Automatic scanning at wrong time

[Guest]

I have followed ALL setup procedures including "task scheduler" as well as
the one for Windows Defender! It never fails--I have the scanned scheduled
to start at 4:00 am CST, however on a nightly basis it starts at 10:15 PM.
I have XPSP2. This is highly annoying since I am usually working online at
that time.
Any suggestions/help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Bill Sanderson MVP]

Open Task Scheduler, go to Advanced, and set it to show hidden tasks.
Delete any Windows Defender related tasks after noting the command lines
used.

Go into Windows Defender and set it to not do scheduled scans.

Then create your own task, using Task Scheduler, and the command syntax you
noted earlier--schedule it for 4 AM.

Test the task by right clicking and choosing Run, to see that it
works--you'll need to supply administrator credentials, including a password
on an account with administrator capabilities.

If that gets you correct behavior, you might try blowing away the
hand-scheduled job and letting Windows Defender do it again, just to see
what happens. Is there any chance that your time zone setting is 6 hours
off?