Windows Defender Scheduled Scan - Set Up in Windows 8

How to Set Up Windows Defender to Scan on a Schedule in Windows 8 and 8.1​

   Information

This tutorial will show you how to run a quick or full scan of your system with Windows Defender on a schedule you set in Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows 8.1, and Windows RT 8.1.

You must be signed in as an administrator to be able to do the steps in this tutorial.

   Note

The Windows Defender scheduled scan will run in the background of Windows 8 at the time you set it to run. When it is running, you will notice the Action Center icon on the taskbar notification area will display the black maintenance icon under it like below. You can click/tap on the Action Center icon, and click/tap on Scheduled Scan link to open Windows Defender to see what it's doing if you like.

Here's How:

1. Press the Windows + R keys to open the Run dialog, type taskschd.msc, and press Enter.

2. If prompted by UAC, then click/tap on Yes.

3. In the left pane of Task Scheduler, double click/tap on Task Scheduler Library, Microsoft, and Windows folders to expand them, then open the Windows Defender folder. (see screenshot below)

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4. In the middle pane of Windows Defender, double click/tap on the Windows Defender Scheduled Scan task. (see screenshot above)

5. Click/tap on the Triggers tab, and click/tap on the New button. (see screenshot below)

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6. While using On a schedule, select and set when (ex: One Time, Daily, Weekly, or Monthly) and how often you would like the scheduled task to run. Make sure Enabled is checked, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)

   Warning

It is recommended to use either the Daily or Weekly setting. The schedule will not run if you use the Monthly setting.

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7. Click/tap on the Actions tab, and click/tap on the Edit button. (see screenshot below)

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8. Under Program/script, make sure that the default path is wrapped in quotes like below. It's not by default. (see screenshot below)

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9. To the left of Add arguments (optional), copy and paste the argument in the table below to have Windows Defender run a quick or full scan when scheduled, then click/tap on OK. (see screenshot above)
NOTE: The default argument is for a quick scan.

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Argument	Description
Scan -ScheduleJob	Quick Scan
Scan -ScheduleJob -ScanType 2	Full Scan

10. Click/tap on the Conditions tab, and set the Power options for if you want this task to be able to run on AC power, batter power, and able to wake the computer to run, then click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)

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11. After a brief pause, you will now notice the Triggers and Next Run Time you set at step 5 and 6 appear for the Windows Defender Scheduled Scan task. (see screenshot below)

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12. You can now close Task Scheduler if you like. Windows Defender will now scan on a schedule you set.

   Tip

To make changes to the Windows Defender scheduled scan anytime you like, you can just repeat the steps above, but at step 5 you would click/tap on Edit instead of New.

That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Add a "Windows Defender" Cascading Desktop Context Menu in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Create a "Windows Defender" Shortcut in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Add "Scan with Windows Defender" for Files and Folders in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Turn Windows Defender On or Off in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Turn Windows Defender Real-time Protection On or Off in Windows 8 and 8.1

 

[Raident]

This didn't work for me. After setting this up and waiting until the scheduled time, the Last Run Result shows (0x2) and there was no indication that a scheduled scan was running (CPU usage is idle in Task Manager, Action Center shows nothing, etc.).

I then attempted to execute the scheduled task manually, but after running for a minute or two (which is way too short for a full scan to have completed) I get the same (0x2) result.

Any ideas?

 

[Brink]

Hello Raident,

Please go ahead and post screenshots showing what you have at each step in the tutorial to see if anything may be off by mistake.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2598-screenshots-files-upload-post-eight-forums.html

 

[Raident]

Here are the screenshots:

 

[Brink]

I don't see any problems in your screenshots.

What time do you have automatic maintenance set to run? By default, it's 2AM as well, and could be interfering with and cancelling this WD task giving you the 0x2.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...-change-maintenance-settings-windows-8-a.html


Since the WD task to run a full scan will take a while to finish, it would be best to have it scheduled to run after automatic maintenance, or way before automatic maintenance so that the full scan will have time to finish first. The time for automatic maintenance varies per system, but I would allow it about 2-3 hours to be safe. A WD full scan just varies to much per system to be able to give a time frame on it though.

 

[Raident]

This is strange... Automatic Maintenance says it's scheduled to run at 3:00 AM, yet the last run time according to Action Center is at 1/5/2014 2:19 AM.

Either way, I'll try changing the Windows Defender scan time to midnight for now. I'll let you know if it helps or not.

 

[Brink]

That can happen if automatic maintenance failed to run at the scheduled time, and throws the time to run the task off a bit.

Of course the computer will need to be turned on and running, or asleep and set to wake the computer, to be able to run the WD task.

 

[Raident]

No luck - I'm still getting (0x2) errors

 

[Brink]

Does it run when you manually run the task yet?

 

[Raident]

Nope. The scheduled task is completely broken. The only way I can start a scan is by going into the Windows Defender UI and pressing the Scan Now button.

[Edit] Spoke too soon - the moment I plugged in the AC adapter, the scheduled scan started running. Could it be that Windows Defender itself has some kind of built-in requirement for AC power that overrides whatever I set on the "Conditions" tab?

 

[Brink]

Interesting. Having the top two boxes unchecked under Power in your screenshot below should allow it to be able to run under battery power instead of just while plugged in.

 

[carrot]

Thanks very much for this how to, can't believe they removed this feature in Windows 8...

I have the same problem above, with the task not running when on battery, I have mine set to the same in you last pic. Was wondering if you had any other ideas?
As soon as I plug it in the task runs no problems.

 

[Brink]

Hello carrot, and welcome to Eight Forums.

I must admit that I'm not sure why the task doesn't run for you when on battery if you have it set to allow it to.

 

[carrot]

Thanks for the welcome.
No worries, will see if I can create a new task from scratch, see if that will work.

 

[bru]

I had to refresh my computer so I had to schedule this task again. I have it set to run a Quick Scan Daily at 6:00 PM. It does run at that time but I have noticed that it also runs at least one other Quick Scan, usually not too long after I wake up the computer in the morning.

I could understand it running if the scheduled task is missed as I do have "run task as soon as possible after a scheduled start is missed" but like I said it does run at 6:00 PM. And if it didn't I would expect it to run sometime after 6:00 PM when I am on the computer, not 10:00 AM the next day.

It did not do this prior to the refresh so it must be how I set up the task but I'm pretty sure I have it set correct and how it was previous. Any ideas?

 

[Brink]

Hey Bru,

Not sure. If you like, post screenshots of all your settings for this to see if anything may stand out.

 

[bru]

Hey Bru,

Not sure. If you like, post screenshots of all your settings for this to see if anything may stand out.

Having trouble with attachments. Hold on while I try to fix.

OK. I think this shows all the settings. In the first you can see how it ran today at 10:30 AM.

I also have a task scheduled to update the definitions. I don't think it is causing this though. Today it updated the definitions at 9:58 AM and the Quick Scan then ran at 10:30 AM, even though it had run yesterday at 6:00 PM. I have seen some different ways to set the argument, right now I have "Scan -ScheduleJob" so not sure if that could be it.

Barring anything obvious in my settings I may have to delete and redo the task and see if it fixes it.

 

[Brink]

I suppose it could be part of the "Automatic Maintenance" schedule.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...-change-maintenance-settings-windows-8-a.html

If you like, you could temporarily disable Automatic Maintenance to test and see if it still does the other scan afterwards.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/34374-automatic-maintenance-enable-disable-windows-8-a.html

 

[bru]

I suppose it could be part of the "Automatic Maintenance" schedule.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...-change-maintenance-settings-windows-8-a.html

If you like, you could temporarily disable Automatic Maintenance to test and see if it still does the other scan afterwards.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/34374-automatic-maintenance-enable-disable-windows-8-a.html

Thanks may try that. I just checked and it shows scheduled maintenance just ran at 11:46 AM. So it seems it may not be involved. Before the refresh I don't remember ever seeing a last scan run time other than around 6:00 PM but I didn't look that often, so maybe it was always doing it. Scanning two times a day isn't the worst thing, but I still may delete and redo the task to see if it changes anything.

 

[Bengie]

This is also relevant for Windows 10 and can be scheduled exactly as described here.

 

[Brink]

Thank you Bengie.