Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

Windows Defender / Full Scan / Sleep mode

by Jan 10, 2016 2:15PM PST

First thing I should mention is I haven't had a virus in at least ten years. Those of you that run Windows Defender know that it runs a daily quick scan so maybe no real need to run a full scan. That said, I set WD to run a full scan and went to bed last night. Woke up this morning and saw it had barely moved. First thing I thought of is the 'power options' settings. So I did the usual: Control Panel/power options – power saver – change power settings/put computer to sleep-never / change advanced power settings/change settings that are currently unavailable-Hard disk-Turn off hard disk after – Never – Apply – O.K.

Started another scan, within ten minutes I saw that the power button light is in 'sleep' mode. Let it run for two hours anyway. Scan basically did not run.

Windows 10, Dell computer, all updates. I have run full scans in the past, been several months, and it took a little less than two hours. Do I suspect I have a virus – no. Still that shouldn't prevent me from running a full scan. I have "no" other issues.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions

Discussion is locked

12 Posts
- Collapse + Expand Details
- Collapse -
Answer
Let me test that.
by Forum moderator Jan 10, 2016 2:26PM PST

I don't recall touching sleep settings but let me try this on a Dell Inspiron i15R-2646MRB 15.6-Inch Laptop which came with 7 and had the 10 offer and upgrade.

This may take a while. BBL

- Collapse -
Answer
Try turning sleep mode off temporarily, but be sure to be...
by Jan 10, 2016 2:35PM PST

...plugged in so your battery doesn't go dead while running. Defender's full scan took a little over 2 hours to run on my new laptop.
`
Good luck.

- Collapse -
Didn't change any settings for this test.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Jan 10, 2016 2:41PM PST

Plugged in. Check.

Currently at 15 minutes. Time varies on HDD speed and such. This is a pretty old laptop so time is relative (pun intended.)

- Collapse -
(NT) Just to be clear - Dell Inspiron 3647 "Desktop" - night scan
by edwardnav Jan 10, 2016 2:47PM PST
- Collapse -
Here it's daytime. Rarely matters but keeping it crystal.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Jan 10, 2016 2:52PM PST

The screen went blank as per the settings I recall. The HDD light stays on, flickers so it's still scanning. BBL

- Collapse -
Tardis?
by Dafydd Jan 10, 2016 3:02PM PST

Dafydd.

- Collapse -
That's something bigger on the inside?
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Jan 10, 2016 3:22PM PST

Anyhow the screen's been off for awhile and it's been over 1 hour so tap the pad and ...

Oh, only 55 minutes and 139 thousand items scanned.

- Collapse -
Just wondering – since your scanning
by edwardnav Jan 10, 2016 3:41PM PST

Regarding settings. Mine, which I hadn't touched, are as follows:
Real time protection – On
Cloud based protection – On
Automatic sample submission – On
Automatic Updates – Set

- Collapse -
Looks similar
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Jan 10, 2016 3:50PM PST

Those settings were not all on the Settings page. odd but now at 1:24:00 and 230,000 items.

- Collapse -
Some how problem has resolved itself
by edwardnav Jan 10, 2016 5:32PM PST

Per suggestion, I was able to run a FULL "custom" scan of my hard drive. As expected no issues found. I am now running a regular "full" scan and the issue of the computer going into 'sleep' mode has not reappeared. Hmm.

Anyway, thanks everyone. Don't know what fixed the issue but everything seems to be working as it should.

Thanks again

- Collapse -
Ack.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Jan 10, 2016 6:04PM PST

Now at 3.5 hours and 5.6 million items scanned.

- Collapse -
Final report.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Jan 10, 2016 8:49PM PST

It took many hours but finished without powering down here. The bonus of the full scan is Windows Defender now reports my PC is fully protected where before it had a may by not protected message.

Back to Windows 10 forum

CNET Forums

Operating Systems
Software
Electronics & Gadgets
Hardware
Tablets & Mobile Devices
General Help
Brand Forums
Roadshow Autos
Off Topic

Other Forums

Forum Info