Windows Defender Scanning settings

Question

How can I prevent my computer from going to "sleep or standby" , during a full or deep scan. Thanks for answer.

Answer 1

A helpful vote for Greg "The Green" in Michigan

But in Windows 10 just tell Cortana to open "Settings" :-) That's the shortest short-cut I know.

Answer 2

It’s the “changing it back” that’s the hardest part; and the part that people always forget about; and the part that people forget to mention in their “solutions”. But that's really the important part if you're at all concerned about saving energy. And that’s why the EPA publishes a startup script that automatically resets the Sleep timeout:

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=power\_mgt.pr\_power\_mgt\_powerconfig

And that’s why I tried to simplify this whole thing, including the startup reset, by using desktop shortcuts; way back in 2012. This gives you the option to automatically reset the default Sleep setting at startup by dragging the reset shortcut into the Startup folder – just in case somebody forgets about “changing it back”.

To make this a little easier, you can use two desktop shortcuts to toggle between sleep timeout settings: Right-click on the desktop, select “New”, and then “Shortcut”:

For the “Full-Scan Sleep Timeout” shortcut enter this for the “location”:

powercfg -change -standby-timeout-ac 200

For the “Reset Sleep Timeout” shortcut enter this:

powercfg -change -standby-timeout-ac 20

Adjust the sleep timeout (in minutes) as required. You can also drag the “Reset” shortcut into the Startup folder to automate the reset.

Original source:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/protect/forum/mse-protect\_start/auto-scan-not-working/8041f4c9-1088-4a67-bca4-54c9bd5a99bd

By the way, this still works in Windows 10; in case anyone was wondering.

You can also use this batch file to totally automate these changes for a Full Scan in the command line interface:

@echo off

 powercfg -change -standby-timeout-ac 200

 cd C:\Program Files\Windows Defender

 MpCmdRun.exe -Scan -ScanType 2

 powercfg -change -standby-timeout-ac 20

 Pause

But in order to fully automate the changes in the familiar user interface, you first have to copy the reset shortcut to your startup folder – and then use this batch file to extend the Sleep setting and start the scan:

@echo off

powercfg -change -standby-timeout-ac 200

"C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\MSASCui.exe" -FullScan

And last, but certainly not least, the Create Basic Task Wizard makes it a lot easier than you might think to schedule a Full Scan that never sleeps:

Open Task Scheduler (Start button > All apps > Windows Administrative > Task scheduler)

1.) In the right-hand (Actions) panel, click on Create Basic Task and name the task “Weekly WD Full Scan” and click Next

2.) Click on the Weekly option button and click Next, and then pick a time and day of the week and click Next

3.) We’re using the default action (Start a program) so just click Next

4.) Browse to (or just enter) "C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\MSASCui.exe" in the Program/script box (with quotation marks)

5.) Enter -FullScan in the Add arguments box (no quotation marks) and click next

6.) Check the “Open the Properties dialog for this task…” box and click Finish

7.) Change the account to "system" and then click on the Conditions tab, and check the “Wake the computer to run this task” box (this is what prevents the PC from sleeping) and Click OK

GreginMich

Answer 3

Yes, well,,. there are various setting for sleep mode and so on in the option already given. Instead of selecting "never" if one has some reason not to want the computer to stay awake...saving battery power on a laptop or whatever.

Only question is...will the full scan be done in five hours? Depends on the GB or TB size of your hard drive and how much is actually IN USE.  But one would certainly hope so.

Still, one can always change it back after the scan completes to the "sleep setting" one wants. This ain't brain surgery, after all....

Answer 4

How can I prevent my computer from going to "sleep or standby" , during a full or deep scan. Thanks for answer.

In Windows 8/8.1/10, Windows Defender has authentic real-time protection (on-access file scanning) and a Quick Scan is automatically performed as part of the daily Automatic Maintenance regimen. With that level of background protection, you honestly don’t need to be running Full Scans on a regular basis. I’m an avowed environmentalist, so it's hard for me to even imagine turning off the main Windows power-saving feature in order to deal with an issue that can just as easily be managed by running occasional Full Scans when you’re active on the PC.  Also, people who are willing to put a little effort into managing the Sleep setting, as opposed to just turning it off, will find some easy-to-implement technical solutions in this old MSE thread:  

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/protect/forum/mse-protect\_start/while-in-sleep-mode-security-essentials-will-not/4beb26be-ed1d-4793-8b75-e4cb8991aee5

Those solutions can still be applied, mutatis mutandis, in Windows Defender. If you’d rather just take the easy way out and change your settings, then good old common sense should tell you that you don’t really need to change the Screen setting at all, because that setting has absolutely no effect on the scan; and common sense should also tell you that the Sleep setting only needs to be a little longer than the time it takes for the scan to run. You know it's true what say about this; you should never say “Never, Never”.

GreginMich

Answer 5

Change your Power Settings.

Some of this information might vary slightly depending on which version of Windows you are using. I am using Windows 10 so the steps may differ but the destination will be the same for 8.1 and so on back to XP really.

Right click anywhere on your desktop. Click on "Personalize"  Click "Lock Screen" scroll down that page until you come to the words "Screen Time Out Settings" and click on that.

At this stage you should be looking at this:

Make sure both settings are set to "Never" by using the down arrow on the right.

Alternatively you can go to "Control Panel" "Hardware and Sound" "Power Options" and make the adjustments from there.

Which will give you this: