W.Def schedule scan

[Guest]

Having not really paid attention to the scan schedule since the upades
started functioning correctly its been a while since I read any oservations
here.
And running a scan everyday at a set time functioned perfectly.
However what I cannot understand is that given a choice to scan one day a
week rather than everyday ! after three days I start getting alert notices
telling me I haven't scanned ! That I know its because I chose not too ! so
why give me a choice and then keep reminding me a scan hasn't been done ?
Better still why not simply give an option to scan on start up ! for those
who don't use their computers everyday at the same hours !
Finally given that I chose to do a scan and having chosen the option to
check for updates before scanning ! why does Defender ignore that option, and
scan with the exsisting definitions ! When I know full well that a new update
is available !

 

[Dave M]

Hi Nicob;
It really sounds like your not current in your various Defender versions
because I also run the automatic scan (quick scan) once per week and no
notices ever pop up about it. What your describing sounds like very old
behavior. Check Help/About Windows Defender and see if you're current in
all these versions:

Windows Defender Version: 1.1.1347.0

Engine Version: 1.1.1508.0

Definition Version: 1.14.1643.13

 

[Guest]

Thanks Dave whilst under windows xp I'm running the version you quoted ! I
hadn't tested if it functioned on weekly schedule and it may well do ! I
shall have to check !

And perhaps I should have checked the version running under Vista beta,
before writing ! I presumed that when asking Windows and Windows Defender to
check for updates and it comes back you have the latest version ! I presumed
it was true !

Windows Defender Version: 1.1.1283.0

Engine Version: 1.1.1508.0

Definition Version: 1.14.1643.13

Perhaps I shouldn't have gone on holiday ! one soon forgets that you can't
trust such messages !

 

[Dave M]

....another thought in that case (Vista will have different current version
numbers than XP). If you are running a registry cleaner like CCleaner and
have the Windows Defender cleanup option checked, the effect is to clean
out your Defender history of past scans, so Defender could be confused as
to when the last scan was actually run. We believe the current threshold
for any notification about not scanning is more like two weeks now, but the
exact timeframe is unknown; it originally was 3 days. If that's the case,
just disable the Defender application cleanup in your registry cleaner.

 

[Guest]

Good thinking ! I'll check thanks !

....another thought in that case (Vista will have different current version
numbers than XP). If you are running a registry cleaner like CCleaner and
have the Windows Defender cleanup option checked, the effect is to clean
out your Defender history of past scans, so Defender could be confused as
to when the last scan was actually run. We believe the current threshold
for any notification about not scanning is more like two weeks now, but the
exact timeframe is unknown; it originally was 3 days. If that's the case,
just disable the Defender application cleanup in your registry cleaner.

 

[Bill Sanderson MVP]

The UI version won't update on Vista (presently) unless you install a newer
version of Vista.

I believe they have set the "nag" to a reasonable setting at this point--if
you set a once a week scheduled scan, you will not be nagged after three
days. This was the case with the first builds, but has been fixed.
--

 

[Guest]

Thanks Bill usefull to know looks like I'l have to wait for a new vista
version ! I'll forget about defender until then ! being that I have more
important problems with vista to solve than defenders shedules !
But I do think a scan at start up would be a more usefull option !

 

[Bill Sanderson MVP]

This is something I'm not sure is documented: If a scheduled scan is
missed, it will take place, in the background at some fixed time (20
minutes?) after the next user login.

So--essentially, that gets you a scan at startup, if you've left the default
of 2 am in place, and turn the machine off at night. It also becomes more
important to think about setting the scheduled scan to a quickscan rather
than a full scan--full scans are much more likely to be quite noticeable
drags on the system performance.
--