scan complete machine

[nabanita]

is there a way in C/C++ to sacn the whole computer for executable files?
the process would scan all the folders and sub folders recursively.

[Banfa]

Scan the whole computer for what?

[newb16]

@Banfa - For viruses? @OP -"Computer" is not defined in C standard, so it depends on os and compiler.

[weaknessforcats]

You can only scan the addresses inside the address space of your process.

Only the OS itself can scan the entire machine.

[jkmyoung]

?
Assuming permissions:

Get root directory
RecursiveScan(root);
 
RecursiveScan(File file){
  if file is dir
    foreach File f in dir
      RecursiveScan (f)
  else
      Scan(f)
}

where Scan() is a function that does the work of scanning the file.