Scan speed

[alicez]

I have MB 2.0.2.1012 (Free) on my laptop, Last week I did a Custom Scan of C and it took 1 hour and 17 minutes.

I haven't used it since then and today when I did a Custom Scan of C it took 2 hours 57 minutes (3 hours). Which is about 2 hours longer since last week with no changes, etc., made to the laptop.

Why 2 hours longer?

[daledoc1]

Hi:

 

Short answer: 

Expected behavior.  Repeat scans run during the same Windows user session will be faster than the first one.  So, if you are logged in to Windows in a new user session, the first scan may take longer than the last scan during the previous session. This is called disk caching.

 

Longer answer:

Time taken to scan is due to a many factors, some of which can be dealt with and others not as easily.
These include:
Size of disk
Disk type
Disk speed
Disk caching
CPU speed
Controller type and speed
Operating System used
Amount of files (including temp files!)
Amount of folders
Amount of archived files such as zip, rar, sfx, etc. (if this is enabled)
Rootkit scan or not (if this is enabled)
PUM/PUP scans
Other security programs running at the same time that may potentially be monitoring all file accesses by any other process.
Drive integrity - if a drive is failing it can take a long time to ignore and bypass sectors on a disk or simply fail period and hang the scan.
Other ongoing disk I/O processes
System infection with malware
Changes in the MBAM database size.

Sometimes a conflict with your antivirus may be possible as well.

You may want to try adding exclusions in your AV - the files that need to be excluded can be found HERE.

Sometimes slowdowns are not due to conflicts between MBAM and the AV, per se, but rather to older hardware, insufficient RAM, cluttered disks, excessively tight security settings, etc.

 

Also: routine "custom" scans of the entire OS boot drive are neither necessary nor recommended.  A Threat scan is all that is needed or recommended on a routine basis.  Frequent "full" scans are not likely to find any live malware and may cause wear and tear on your hard drive.

 

Also, please see here:

https://forums.malwarebytes.org/index.php?/topic/159385-scan-time/

 

Thank you,

[alicez]

Thank you but I not sure I understand all of your answer.

As I said, I did a Custom scan one week ago and it ended in 1 hour and 17 minutes.  Today, one week later, I did another Custom scan with the same computer, with changes made to the computer as it was not used since the last scan. The Custom scan I took today took 2 hours and 57 minutes or 3 hours.

I just wanted a simple answer as to why this scan would take almost two hours more than the previous scan, when nothing was changed?

I had expected to leave my house to go shopping and thought it would take the same time as it did last week, but I had to wait two hours more for it to finish with the scan.

I've always done a custom scan for years and never had to wait almost 3 hours and that is why I am asking this question.

I wonder if any other user has experienced the same thing?

[daledoc1]

Sorry.

All of the many, many factors listed in the previous reply contribute to scan times.

No 2 scans will ever be exactly the same.

 

So, any of those many factors might have resulted in the 2nd scan during a different Windows user session on the computer taking longer than a previous scan during a previous user session.  More files, no disk caching, other programs consuming processor resources, etc, etc etc.

 

Again, it's pretty much unnecessary to be running routine full scans, anyway.

 

It's entirely up to you.

But, if you are concerned about your computer's security, it would probably be more worthwhile to invest in MBAM Premium, rather than to flog your hard drive with frequent full system scans.

The Premium version provides Real-Time protection to help PREVENT infections from getting onto your computer.

The Free version -- even with frequent, "custom", full scans -- can only try to REMOVE an infection that is already on the system.

 

Thank you,

[Gt-truth]

Thank you but I not sure I understand all of your answer.

As I said, I did a Custom scan one week ago and it ended in 1 hour and 17 minutes.  Today, one week later, I did another Custom scan with the same computer, with changes made to the computer as it was not used since the last scan. The Custom scan I took today took 2 hours and 57 minutes or 3 hours.

I just wanted a simple answer as to why this scan would take almost two hours more than the previous scan, when nothing was changed?

I had expected to leave my house to go shopping and thought it would take the same time as it did last week, but I had to wait two hours more for it to finish with the scan.

I've always done a custom scan for years and never had to wait almost 3 hours and that is why I am asking this question.

I wonder if any other user has experienced the same thing?

yeah my too here i have the same as you : ) https://forums.malwarebytes.org/index.php?/topic/158961-scanning-long-time/

[alicez]

It just seems strange to me that one scan would take 2 hours more than the previous scan when no modifications, etc., have taken place. The computer was turned off after the first scan and not used at all until this second scan was done. That never happened previously with the previous versions of MB that I have always for Custom scans.. Only happened with this new version.

Even my AV program ran scan in a shorter time.

[Gt-truth]

Then they need to look at these issues even with other types of scans so it takes more time!

So we need a new improved version (eg slow & stuck scans issues )

[daledoc1]

Hi:
 

It just seems strange to me that one scan would take 2 hours more than the previous scan when no modifications, etc., have taken place. The computer was turned off after the first scan and not used at all until this second scan was done.

 
Likely explanation: Disk caching, as already explained.
(Or there could have been other programs running that were consuming resources, or your AV's database could have changed, or any of the other myriad factors listed here.)
 
If you are experiencing issues with the program then it would greatly help us to better help you and provide specific answers about your specific computer system if we had a bit of data. Without such information, we can only provide general, non-specific answers.

Please read the following and post back attached to your next reply the 3 requested logs - Diagnostic Logs (the 3 logs are: FRST.txt, Addition.txt and CheckResults.txt)

 

Thanks,

 
(P.S. As for @mrdodrop's problem, his issue is related to his specific HARDWARE, specifically his hard drive speed.  So, as no two computers are alike, that is likely unrelated to the behavior you describe for your system. )