Defender update frequency normal?

Hey Stitch194,
That Windows Defender Verification Task stops when the computer ceases to be idle, at least that's how mine is set. Now what MS considers "idle" to be .. your guess is good as mine. I wasn't using my Desktop and all the default Defender Task ran, so I would say it was idle. However, I was using my Laptop and the only one that ran was the Windows Defender Verification Task ... that's how I determined it was Windows Defender Verification Task that kicked off the Windows Modules Installer creating a restore point .. well that and the time stamp :)


Note: I say all the default Defender Task ran .... the default Windows Defender Scheduled Scan never completes successfully, always 0x2 and it's conditions are the same as the others ... go figure ...

Eagle51 said:

Hey Stitch194,
That Windows Defender Verification Task stops when the computer ceases to be idle, at least that's how mine is set. Now what MS considers "idle" to be .. your guess is good as mine. I wasn't using my Desktop and all the default Defender Task ran, so I would say it was idle. However, I was using my Laptop and the only one that ran was the Windows Defender Verification Task ... that's how I determined it was Windows Defender Verification Task that kicked off the Windows Modules Installer creating a restore point .. well that and the time stamp :)


Note: I say all the default Defender Task ran .... the default Windows Defender Scheduled Scan never completes successfully, always 0x2 and it's conditions are the same as the others ... go figure ...

Good catch Eagle51. Explains why there's only one restore point per day as that's the frequency for the 'verification task', as well as the time stamp.


As for the automatic scan and the 0x2 -- that was first reported to Microsoft after the Anniversary Update some two years ago and has never been addressed. Complaints are all over the Feedback Hub and MS forums.

Well It's back to square one. Manual update of Defender definitions today created a restore point.
Eagle51 My task is set to "Run whether user logged on or not.

Stitch194 said:

Well It's back to square one. Manual update of Defender definitions today created a restore point.
Eagle51 My task is set to "Run whether user logged on or not.

Hi Stitch194. So far today, Windows Defender has updated four times -- three manually and one automatically. A new restore point was added at 1:32PM -- the exact time the verification task ran. On my rig, definition updates are not putting in restore points -- only the verification task is doing it.

Well It's back to square one. Manual update of Defender definitions today created a restore point.
Eagle51 My task is set to "Run whether user logged on or not.

1. Yes ... mine is to, I was referring to the Conditions > Stop if computer ceases to be idle.
2. Defender has been updated twice today (1 auto and 1 manual) ... no restore point has been created and the Defender Verification Task hasn't run.
3. I was under the impression that the 4 Default Defender Task are kicked off by the Automatic Maintenance, but my Automatic Maintenance is set for 2:00 AM. On my Desktop all 4 ran at 6:38 PM and on my Laptop the Verification ran at 5:58 PM and the other 3 ran at 8:26 PM .... so much for that idea ... lol

@Eagle51 -- the four Defender tasks are supposed to run during automatic maintenance but they never do. In fact, my auto maintenance is set for 2AM and it's never run at that time. It runs when it needs to when my desktop is idle. And, the Defender tasks will run at different times depending upon computer use. As stated above, the auto scan for Defender always gets the 0x2 error. The Defender auto scan will often run if I restart my computer and leave it idle. Otherwise, I just do a manual scan.

the four Defender tasks are supposed to run during automatic maintenance but they never do. In fact, my auto maintenance is set for 2AM and it's never run at that time. It runs when it needs to when my desktop is idle. And, the Defender tasks will run at different times depending upon computer use. As stated above, the auto scan for Defender always gets the 0x2 error. The Defender auto scan will often run if I restart my computer and leave it idle. Otherwise, I just do a manual scan.

Yea, but I'd think that if your PC was really idle (no 3rd party stuff running, no user input, etc) and Auto Maintenance ran at 2:00 AM ... that the 4 default Defender Task would/should run sometime after 2:00 AM ... when all the other maintenance stuff was done (say an hour or so after) ... not in the PM ... but that's just me :)
Some times the default Defender Scan does run on my PC's, but I have my on task set up to do a SignatureUpdate and QuickScan at 6:00 AM everyday and I usually run a Full Scan manually once a month.

I guess the bottom line is .... I/we don't really know what MS is up to with Defender ... lol

@Eagle51 -- I agree with you. Problem is, the 2AM auto maintenance has never run on my desktop, which at that time is on the default power setting -- hybrid sleep. It never wakes up for maintenance even though it's set to do so -- just does it when it wants. Bottom line, MS is doing something with Defender and you're right, we just don't know.

Crizal said:

@Eagle51 -- I agree with you. Problem is, the 2AM auto maintenance has never run on my desktop, which at that time is on the default power setting -- hybrid sleep. It never wakes up for maintenance even though it's set to do so -- just does it when it wants. Bottom line, MS is doing something with Defender and you're right, we just don't know.

Whatever MS is up to both the Home and Pro versions have the same issues with daily restore points.