Norton hangs on one file for hours, usually in winsxs folder, can't complete full scan

Norton version: Norton Antivirus 2007

OS version: Windows Vista, Svc pack 1

 

I have run into a problem where Norton scans normally for a while, then gets "stuck" on one file as if scanning it for a long time. The light showing hard drive activity blinks every few seconds as if it's not doing anything, but the "total items scanned" count keeps going up. Twice now (going on three times as I type this)I have left it on all night only to see it was still sitting on the same file as it displayed when I went to bed six or seven hours earlier. This file is never the same file twice, but it is generally in the winsxs folder.

It may be believable that my computer could have as many files as the total items scanned count shows (highest count so far is 2.5 million during the first test which ran the longest before I became convinced that nothing was happening) but it is not believable to me that 500,000 of them are the rest of my computer and the other 2 million are in this one file in winsxs (which, as I stated, is never the same file twice).

 

The last time I ran a successful scan it took (rough estimate) 2 to 3 hours. Certainly not overnight or multiple days.

This has now been over a month ago (October 7th), which worries me, since obviously the longer I go without a scan, the more time that threats could potentially build up/run rampant on my machine. Considering that I just renewed my norton subscription about a week ago, I'd love to get this issue fixed rather than just getting rid of norton.

Message Edited by Aranjah on 11-12-2008 09:23 AM