Scheduled Scan won't run automatically

[Guest]

I've installed Windows Defender on a Windows 2000 server that is a secondary
domain controller and a print server for our campus.I set the scheduled scan
to run at 2AM- but it never worked. I changed the time for the scheduled scan
to 6PM- same problem. I get reminder notes after 3 days that a scan has not
been run.

Updates of signatures are normal. And a manual scan runs Ok without any
errors. I have 10 other servers with this application running OK with both
Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003. The scheduled scans run OK on
those servers. How can I getthe Windows Defender to run automatically a
pre-determined schedule?

 

[Bill Sanderson MVP]

This is something of a mystery to me--there's a piece I am missing. I am
sitting (physically) at a Windows 2000 server on which scheduled scans and
updates are running as scheduled at 2 AM..

In /WINNT/TEMP, is mpcmdrun.log containing entries like these:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MpCmdRun: Command Line: "C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\MpCmdRun.exe"
Scan -RestrictPrivileges
Start Time: Thu May 04 01:51:02 2006


Start: MpScan(MP_ANTISPYWARE, dwOptions=1)
Start: MpSignatureUpdate()
Update started (Type:Scheduled)
SearchStarted...
Time Info - Thu May 04 02:05:03 2006
Search Completed with hr: 0x00000000
Error received: 0x80072efd
Update completed with hr: 0x80072efd
ERROR: LogonUserExW(NetworkService) Failed 8007052E
Error running as network service. hr = 0x8007052e
MpCmdRun: End Time: Thu May 04 02:05:04 2006

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MpCmdRun: Command Line: "C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\MpCmdRun.exe"
Scan -RestrictPrivileges -Reinvoke
Start Time: Thu May 04 02:05:05 2006


Start: MpScan(MP_ANTISPYWARE, dwOptions=1)
MpScan() started
Time Info - Thu May 04 02:07:15 2006
MpScan() was completed
Finish: MpScan(MP_ANTISPYWARE, dwOptions=1)
MpScan() has detected 0 threats.
MpCmdRun: End Time: Thu May 04 02:07:20 2006

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(hmm--I guess I should look into that failure message, but, in fact, defs
are fully up to date...)

The mystery is that under XP, the scheduled scans are done as hidden jobs
using the Windows Scheduled tasks facility. I can't spot any jobs under
Windows 2000--but the scans are working. Consequently, I don't know where
to point you to look at what might be going wrong---except perhaps this log
file.

 

[Guest]

Bill,

Thanks for your response. I'll check the log files and let you know what I
find.


Ken Krenick

 

[Guest]

Bill;

I checked the C:\WINNT\Temp folder- and there is no mpcmdrun.log file. I did
a file search on the entire C:\ drive- no such file was found.

Ken

 

[Bill Sanderson MVP]

I've learned a bit more--there's another thread in .General, started by
"superdoc21" in which we are discussing (term used advisedly, since we're
not getting anywhere fast!) this same issue.

On Windows 2000, Scheduled scans are indeed being run by the Windows task
scheduler. I haven't figured out how to make the task visible, but if you
open the scheduled tasks folder and go to advanced, view log, the details
should be there--see the other thread for more detail.

Is the task scheduler active on this system--i.e. not disabled? Anything
relevant in its log?

--

 

[Guest]

My Defender still won't perform scheduled scans. As was suggested here, I
went to Control Panel and Scheduled Tasks and tried that path. I have it set
to scan at 2 a.m. each day, and it has only done it one time since April 28.
Any other suggestions? Thanks.
sailboatron

 

[Guest]

Bill:

On Target! For some reason, Task Scheduler is not listed among the Windows
2000 services, and it is not found in the Control Panel on that server. Since
the print server was set up before my arrival, I have no idea why it was
uninstalled. But I will re-install it from the Repair Console and see if that
does the trick. Thank you very much for pointing me in the right direction.


Ken Krenick

 

[Guest]

Sailboatron:

Open up the "Services" window from the "Administratove Tools" menu and see
if "Task Scheduler is started. If not, right-click on the service and then
click start. Also, change the property of the service to automatic, and it
will start up each time the machine reboots as well.


Ken Krenick

 

[Bill Sanderson MVP]

Great--one less mystery about that issue anyway. I still haven't managed to
see the actual job--haven't found how it is hidden. Will look at that again
on Wednesday, I think.

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