avast for linux Ubuntu 9.04 Desktop says access denied after scan complete for all files and lists them

Were you trying to scan your whole computer or just your home directory?

This is likely not a firewall problem. It is, rather, a permissions problem. You are logged in as a regular user (your user account) which doesn't have permission to access most system files. You only have full access to the things in your home directory.

If you really want to scan everything on your machine, you'll need to use the "sudo" command to gain root privileges, which will give you access to everything.

For a better supported (by the Ubuntu community) antivirus solution, take a look at ClamAV ( https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ClamAV ) which can be set up to scan your entire system, your e-mail, and so on. It won't require using sudo to scan everything, and you can configure it to automatically update itself and automatically scan your machine at regular intervals.

I was using the scan your whole computer option yes
Simon

> To: <email address hidden>
> From: <email address hidden>
> Subject: Re: [Question #76548]: avast for linux Ubuntu 9.04 Desktop says access denied after scan complete for all files and lists them
> Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:09:32 +0000
>
> Your question #76548 on yelp in ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/yelp/+question/76548
>
> Status: Open => Needs information
>
> Scott Testerman requested for more information:
> Were you trying to or just your home directory?
>
> This is likely not a firewall problem. It is, rather, a permissions
> problem. You are logged in as a regular user (your user account) which
> doesn't have permission to access most system files. You only have full
> access to the things in your home directory.
>
> If you really want to scan everything on your machine, you'll need to
> use the "sudo" command to gain root privileges, which will give you
> access to everything.
>
> For a better supported (by the Ubuntu community) antivirus solution,
> take a look at ClamAV ( https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ClamAV ) which
> can be set up to scan your entire system, your e-mail, and so on. It
> won't require using sudo to scan everything, and you can configure it to
> automatically update itself and automatically scan your machine at
> regular intervals.
>
> --
> To answer this request for more information, you can either reply to
> this email or enter your reply at the following page:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/yelp/+question/76548
>
> You received this question notification because you are a direct
> subscriber of the question.

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If your access denied messages were in locations that start with things like "/var/lib" and "/usr/bin" then it's definitely permissions problems. These locations aren't very likely to be infected in any case; in almost all cases on your Ubuntu system it's sufficient to scan your home directory, plus any USB keys/CDs/diskettes you share with others.

While there are practically no viruses that can infect your Ubuntu system, you can save your Windows-using friends plenty of headaches by not spreading the viruses they already may have. They'll thank you for alerting them!