Windows Defender Quick scan hangs

[TortuousAugur]

I recently had some issues with Skype sending links to all my contacts so I changed my password and performed a scan with Windows Defender (steps that are presented on Skype's FAQ/Tech Support website), but everytime I scan it hangs/freezes and does not complete. I was watching it the whole time it scanned and I could hear the tower's light clicking noise as it looked through my HDD. The sound stopped as soon as the "Items scanned" number froze and has been sitting in this state for at least thirty minutes.

I've done a couple generic things I've found on other forums like running

sfc /scannow

(which showed corrupted files that were unable to be fixed) and

[COLOR=#333333][FONT=Segoe UI]dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth[/FONT][/COLOR]

which reported back that all files were fixed but Defender is still hanging, and I don't know what is causing it.

I also found a post on sevenforums.com that said removing a few Windows updates that caused Defender to hang would fix an issue that is very similar to what I'm experiencing but I have not done this, as I didn't know their importance. These updates are listed here:

[COLOR=#323232][FONT=verdana]KB2876229 SKYPE[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#323232][FONT=verdana]KB2923545[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#323232][FONT=verdana]KB2970228[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#323232][FONT=verdana]KB2977728[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#323232][FONT=verdana]KB2978092[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#323232][FONT=verdana]KB2994023[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#323232][FONT=verdana]KB3022345[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#323232][FONT=verdana]KB3035583[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#323232][FONT=verdana]KB2990214[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#323232][FONT=verdana]KB3021917[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#323232][FONT=verdana]KB2952664[/FONT][/COLOR]

On a possibly related matter, my computer will randomly freeze up and require me to soft reset by use of the reset button on the front of the case.

Booting also sometimes hangs at the loading screen (Screen shows ASUS logo and a number of small dots that appear and loop to form a circle then disappear) requiring I reset again or it will reboot on it's own after an extended period of time. Often times this boots the computer into a system recovery boot mode where it runs a diagnostic and recovery routine, but 90% of the time I get a BSOD-esque screen that says something failed (I forget the exact error message, but think it had something to do with a specific Windows file...) and requires a reboot.


Thanks in advance!

 

[TechnoMage]

I've not had that exact problem with my own Windows 8.1 Pro, but I've had other really weird problems that defied resolution.

I won't bore you with the details, but when I get something like that, I have two possible ways to resolve the problem.
1. Is to use System Restore, to revert my OS back to a previous day, and failing that to provide a Fix, see #2.
2. I would restore my last "C: drive" backup image file, saved to my 1TB External hard drive.

A very last resort, would be to back up all my data files and reinstall Windows. That will fix all the problems, even those that you don't know about yet.

In fact I had to do #2 today, when some nasty POC rode in on a download and disabled all my Security Software.

The message in my signature line isn't just for fun..... it's what I live by.

Apparently, you have corrupted/broken files on your hard drive. You didn't mention running "CHKDSK /f", so I have to assume that you didn't.
I'd do that next! (from an elevated command prompt)

Cheers Mate!
TechnoMage *