Quarantine folder.

Note: I created the backup on a separate drive from where Win 10 was installed. Where you are creating the backup might be the issue. Or, there is a problem with the Win 7 backup feature on your Win 7 installation.

Edited April 27, 2020 by itman

[itman 1,629]

Refer to this Microsoft article in regards to the error code you are receiving: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/973455/windows-backup-or-restore-errors-0x80070001-0x81000037-or-0x80070003

[liber8ed1 0]

27 minutes ago, itman said:

Refer to this Microsoft article in regards to the error code you are receiving: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/973455/windows-backup-or-restore-errors-0x80070001-0x81000037-or-0x80070003

Issue 2 is one of the error messages I've seen.  Thanks for the heads up.  I'll add this to my list of a dozen or more rabbit trails to follow. lol 

Secondary question.  I deleted the quarantined files found under the app data in the users.  I also finally found the list of quarantined files in ESET.  There are three files not under a user, but NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM.  If I right click on those listings it gives me the option to delete from quarantine.  I wondered if that option will delete the file from my system, or if it will only remove it from the quarantine list?

[itman 1,629]

4 minutes ago, liber8ed1 said:

I wondered if that option will delete the file from my system, or if it will only remove it from the quarantine list?

The quick answer is the files are deleted as far as the OS is concerned.

The detailed technical answer is Windows will most likely leave the file in its current physical location on the disk and only remove the Master File Table entry that points to the physical location of where the file is currently located. This is why security vendors recommend files never be deleted from their quarantined location. Now Eset encrypts files in quarantine. So an attacker would have to decrypt it for it to be usable. This is highly unlikely to happen, but is theoretically possible.

[liber8ed1 0]

6 minutes ago, itman said:

The quick answer is the files are deleted as far as the OS is concerned.

The detailed technical answer is Windows will most likely leave the file in its current physical location on the disk and only remove the Master File Table entry that points to the physical location of where the file is currently located. This is why security vendors recommend files never be deleted from their quarantined location. Now Eset encrypts files in quarantine. So an attacker would have to decrypt it for it to be usable. This is highly unlikely to happen, but is theoretically possible.

Understood!  Thank you.

The Microsoft article you posted for me is actually one of the previous rabbit trails I bookmarked this morning for further pursuit.  I dig in to computer issues decently (with online advice) , but I back away carefully when the screen turns to black and white. LOL  I'll probably let my informal tech guru tackle that one.

 

1 hour ago, itman said:

Note: I created the backup on a separate drive from where Win 10 was installed. Where you are creating the backup might be the issue. Or, there is a problem with the Win 7 backup feature on your Win 7 installation.

Hmmm... I have previously backed this drive up to a set of DVDs.  (that was a PITA, let me tell ya) When we started experiencing problems booting it up we tried to restore it from that set of discs.  They wouldn't deploy.  This time I have been trying to send the back up to an external Seagate 2Tb drive.  So now I'm starting to wonder if it is a problem with the back up system.  Of course, that wouldn't explain the failure to boot.  Possibly two problems.  I have a page of notes about as long as my arm trying to track all of this stuff down.