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

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• 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

 

[Brink]

Yep, they all look fine to me as well.

I was just explaining why you would have seen that the task may run at a different time that what you had scheduled. If the task fails or is unable to run at the scheduled time, the checked "Run task as soon as possible after a scheduled start is missed" option will have the task run later when able. That's all.

I'm not sure what is stopping or preventing the task from running at the exact time you scheduled it to run. Do you have anything else running or scheduled to run at that time that may be causing it to be stopped?

As a test, you might change the time to when you will be on the computer to monitor it's activities to see if something stands out.

 

[TonyB]

hmmm i do have superantispyware but its a on demand thing only but it dose sit in my task bar. and i have malwarebytes as another on demand scanner. i had those on there from when i got a virus the company left them on for me but there all on demand scanners. i can change it to a another time like 3 am and see if it dose that.

 

[TonyB]

still having this issue of it trying to run at a time i dont have it set it has several logs of it starting and terminating and so on any way to reset the scan back to default? and just have the maintnance take care of it or re do it.

 

[Brink]

Hey Tony,

By default, the "Run task as soon as possible after a scheduled start is missed" option will have the task run later when it's able to. It's nothing to worry about it.

 

[TonyB]

so i looked at the task scheduler there is nothing else starting at that time in there 3 am is very strange i have my stuff set to run on a sunday at 3 am. and whatever is triggering this windows defender to start every day of the week at various times and terminating itself is very strange. and what is wired i can trigger my task from the Maintenance section in action center. so what i think is happening and again this is pure speculation is that the action center Maintenance schedule is trying to run this thing every day, and it starts then terminates it?

Read if you like i was posting when you were but you just confirmed my suspicions lol.

 

[Brink]

Yeah, the automatic maintenance will perform a WD scan as well.

 

[TonyB]

thats what i thought i wonder why its terminating itself lol maybe going to long or something.

i just started it from maintenance center to see if it terminates itself.

 

[Brink]

If the computer has a lot of activity during automatic maintenance, it may be terminated until later or next schedule when there's not so much activity.

 

[TonyB]

I can't belive i have to re do this windows 8.1 deleted it.

 

[Brink]

Yeah, unfortunately with an OS upgrade/update, it resets system features.

If you like, you should be able to export the Windows Defender Scheduled Scan task as a backup to be able to import (restore) as needed in the future.

 

[AlanWade]

Excellant tutorial Shawn, does defender automatically update its definitions or do I have to do that manually?

 

[Brink]

Hello Alan,

Windows Defender definition updates are provided as important updates in Windows Update. If you have Windows Update set to automatically install updates, then the definition updates will get installed automatically at the time you have set for automatic maintenance if the computer is turned on at the time.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...-automatic-updating-turn-off-windows-8-a.html

You could still also manually check for and install any update as usual though.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[AlanWade]

The Windows updates are set to automatic so were good to go. Thanks for rthe help Shawn. Greatly appreciated.

Alan

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Alan.

 

[hotrippr]

Hello. Is there any way to schedule 2 instances? For example a weekly full scan and a daily quick scan? Sorry if this has already been addressed but I think I did read the whole thread and didn't see it mentioned, but it's late and I am tired. Thanks.

PS: Maybe it would be a good idea include a recommendation to export the setting as an optional step in the tutorial, just some friendly advice as people sometimes forget to do so on their own.

 

[Brink]

Hello hottrippr,

Sure, you could just do the tutorial twice to create two new tasks. One task for a weekly full scan, and a second task for a daily quick scan.

 

[hotrippr]

Hello hottrippr,

Sure, you could just do the tutorial twice to create two new tasks. One task for a weekly full scan, and a second task for a daily quick scan.

Thanks for the reply. Okay weird...I created a new task called Windows Defender Scheduled Full Scan and left the default task with the quick setting. The quick one shows in the action center icon normally as well as in Defender itself, you can see what it's doing. But the Full scan one doesn't show in the action center icon nor in Defender. However, looking at Defender after I ended the task it showed that a full Scan was indeed initiated at the time it had been scheduled for. It seems to be running as if it were in stealth mode or something.

 

[Brink]

Yeah, it runs in the background under a command instead of directly in Windows Defender.

 

[hotrippr]

Ok. Thanks, I figured that it had something to do with the task being user created versus being created by system maintenance. Happy to have 2 reliable tasks now, and not depending on Maintenance, which I don't think I have ever seen complete its job besides when running it manually.

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome.