MSSQL AwareIM 'system' database going offline

Jaymer

(note I have renamed the default AwareIM db to AIM)
This has happened twice in the past few days, after no issue for a year.
At runtime, i get an error because the AIM (system) database is in "Recovery Pending" mode.
You can see there's no filesize/log issues. No other BSVs use this SQL database - it has only the default tables in it as Aware creates it when you install.

I realize this isn't an Aware issue - thought I'd just post it to see if anyone has run across this.
I've read basic posts in the net about "Recovery Pending" - am investigating those threads.
No updates to Aware recently, or changes to the server.
Screen Shot 2020-10-15 at 9.46.18 AM.png
Screen Shot 2020-10-15 at 9.45.48 AM.png

Windows 2016,
Microsoft SQL Server 2017 (RTM-CU17) (KB4515579) - 14.0.3238.1 (X64) Sep 13 2019 15:49:57
Express Edition (64-bit) on Windows Server 2019 Standard 10.0 <X64> (Build 17763: ) (Hypervisor)

Jaymer

from MSSQL ErrorLog:

this is normal:

2020-10-15 05:13:46.72 spid66      Starting up database 'AIM'.
2020-10-15 05:13:46.74 spid66      Parallel redo is started for database 'AIM' with worker pool size [2].
2020-10-15 05:13:46.75 spid66      Parallel redo is shutdown for database 'AIM' with worker pool size [2].
2020-10-15 05:13:46.78 spid66      Starting up database 'AIMTEST'.
2020-10-15 05:13:46.80 spid66      Parallel redo is started for database 'AIMTEST' with worker pool size [2].
2020-10-15 05:13:46.81 spid66      Parallel redo is shutdown for database 'AIMTEST' with worker pool size [2].

then this a few mins later:

2020-10-15 05:18:46.84 spid66      Starting up database 'AIM'.
2020-10-15 05:18:47.87 spid66      Error: 17204, Severity: 16, State: 1.
2020-10-15 05:18:47.87 spid66      FCB::Open failed: Could not open file C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL14.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\DATA\AIM_log.ldf for file number 2.  OS error: 32(The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.).
2020-10-15 05:18:47.87 spid66      Error: 5105, Severity: 16, State: 1.
2020-10-15 05:18:47.87 spid66      A file activation error occurred. The physical file name 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL14.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\DATA\AIM_log.ldf' may be incorrect. Diagnose and correct additional errors, and retry the operation.
2020-10-15 05:18:47.87 spid66      Error: 5170, Severity: 16, State: 1.
2020-10-15 05:18:47.87 spid66      Cannot create file 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL14.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\DATA\AIM_log.ldf' because it already exists. Change the file path or the file name, and retry the operation.
2020-10-15 05:18:47.87 spid66      Error: 5170, Severity: 16, State: 1.
2020-10-15 05:18:47.87 spid66      Cannot create file 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL14.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\DATA\AIM_log.ldf' because it already exists. Change the file path or the file name, and retry the operation.
2020-10-15 05:18:47.87 Logon       Error: 18456, Severity: 14, State: 38.
2020-10-15 05:18:47.87 Logon       Login failed for user 'aware_oem'. Reason: Failed to open the explicitly specified database 'AIM'. [CLIENT: 127.0.0.1]
2020-10-15 05:18:47.88 spid66      Starting up database 'AIMTEST'.
2020-10-15 05:18:47.92 spid66      Parallel redo is started for database 'AIMTEST' with worker pool size [2].
2020-10-15 05:18:47.93 spid66      Parallel redo is shutdown for database 'AIMTEST' with worker pool size [2].

This MS Docs page explicitly references "Error 32":
It recommends excluding "db" directories from Virus Scanning.
A new Virus pgm was recently installed on our server and we're checking to see if logs indicate it might have been the culprit this AM.

Screen Shot 2020-10-15 at 12.23.00 PM.png