Archive not a valid Zip archive

**ChalupaPatrol** · 2008-04-18, 00:08

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 · 2008-04-18, 23:08

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

**ChalupaPatrol** · 2008-04-19, 02:28

"No newer updates available"

129260 · 2008-04-20, 06:40

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** · 2008-04-20, 10:24

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** · 2008-04-21, 04:22

@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 · 2008-04-21, 04:25

keep us posted!!

**ChalupaPatrol** · 2008-05-16, 19:04

Originally Posted by 129260

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** · 2008-05-17, 00:57

Originally Posted by ChalupaPatrol

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** · 2008-05-17, 01:47

Hey, thanks for your efforts, Greyfox!