Windows Defender full scan gets stuck

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Guest

I have a relatively new laptop with Vista on it. Twice I've tried to run the
full scan on Windows Defender and both times it gets stuck after about 20
mins. I did not keep any info on the first time but on the second time, it
got stuck after 21 mins for about 30 mins. It has scanned 1229727 objects
and the object it was stuck on was
C:\SwSetup\WLASST\Disk1\WAAISetup.log->(UTF-16LE). I could not stop the scan
so I had to exit using task manager. The Definition version is 1.20.2825.10.

I have quick scan scheduled every day and it appears to be working.

Any help would be welcomed.
 
how big is this log file in size ? just check up if unchecking the scan
archives and use heuristics options resolves the isuue...temporarily atleast.
btw run a good freeware cleaner like ccleaner too and then scan.
 
Apologies for being ignorant, where do I find the log file size and where do
I find the screen to uncheck the scan archives, etc?
 
anandk said:
how big is this log file in size ? just check up if unchecking the scan
archives and use heuristics options resolves the isuue...temporarily
atleast.
btw run a good freeware cleaner like ccleaner too and then scan.
Click to expand...

ccleaner doesn't work on Vista64 for me. Spybot S&D does though.
 
Hello Nick,

So does the same thing happen when you reboot into Safe Mode to then run a
Full scan ?
How to start Windows in Safe Mode
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial61.html


Have you run a check disk (CHKDSK /F /R) on your hard drive recently. Run a
defrag etc.

FYI
The quick scan is very useful. It looks at all of the actively running
processes on the machine, as well as files that are pointed to by the
various registry entries and other locations used by spyware to start
automatically or otherwise interfere with your system.

If you have a particular piece of spyware or other unwanted software that is
detected by Windows Defender, the vast majority of the time it should be
detected by the quick scan.

The full scan, in addition to performing all of the checks in a quick scan,
also examines every single file on your system. This is a quite
time-consuming operation if you have a lot of files.

I would always start with a quick scan - if it gives you a clean bill of
health, you can be pretty confident in the results. If the quick scan finds
anything, you probably should follow it up with a full scan to find any
additional junk that the malicious software dropped on your machine that may
have been missed by the quick scan. It's also a good idea to schedule the
full scan to happen periodically (every night, for instance) at a time when
you are not typically using your computer and the added time to scan all of
the files won't be noticed.

I hope this post is helpful, but we would highly appreciate it if you could
rate the pºst, so we can keep the community informed and saves somebody
else the hours of trawling through the web trying to find a solution.
- -- ---
 
Hi Engel,

The full scan worked in safe mode.

I was not able to run chkdsk I went into cmd screen and tried running
chkdsk. It said access was denied.

I ran full scan in normal mode. It stopped at the 21 minute mark. It has
scanned 1229683 objects and the object it was stuck on was
C:\SwSetup\WLASST\Disk1\Setup.exe.

By the way, I have quick scan scheduled daily and defrag scheduled weekly.

I appreciate your point on quick scan being sufficient. It's intriguing
that full scan stops part way through (around the same spot).

Nick
 
Hi Nick,

So experiment--let it sit--don't scan after it--and lets see what happens?

You may have to work at excluding it from the scan, as an interim measure.

Tools, Options, scroll down to Advanced options, and fill the box, by adding
the full path and file name to the Tools/Options/ do not scan box, hit the
add button, and Save.

Do a Full scan in normal mode
-

Good luck
--
 
With regards to chkdsk, you can run the tool by opening Computer,
right-clicking on the drive you want to check, and choosing Properties.
Then click on the Tools tab. To run it from the Command Prompt, right-click
on the Command Prompt shortcut, and choose Run as Administrator.
 
Hi Nick,

;-) I'm sure you will find it if you scroll with the mouse wheel or slicede
the bar down.
 
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