Windows Security hangs on Full Scan?

slipd · 16 Aug 2023 at 13:42

Hi guys,

I've had a bit of time on my hands this week so decided to do a bit of system maintenance... I appear to have an issue with Security, I've tried several times now, and after updates, sfc etc., and I still can't get it to complete.

From memory, I've sure I used to run Full Scans and they'd take about an hour? My current attempts just appear to be hanging at varying stages of the scan.

Any ideas?

slipd · 16 Aug 2023 at 15:48

Update: might the scan have even finished, I get a system tray notification to say scanning complete - no issues etc., but the graphic on the app still appears frozen. It freezes on different numbers so I can't see it being one file or particular lot of files that are causing the issue.

CrimsonAvenger · 17 Aug 2023 at 16:31

Does SFC complete with no errors ?

Worth running chkdsk possibly too ?

Philtor · 18 Aug 2023 at 00:10

Are you using a SSD I assume?

Have you checked the health on it and for any available firmware updates?

What about 3rd party software such as Bitdefender (free version) does that do the same?

Checking the drive health and error checking would be a good starting point.

slipd · 21 Aug 2023 at 20:14

Thanks guys! Yes, using a SN850, which is definitely up to date.

I'm using Malwarebytes Pro (free sub from NatWest) in conjunction, maybe that's causing an issue?

I will check drive integrity later

Thanks for the suggestions!

slipd · 24 Aug 2023 at 21:10

SFC and CKH completed, nothing to report - Full Scan still seems to hang...

My rig doesn't sleep but does lock after 10 minutes, I reason I mention that is because all the time I'm watching the scan, or it's in the background, it's fine

Quick Scan, no problem.

Puzzled · 28 Aug 2023 at 09:22

slipd said:
SFC and CKH completed, nothing to report - Full Scan still seems to hang...

My rig doesn't sleep but does lock after 10 minutes, I reason I mention that is because all the time I'm watching the scan, or it's in the background, it's fine

Quick Scan, no problem.

Mine does the same, no idea why.
No other av software installed and like you say the notifications say it has finished

slipd · 28 Aug 2023 at 09:47

Puzzled said:
Mine does the same, no idea why.
No other av software installed and like you say the notifications say it has finished

It's weird isn't it... I'm pretty sure it must have happened since a recent-ish update? I can recall it being fine a couple of months back.

Philtor · 31 Aug 2023 at 21:17

It’s normal behaviour for M$ to bork updates these days and then fix it afterwards.

If it all worked perfect, then the developers would be busking at your local train station

Puzzled · 21 Sep 2023 at 22:56

Is yours still doing this? Tempted to factory reset to get it working again

slipd · 21 Sep 2023 at 22:59

Puzzled said:
Is yours still doing this? Tempted to factory reset to get it working again

I haven't tried it for a couple of weeks but the last time I ran it, it worked but I was actively working on my PC the whole time.

I've got a sneaky suspicion that Malwarebytes Premium might also be conflicting with it.

I'll try again this weekend and also see if my Windows 11 hobby build behaves in the same way.

theforce · 21 Sep 2023 at 23:37

Doesn't Malwarebytes Pro disable Windows Defender? Try disabling Malwarebytes realtime protection before running a scan with Defender.

Puzzled · 22 Sep 2023 at 23:58

Did a full reset of Win 11 and it still does the same thing, no other antivirus installed.

theforce · 23 Sep 2023 at 17:31

Either a clean installation of Windows or just another free AV solution if a clean installation is too much of a hassle.

Puzzled · 24 Sep 2023 at 16:49

Think its just a display issue, after changing the power settings to keep the screen on (system sleep was already disabled) it finishes the scan as normal.

Just seems to freeze on the scanning progress when the display turns off for some reason.