Windows 10, How do I set Windows Defender's scan schedule?

Anonymous
2015-08-08T19:45:15+00:00

I installed the Windows 10 on the 29th of July, 2015 Windows Defender hasn't ran a scan.

I started getting alerts that a scan is necessary to keep Windows 10 protected.

In the settings there's no scan setting like there was on Windows 7

I can manually scan, but I want it to be a full automatic scan every day.

How do I set Windows Defender to run a full auto scan every day?

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Security and privacy

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Anonymous
2015-08-20T18:39:24+00:00

The location of the Automatic Maintenance settings actually did change in Windows 10:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/change-security-and-maintenance-settings-in-windows-10

So this is where you have to go now to change the schedule for the Windows Defender Scheduled Scan task: Right-click on the Start button and choose Control Panel > Security and Maintenance > Maintenance > Change maintenance settings.

It’s been 3 years now, and there are still way too many people (including Microsoft documentation authors) who just can’t quite seem to get a grip on how this works. The fact that the controls for the scheduled scan went missing in the new Windows Defender user interface doesn’t mean that the feature was dropped and that you’ve been left to your own devices – it means that the scheduled scan was reengineered so that it now runs reliably without any user configuration. It’s now fully automatic just like the definition updates. So you don’t have to change any settings at all to get the scan up and running; and you certainly don’t need to add a trigger, or otherwise reconfigure the Windows Defender Scheduled Scan task. This is a system task, and you would be well advised to just leave it alone. Full Scans don’t need to be scheduled, but if that’s something that you really want to do, you can use the Create Basic Task Wizard.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/protect/forum/protect\_defender-protect\_scanning/scan-schedule-for-windows-10/c53a0110-04eb-431e-9bc5-9d6db0ffcff7

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/protect/forum/protect\_defender-protect\_start/how-to-schedule-automatic-virus-scan-in-win-10/64640690-f0f0-4a11-bc7d-c47f232cd9ec

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/protect/forum/protect\_defender-protect\_start/how-do-i-make-windows-defender-start-automatically/b4948f9f-60bb-4829-aecc-cdf646d098a2

GreginMich

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-08-21T19:38:08+00:00

    I installed the Windows 10 on the 29th of July, 2015 Windows Defender hasn't ran a scan.

    I started getting alerts that a scan is necessary to keep Windows 10 protected.

    In the settings there's no scan setting like there was on Windows 7

    I can manually scan, but I want it to be a full automatic scan every day.

    How do I set Windows Defender to run a full auto scan every day?

    In Windows 10, you do not need to setup a custom schedule for full scan for Windows Defender because it is already scheduled to run Quick-San daily. Full system scan uses more system resources for along time witch affects your system performance while it is scanning and you don't need it every day. Moreover, Windows Defender includes RTP, which monitors your computer continuously.

    http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows\_10-security/windows-10-windows-defender-vs-other-third-party/37c133c8-c779-4336-b48a-4390dbcc5ba1

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-08-19T18:22:04+00:00

    All of my updates are there expect for KB3074683, Flashplayer is current.  Upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10 through MS update notice.

    The Anti Virus Program I used in the past was Windows Essential only McAfee on the computer was Site Advisor .

    I do use CC Cleaner and Malware bytes.

    In my Action Center it does not show Mantance.

    When I used Windows Essential under setting you could set schedule scan.  Windows Defender using Windows 10 does not give me that option it just pulls up setting and offers on off.

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