Microsoft Safety Scanner hangs on system file

Thanks to help on this forum (thanks, ThrashZone!), I have several powerful new freeware tools. After running several others and deleting anything questionable, ran Microsoft Safety Scanner. It finds over 300 infected files. But in repeated attempts, right near the end of 8-hour scans, it stalls on this file:

Windows\system32\drivers\tcpip.sys

From various forums, I get the idea that it would be dangerous to remove or rename this file. Have scanned it with Norton 360, which shows clean.

Can anyone here please suggest a way to complete the MSERT scan and disinfect?

Thanks in advance.

[QUOTE=andrew129260;2854999]

cteno said:

With that many infections, I doubt your system will ever be clean. Better to erase and start all over.

You're right, of course. And thanks for the guide link. But based on what happened when I've done that with XP, it would require tens of hours to put everything back together - not an option right now.

Also, I'm not sure I believe that "infected file" count. After running five other malware scanners, it seems improbably that those could be live threats. They may be locked in decade-old Mac files archived from other family members' PCs. MSERT gives no means of selecting folders or even drives to scan.

So for the moment, I'm just making regular data backups, and preparing for a full re-install if needed. Or maybe an upgrade. I don't need the enhanced capabilities of W7Pro, but would it be an easier job than reinstalling the home edition?

I may also try unplugging the second internal HDD that holds archives and backups (about 70~80% of my total data), and let MSERT run just on the live stuff. Could be interesting.

Again, thanks for the suggestion, which I may have to take soon enough!