How to Get Rid of the ‘Operation Did Not Complete’ Virus on Windows 10/11 (2024)

Let us guess: earlier today, you connected an external drive to your computer and tried to transfer files between them. To your surprise, you were greeted with an error message 0x800700E1 notifying you that your file transfer was unsuccessful. What does it mean?

Error 0x800700E1 is also known as the "Operation did not complete" virus for Windows 10/11. The good news is that this error isn't always caused by malware. The bad news is – you won't be able to back up files to an external storage or retrieve files from it until you fix it. You've got luck because, in this guide, we'll show you how to deal with the 0x800700E1 error.

Potential Causes of the "Operation Did Not Complete Because of a Virus" Error

The 0x800700e1 error occurs when you try to transfer files from a USB or some other external storage device to your PC and vice versa – when you want to back up files to an external drive. You can try to run the backup again or change the backup settings, but the error keeps popping up.

This error message clearly says that your backup operation has failed "because the file contains a virus or potentially unwanted software." It's more complicated than that, though. Before you raise the virus alarm, hear us out. Malware is not the only reason for this.

In fact, the 0x800700e1 error may occur for several different reasons:

• Viruses and malware;
• System file corruption;
• Insufficient file storage;
• Out-of-date PC drivers;
• Conflicting applications.

Why does the Windows error message claim it's a virus, then? Your computer's antivirus and security system sometimes detects so-called "false positives". It happens when a scan marks a file or process as malicious even though it's not an actual threat. Hence the virus error message.

How to Deal With the 0x800700E1 Error

Whether or not your computer has been infected with a virus, you can't just ignore the "Operation did not complete" message. Not only will you not be able to perform a backup or copy files from your external device, but you'll also be risking a massive virus attack or data breach.

With that in mind, here are the proven ways to fix your 0x800700e1 error.

Fix 1: Restart Your Device

Turning your PC off and on again is an essential first step when dealing with problems like these. A lot of the time, restarting the device actually solves the issue. It's especially true if you have a lot of connected devices and background apps that could be conflicted.

Here is how to do it:

1. Go to the Start menu and click the Power icon.



2. Select the Restart option from the Power menu.



3. Wait for your PC to turn itself off and start again.

Fix 2: Disable Your Antivirus

Restarting your PC didn't help? In this case, the first thing you can try is to disable your antivirus. If the 0x800700e1 error is caused by the false positive, this will solve the problem. However, it will also leave you unprotected, although you might have a malicious file, so watch out.

1. Go to Start and open the Windows Security app.



2. Next, select the Virus & threat protection section.



3. Find Virus & threat protection settings and click on Manage settings.



4. Switch the Real-time protection toggle button off to disable antivirus.

   

If you're using a third-party antivirus program, you should disable it as well. Go back to your backup and try again. Whether you get the error again or not, turn on the antivirus as soon as you're done. Otherwise, your computer will be exposed to much worse threats than this.

Fix 3: Run a Virus Scan

Disabling your antivirus can help you temporarily solve the 0x800700e1 error and complete your backup, so it's very effective if you're in a hurry. However, if the same thing happens the next time you try to move files to the external drive, then it's time to give it more attention.

The next thing you should do is run a virus scan and try to catch the virus in action:

1. Once again, run Windows Security from the Start menu.
2. Return to Virus & threat protection and run a Quick scan.

   

3. If the quick scan doesn't find any threats, we recommend running a full scan of your PC. To do this, go to the Scan options under the Quick scan button.

   

4. Choose Full scan from the list and click on Scan now.

   

Scan your computer with your third-party antivirus program as well, if you have one.

Fix 4: Exclude the File in Your Antivirus

Scanning your PC with both Windows Defender and a third-party antivirus program is useful because it can help you tell if one of these security systems is reporting false positives. If Windows Defender keeps marking a healthy file as malicious, you can add it to the exclusion list.

If you're 100% sure it's safe, let's add an exclusion to the Windows Security:

1. Go to Start > Windows Security > Virus & threat protection.
2. Return to Virus & threat protection settings > Manage settings.
3. Scroll down to Exclusions and click on Add or remove exclusions.



4. Click on the Add an exclusion button and find the file in question.



5. Press the Open button to add the file, folder, or process to the list.

Fix 5: Repair File Explorer

As mentioned, a virus isn't the only potential reason behind your 0x800700E1 trouble. This error also happens as a consequence of system bugs. A faulty File Explorer app is one of the most frequent issues connected to this error. If this is it, don't worry. We'll help you fix it in a bit:

1. Go to Start and search for Command Prompt. Click on Run as administrator.

   

2. In the Command Prompt, type this command and hit Enter to execute it:

   sfc /SCANFILE=c:windowsexplorer.exe

   

3. You have one more command to enter and execute in the Command Prompt:

   sfc /SCANFILE=C:WindowsSysWow64explorer.exe

   

Fix 6: Clean Temporary Files

Maybe you didn't know this, but your internet browser keeps tiny pieces of data from your browsing sessions in order to ensure a smooth user experience. This browsing, or temporary data, as we call it, tends to pile up without the right maintenance routine and slow down your PC.

Temporary files can even cause false positives and errors like 0x800700E1.

Here's how to get rid of accumulated browsing data on Windows 10 and 11:

1. Press the Windows key and the letter R at the same time to launch Run.
2. Type inetcpl.cpl in the Run command box and press Enter to execute it.



3. The Internet Properties window will show up. Now, select the General tab.
4. Scroll down and click the Delete… button under the Browsing history section.



5. Check the boxes next to Temporary Internet files, Cookies, and History.
6. By clicking on the Delete button, your temporary files will be deleted.

   

Fix 7: Perform a Clean Boot

If deleting temporary files didn't do the trick either, there are a couple of other things you can try. It probably means you're dealing with system file corruption or software conflict that cannot be resolved with a regular restart. You need to go deeper to troubleshoot the issue.

First, let's perform a clean boot. This troubleshooting method for Windows computers starts your PC with the minimum set of drivers and startup programs. It will take care of a software conflict, a buggy app, or a background program interfering with your backup.

1. Press the Windows key and letter R to launch Run.
2. Enter the msconfig command and press OK to run it.

   

3. In System Configuration, go to the Services section.
4. Check the box next to Hide all Microsoft services.
5. Click on the Disable all button to do a clean boot.

   

6. In the Startup section, click Open Task Manager.

   

7. Select all problematic programs and press Disable.

   

8. Restart your computer to complete the clean boot.

Fix 8: Run DISM and SFC

The second thing you can try in case nothing else works is to run the utility known as the System File Checker. If your 0x800700E1 headaches are caused by system file corruption, this method will detect and solve it, and you will finally be able to complete your file transfer or backup.

1. Go to Start and run the Command Prompt as the administrator.
2. The command you need to execute is short. Type it in and hit Enter:

   SFC /scannow

   

3. Wait for the scan to finish, and then enter and execute this command:

   DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth

The second command will launch a Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) scan and address system image issues, if there are any, in addition to the System File Checker (SFC) scan.

Bonus: How to Recover Virus-Deleted Files

Some of you might want to know – what if my antivirus program has wrongly detected a malicious file, but I already deleted it to eliminate the threat? Is it gone forever now? That happens to many Windows users upon facing the 0x800700E1 message and attempting to fix it.

Fortunately, there's an easy way to recover data loss, whether due to an actual virus or accidental deletion. The best data recovery tool for this is called Wondershare Recoverit.

Wondershare Recoverit

• Manages over 500 data loss situations, including virus-related data loss.
• The user-friendly interface allows you to recover data in just a few clicks.

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If you have virus-deleted files that you need to get back, just follow these steps:

1. Download and install Wondershare Recoverit.
2. Select the PC location where the incident happened, and Recoverit will scan it.

   

3. During the scan, you'll be able to see newly found recoverable files on the screen.

   

4. After the scan is complete, you can search the files using a keyword or other filters.

   

5. Preview the file you need to retrieve and click the Recover button if you still want it.

   

6. Choose a safe destination on your PC to store the file and click Save to recover it.

   

This powerful software has a recovery rate of 98%. It can recover images, documents, emails, videos, and audio files in more than 1000 file formats and from virtually any device.

Conclusion

The 0x800700E1 error on Windows 10 and 11 can be a stubborn one. When a virus causes it, it can be easily solved by deleting the infected file. In other cases, frustrated users like yourself have been able to fix it by disabling the antivirus and adding the file to the exclusion list.

Software conflicts, buggy apps, and system file corruption can all interfere with your backup or file transfer. So if antivirus can't help you, your system utilities will. You should try restarting your device and doing a clean boot or running scan and repair commands in Command Prompt.