Archive not a valid Zip archive

[ChalupaPatrol]

Since the detections dated 4/16, I have encountered a SB message dialog after scanning that says:

"This archive is not a valid Zip archive".

I click on it to go away, then choose "Fix selected problems".

It pops up again a time or two and goes away when I click OK or cancel or whatever.

Then it reappears when I get to the Recovery feature. Lots of clicking makes it go away.

Any ideas what is wrong and how to fix?

(I am running version 1.5.2.20)

Thank you!

[129260]

click update on the spybot window. Download all available updates, and see if that helps. :)

[ChalupaPatrol]

"No newer updates available"

[129260]

if it has been more then a week, spybot may not be able to access the Internet properly, perhaps your firewall is blocking it, or your Internet is not working properly. If it has not been for more then a week, i suggest you wait for this coming Wednesdays update, and then try again and see if that fixes the problem. If not, I would do a complete uninstall and then download and install the latest version of spybot. Hope that helps you. :)

[Greyfox]

ChalupaPatrol
From the date you gave in your original post, I believe it is likely you have the latest update (mine are dated 17th April, but that may be due to a time zone difference).

Can you please be more specific, first about exactly when the dialogue appears. You say "after" a scan - does this mean the scan had completely finished, what exactly was on the screen at the time, and what was in the status bar at the bottom of the spybot screen?. Are you able to post a screen print showing the dialogue?

What elements are shown that you attempted to "fix" and did you tick any boxes before you clicked on Fix?. What Operating system do you have?. The more information you can provide, the more likely it is someone will be able to provide a solution.

[ChalupaPatrol]

@129260
I will take your advice and see if Wednesday's update fixes the problem. Then perhaps an uninstall/reinstall if not.

@Greyfox
I didn't do a screenshot, but the dialog says exactly what I wrote... word for word.

As for specifics, it appears after a scan and prior to choosing to fix or not. The items chosen are standard ones that appear every time I scan with Spybot. I am running WinXP. I provided SB version #. I see lots of Google results for this error message, but none for Spybot.

Thanks for the replies. I'll post back after next scan and after next detections update.

[129260]

keep us posted!!

[ChalupaPatrol]

keep us posted!!I'm still getting the message... "This archive is not a valid Zip archive".

This dialog appears most often when I have just scanned (checked for problems) and, after the "Congratulations, No immediate threats", I select all the usual items to clean (Log, MSDraw, Windows Explorer). The problems are fixed. I then click on Recovery and the dialog pops up at that point. I click it for times to make it go away, then the items for recovery appear. I select all and when I click on Purge, the dialog pops up again. Four more clicks and it goes away and the purging is completed.

It's hard to believe that no one else has encountered this. It's happening for me on two computers now, so I guess that means I have two corrupted installs of 1.5.2.20? I have the most recent updates.

[Greyfox]

I'm still getting the message... "This archive is not a valid Zip archive".

ChalupaPatrol,
Spybot recovery files are .zip files stored in c:\Documents & Settings\All Users\Application Data\Spybot - Search & Destroy\Recovery.
At least that's where they are if your OS is XP. I don't think you have mentioned what system you have.

When you click on recovery in Spybot, it lists each catagory for which it has .zip recovery files (I'm not sure why you are going there straight after a fix, recovery would normally only be used if after a fix, something no longer worked).

On the face of it, one of the recovery files may be corrupt, and if your computer is otherwise running OK, you could remedy this by simply deleting all of the recovery files in the above directory, but be warned, you then don't have a recovery for any item fixed before this time.

I seem to recall however that either AVG v8, or one of the earlier releases of Avast! 4.8 (I can't remember which) had a problem with the Spybot recovery zip files and did not recognise them as valid .zip archives, and the message you are seeing may be from your antivirus software, not Spybot, the antivirus kicking in during the file read when you click on recovery in Spybot.

You could try getting your antivirus on its own to simply check the files in the above directory (folder).

I don't know what the current situation is with AVG v8, but I can tell you Avast! 4.8.1195 (the current release) does not have any problem with these files, so perhaps you should check you have the latest release of your particular antivirus.

Hope this helps.

[ChalupaPatrol]

Hey, thanks for your efforts, Greyfox!


I don't think you have mentioned what system you have.
WinXP


(I'm not sure why you are going there straight after a fix, recovery would normally only be used if after a fix, something no longer worked).
To purge the back ups of the fixes I just made. Gotta get there via Recovery, right?


On the face of it, one of the recovery files may be corrupt, and if your computer is otherwise running OK, you could remedy this by simply deleting all of the recovery files in the above directory, but be warned, you then don't have a recovery for any item fixed before this time.
Excellent idea. I erased them on my other pc and I'm running a scan right now. Maybe that will fix the "not a valid Zip archive" message. I'll post back on that.


I seem to recall however that either AVG v8, or one of the earlier releases of Avast! 4.8 (I can't remember which) had a problem with the Spybot recovery zip files and did not recognise them as valid .zip archives, and the message you are seeing may be from your antivirus software, not Spybot, the antivirus kicking in during the file read when you click on recovery in Spybot.
Check out the image I uploaded in the previous post and you'll see it is a Spybot dialog box.


You could try getting your antivirus on its own to simply check the files in the above directory (folder).
It gets scanned regularly.


I don't know what the current situation is with AVG v8, but I can tell you Avast! 4.8.1195 (the current release) does not have any problem with these files, so perhaps you should check you have the latest release of your particular antivirus.
Yes, I am running avast! 4.8.1195.

One thing you made me think of, Greyfox. You said they are all .zip files in the Recovery folder, but I had a Overview.ini file in that folder on each machine. Could be that is the problemo? I could try deleting just that .ini file on this pc and see if that alone makes the "not a valid Zip archive" dialog go away.

Thanks again.

[ChalupaPatrol]

Deleting all the files in the Recovery folder fixed the problem. (Deleting just the Overview.ini file did not fix it. I see that the Overview.ini file is created with each scan.) Anyway, I think the mystery is solved. Thanks a million, Greyfox, for suggesting that I delete those files!

[Greyfox]

ChalupaPatrol,

Thanks for posting your results - Glad it worked for you.

[129260]

everything went well. :)

[ChalupaPatrol]

ChalupaPatrol,
Thanks for posting your results - Glad it worked for you.Maybe not too good to resurrect a two month old thread, but I wanted to report that even with v.1.6, I encountered this same behavior, and that deleting the files in the Recovery folder, per Greyfox's recommendation, fixed the problem again. :)

[129260]

interesting...........we will keep note of thread in the future. Thanks for letting us know :bigthumb:

[ChalupaPatrol]

No problem. I'm still surprised that no one else has reported this behavior. But at least I have a fix for it! :)

[129260]

I think i will let a moderator know what you have experienced and see what they can come up with.

[ChalupaPatrol]

FYI, in case you missed it, post #8 (http://forums.spybot.info/showpost.php?p=192376&postcount=8) in this thread contains an attached screen shot of the error message.

I am always able to click past it, though it is persistent and tends to reappear a few times. After deleting the files in the Recovery folder, I won't see the error message again for a long time, until some other corruption occurs.

[129260]

have you ever tried completely removing spybot and then installing the latest version?


completely as in following ALL directions on this site:

http://www.spybot.info/en/howto/uninstall.html

[ChalupaPatrol]

I have never run the remove-spybotsd-settings.reg program, if that is what you are asking.

I have always been able to get Spybot-S&D to uninstall from the Windows Add/Remove Software control panel without problems. Then I always run CCleaner, jv16 Power Tools registry tool, and ATF Cleaner after each uninstall, hoping to get rid of residual junk.

Do you think that runnning the small fix will make a difference?

[129260]

it. =] Can't hurt right? :bigthumb:

It removes ALL registry entries of spybot. Try removing all the folders and running the small fix like the page suggested, then try reinstalling the latest version and see if u still get the message. :)

[ChalupaPatrol]

I'll gladly try it, but it will be awhile before I can get to it.

Plus here is another odd bit of info. I never save anything to the Recovery folder, I always purge after each fix. So right off the bat, I am surprised to see anything in that folder to begin with. But as time goes by and I do a number of scans, the error message will pop up and I will go to the Recovery folder and sure enough, there is a file or two. That puzzles me.

I promise to report back after running the small fix and after scanning for a couple of weeks without getting an error message, okay? :)

Thanks for your interest and concern.

[129260]

Thanks, let me know what happens!! :bigthumb: