"ERROR 4 - Get xx Inventory Sites data failed !!" error for both Hardware and Software Inventory

I'm having a problem with some of my clients. They're getting an error in the HINV32.LOG file of:

ERROR 4 - Get HW Inventory Sites data failed

Followed by the error:

Shutdown Event detected, execution aborted !!

This is happening in both hardware and software inventory. Does anyone know what this is. I've tried doing a repair of the inventory components and even uninstalled re-installed but it hasn't done any good.

Contributed By: Rod Trent [MVP SMS]
'Error 4' indicates that the file cannot be opened. It could be locked due to another program accessing it, which is usually an AntiVirus program. A best practice is to exclude the 'logs' directory on the client from virus scanning.

The SMS 2.0 Resource Guide has a huge list of error messages, but this specific error is an operating system error. You can look up OS errors by typing the following at a command-prompt:

net helpmsg <errornumber>

which returns:

The system cannot open the file.