windows defender slow to work

[herodotus1]

I have a XP Home with SP3. WD works but it takes just over 1 hour to search
for viruses, etc. I have it set for auto updates and these install no
problem. Real-time protection is enabled. I also have real-time protection
with Authentium Antivirus SDK-2 via my ISP but it says there are no program
conflicts. Now, after the icon tray loads, I get the following message:
System change made by known application|C:/program files/windows
defender/MpCmdRun.exe|Application Registration. The WD icon appears with a
green checkmark over it for a few seconds and then disappears. Normally, I
don't see the icon. 80% of my hd is free. What could be the problem?

 

[Bill Sanderson]

The message at startup is caused by your checking the box to be notified of
changes to the system by known programs. In this case, the change is
Windows Defender scheduling its scheduled scan, which is done on each
startup.

The cause for the long scan time I can only guess at. 1) are you running a
full scan, rather than an intelligent quick scan? The recommendation is to
use the quick scan routinely, and do full scans either on a longer
periodicity--weekly, monthly--or only when something is found or you have
some reason for suspicion.

2) Do you have a large number of archive files on your system--ISO, ZIP,
CAB, etc? Windows Defender by default searches within these archive files
and scans each included file. You can turn this off in tools, options.

I've also seen instances where Defender seems to lock up on a particular
file--I'm not sure what is happening here--but you are saying that the scan
does complete, so presumably this is not your issue.

 

[Bill Sanderson]

The message at startup is caused by your checking the box to be notified of
changes to the system by known programs. In this case, the change is
Windows Defender scheduling its scheduled scan, which is done on each
startup.

The cause for the long scan time I can only guess at. 1) are you running a
full scan, rather than an intelligent quick scan? The recommendation is to
use the quick scan routinely, and do full scans either on a longer
periodicity--weekly, monthly--or only when something is found or you have
some reason for suspicion.

2) Do you have a large number of archive files on your system--ISO, ZIP,
CAB, etc? Windows Defender by default searches within these archive files
and scans each included file. You can turn this off in tools, options.

I've also seen instances where Defender seems to lock up on a particular
file--I'm not sure what is happening here--but you are saying that the scan
does complete, so presumably this is not your issue.

 

[herodotus1]

Thanks, Bill: I took care of the proper checkmarks in WD and I will follow
your recommendation regarding full and quick scans--I was doing full scans
daily. On my system there are 1 iso, 49 cab and 57 zip files. They will be
ignored. You are right in presuming WD does not lock up during scans--it
just took its good ol' time.

 

[herodotus1]

Thanks, Bill: I took care of the proper checkmarks in WD and I will follow
your recommendation regarding full and quick scans--I was doing full scans
daily. On my system there are 1 iso, 49 cab and 57 zip files. They will be
ignored. You are right in presuming WD does not lock up during scans--it
just took its good ol' time.