Windows 10 Defender scanning downloaded files

Running Win10 Home 64bit on a MSI Z270-A PRO motherboard, i7-6700, 16 GB ram.
This is a new build for me and I just installed Win10 Home and did all updates.

When I download programs with Defender running, do I have to manually scan the file before installing the program?

When I tried to manually scan a downloaded program using the following method, it doesn't show results of the scan:

• Rt click the file name.
• In the pop up menu, click "Scan with Windows Defender"
• A window pops up showing "Full Scan", "Custom Scan" and "Windows defender offline scan", but no results of the individual file scan.

Thanks for any ideas.

Ztruker said:

When I right click on a file in the Downloads Folder and select Scan with Windows Defender I get this:
.... Nothing happens until I click on Quick Scan.

Nothing appears to happen because that window waits for the scan to complete before it opens. It's actually telling you the results of the scan once it completed, highlighted here:



The 25 files scanned were those inside the file you scanned, probably an installer or a .zip.

Ztruker said:

When I right click on a file in the Downloads Folder and select Scan with Windows Defender I get this:



Nothing happens until I click on Quick Scan.

Thanks Ztruker,
When I rt click a xxxxx.exe file and then click Scan with Windows Defender I get this:

As far as I can see, there is no result of the scan or whether the scan even happened.

Thanks,
mck

When I right click and scan a file, I get the result and the option to run more scans:
Attachment 212460

Steve C said:

When I right click and scan a file, I get the result and the option to run more scans:
Attachment 212460

Hi Steve,

I got a screen like yours one time during my testing but never again over a LOT of follow up testing. I have no clue why. I never get the "Threats found" and "Files scanned" info anymore no matter which file I try to scan.

I wonder if it's even necessary to scan files that are downloaded. AFAIK, Win10 Defender is supposed to have real-time protection so does it auto scan every file that is downloaded regardless of which browser is used to download? I'm running Firefox by the way.

My version of Win10 is: Version 1803 (OS Build 17134.407)
Run "winver" to see this.

Thanks for contributing,
mck

mck said:

Hi Steve,

I got a screen like yours one time during my testing but never again over a LOT of follow up testing. I have no clue why. I never get the "Threats found" and "Files scanned" info anymore no matter which file I try to scan.

I wonder if it's even necessary to scan files that are downloaded. AFAIK, Win10 Defender is supposed to have real-time protection so does it auto scan every file that is downloaded regardless of which browser is used to download? I'm running Firefox by the way.

My version of Win10 is: Version 1803 (OS Build 17134.407)
Run "winver" to see this.

Thanks for contributing,
mck

I have the same build as you. I think Defender does scan downloaded files but I scan them again anyway before installing to be sure.

I scan downloads with Malwarebytes.