Windows 10: I'm running a full scan and it's taking over 30 hours to complete.

I'm running a full virus scan and the more files it scans the higher the estimated completion time goes. It's now over 30 hours.

:)

 

Quick scan takes hours to complete

Hi BTC55,

Do you notice where Windows Defender takes most time? You might want to check if there's an update waiting for that specific apps or file. Here's how:

• Go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > Check for updates.
• Wait for the scan to complete and see which updates are found.
• Install every important updates found and restart your PC once it's done.

Most of the time, Windows scans your device regularly when it is not in use so it doesn't interfere with your work. But you can always choose or schedule Windows Defender Antivirus to scan ar a time and frequency that you choose.

Keep us posted with the result. I will be glad to help you.

 

Quick scan takes hours to complete

It is not uncommon for some security scans to take many hours while others finish quickly.

The speed and ability to complete an anti-virus or anti-malware
scan depends on a variety of factors.

• The program itself and how its scanning engine is designed to scan: using a signature database vs heuristic scanning or a combination of both...see
  
  How an Anti-virus Program Works.
• Options to scan for rootkits, adware, riskware and potentially unwanted programs (PUPS).
• Options to scan memory, boot sectors, registry and alternate data streams (ADS).
• Type of scan performed: Deep, Quick or Custom scanning.
• What action has to be performed when malware is detected.
• A computer's hard drive size.
• Disk size and used capacity (number of files that have to be scanned).
• Types of files (.exe, .dll, .sys, .cab, archived, compressed, packed, email, etc) that are scanned.
• Whether external drives are included in the scan.
• Competition for and utilization of system/CPU resources by the scanner.
• Other running processes and programs in the background.
• Whether the scanning engine stalls, hangs or freezes.
• Interference from malware.
• Interference from other security programs attempting to scan at the same time.
• Interference from other programs attempting to update (download/install) components from the Internet.
• Interference from the user (whether or not you use the computer during the scan).

To speed up a scan,
temporarily disable any other real-time protection tools you are using, close all open programs,
do not use the computer during the scan and perform a Quick Scan instead of a Full one. You can also speed up a scan by using file exclusions...What
Files Should You Exclude?.

 

full scan is taking at ;east 12 hours to complete

guess it would depend on the size of your hard drives and speed of your machine I have 3 TB and it only took 3 hours