Windows 10: Support Assist Hardware Scan taking hours to complete

I have an Inspiron 7375 Windows 10. My laptop was running slow, apps would take long to open, mail app would open only to close on its own, etc. I checked for updates and one driver needed to get installed. After doing so I still ran through the same issues. I went into Support Assist and ran a Hardware Scan. 4 hours later, the screen is still black with this graphic of a pipe and this green wavey animation going up and down. What is the deal with this?

:)

 

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?.

 

I'm running a full scan and it's taking over 30 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).

In most cases when performing routine security checks, only a Quick Scan is needed since it checks the areas of your computer most likely to contain malware...the most prevalent and common places where malware typically hides. A
Full Scan is much more comprehensive and can take a long time since it checks the entire hard drive (all folders/files) which can number in the thousands. The length of time for performing this type of scan varies because it is so comprehensive
and therefore can take several hours. As such, a Full scan is generally recommended only for heavily infected systems...showing obvious indications (signs
of infection and
malware symptoms) that something is wrong.