How to Schedule Automatic Windows Antivirus Scan

Most of the operating systems of our devices need an antivirus installed for obvious security reasons. However, there are some operating systems that require this additional software more, while others can almost do without it. It is very likely that you know that Windows is one of the most prone to attacks, hence the imperative need to have a security solution installed.

First of all, it is interesting to know that Redmond’s own operating system in its most current version, Windows 10, has its own antivirus . Although many users still do not trust it, the truth is that it does not stop improving and is more than comparable to other external solutions. With everything and with this, and in their right they are, many users prefer to use third-party antivirus belonging to veteran companies in the sector.

Schedule Automatic Windows Antivirus Scan

Be that as it may, as we tell you, it is advisable to have a solution of these characteristics to protect ourselves against potential attacks. Despite the fact that sometimes they consume more resources than desired, are annoying, take up a lot of disk space, these antivirus can save us more than one annoyance.

Why should I use the antivirus scheduling function

These programs present us with a good number of method functions for analyzing our disk drives and data. Therefore, it is also important how we act with the software and thus get the most out of it. With this, what we want to tell you is that it is advisable to adapt the program to our needs and modes of use. At the same time, it is important that we use the additional functions that these security programs usually present to us.

This is where elements such as a firewall, a password manager, anti-ransomware tools, banking data protection, etc. come into play. But here we want to focus on a functionality that practically all of these solutions have available and that it is important that we use it. Specifically, we refer to the analysis programming function that this software presents. As you can imagine, this function allows us to specify the hours, days and type of analysis that we want to be executed periodically.

With this, what we achieve is to forget about the antivirus itself since it is running in the background, and also performs the analysis by itself. All we have to think about is when it is best for us to put it into operation, and the type of analysis, more or less deep, that we want to carry out. It is worth mentioning that this is something that we find in almost all current antivirus and that we recommend using.

Schedule Windows Defender scans

In the event that we use Windows 10 and surf the Internet regularly, it is highly recommended to use protection software, as we discussed. But we have already told you that it is not necessary to install, in these times, third-party solutions. Windows 10 comes with built-in antivirus protection called Windows Defender that has come to become a great security solution in recent years.

Windows Defender scan types

Therefore, we can say that Windows Defender is one of the easiest ways to check if our PC has security problems. First of all, we must know that this is a software that has several analysis modes.

  • Quick scan: this mode scans the PC for threats and security problems in the locations where malicious content is commonly found.
  • Full scan: here the antivirus scans the entire operating system for threats and security problems. It should be noted that in this case the process may take more than an hour, all depending on various parameters. Aspects such as the number of files we have or the equipment’s hardware come into play here.
  • Custom scan: with this mode what we can do is analyze a folder or folders that we want in search of threats and security problems .
  • Offline scan: to finish this mode it helps us detect viruses that may be difficult to remove during the regular scans discussed above.

To say that to access all this that we are discussing and use it first-hand, we only have to open the Windows 10 Configuration application, we access it through the Win + I key combination, and then go to the section Update and security.

Actualización y seguridad

Next, we just have to go to Windows Security in the left pane of the window and click on Open Windows Security.

Schedule your PC scan with Windows Defender

Before we have mentioned that most antivirus have their own automated scan scheduling function. However, the striking thing about the issue is that the security solution that we mentioned is integrated into Windows 10, it does not have a programmer as such. However, we have a useful solution to control Windows Defender scans.

In the event that we are one of those who want to have everything under control and choose when we want the processes to run on our computer, this interests you. Especially if we talk about antivirus, since we generally prefer that these do not interfere with our work. Therefore, below we are going to talk about the steps to follow to schedule the periodic analysis of Windows Defender . This will allow us to keep our equipment protected and that the software does not affect our day to day with Windows.

The first thing we do is open the Windows 10 Task Scheduler. To achieve this we can do it from the system search box by precisely typing Task Scheduler.

abrir programador de tareas

Next, in the left panel we display the Task Scheduler Library option. At that moment we have to go to the Microsoft / Windows option and scroll down until we find Windows Defender.

programador defender

Then, we click twice on Windows Defender Scheduled Scan Properties, select and go to the Triggers tab. We scroll down to click on the button called New. Here we will have the opportunity to schedule how often we want the Windows Defender scan to run.

desencadenadores defender

Therefore, we only have to specify the days of the week and the hours at which we want Windows Defender to start up on its own. Once we have created this new automated task, we accept the changes so that they are saved and we can only wait.