fopen / ofstream::open fail when creating a BMP file - c++

Question

Years ago I created a C++ function using FILE to create bitmap files. Recently (not sure when or why) this code is now failing when opening the file. The problem is with the open call ...
file_ptr = fopen("ScreenShots/Screenshot1.bmp", "wb");
Currently this results in an error 13, permission denied error. Change the filename extension to something else and the fopen works fine. For example,
file_ptr = fopen("ScreenShots/Screenshot1.bm2", "wb");
The file saves correctly and when changing the extension back to BMP I can display the file correctly in Paintshop.
Did a quick check using ofstream and same problem.
Any ideas why I get a permission denied error when trying to open BMP files to write data? For information I am using Visual Studio Community 2017 on Windows 10.
To give the complete section of code ...
BITMAPFILEHEADER bitmap_header;
BITMAPINFOHEADER bitmap_info;
FILE *file_ptr;
unsigned int count;
unsigned char tempRGB;
char filename[256];
bool finished;
// CREATE A UNIQUE FILENAME
count = 1;
finished = false;
do
{
// CREATE NAME
sprintf(filename, "ScreenShots/Screenshot%d.bmp", count);
// CHECK IF FILE EXISTS
errno = 0;
file_ptr = fopen(filename, "rb");
if (file_ptr)
{
// FILE EXISTS
fclose(file_ptr);
count = count + 1;
}
else
{
// UNIQUE FILENAME
file_ptr = fopen(filename, "wb");
if (file_ptr == NULL)
{
// UNABLE TO OPEN FOR WRITING - GIVE UP
// (USING OWN LOGGING CLASS)
jalog.log("\nERROR on Screenshot >");
jalog.log(filename);
jalog.log("< >");
jalog.log((short)errno);
return;
}
finished = true;
}
}
while (finished == false);

Answer 1

I've managed to find the issue ... Avast antivirus. I noticed that trying to do an open action for a BMP file took a few seconds while opening any other file type (successfully or unsuccessfully) was instantaneous. As something similar happens when running new programs I tried disabling all the Avast shields and I could successfully create a BMP file using the existing code.
For my own personal use I can whitelist my own programs, but annoying if I get to distributing the program to other people.
Thanks for the help ... and sorry for raising a C++ issue that in the end had nothing to do with C++!