No changes made in my scan settings, nor do I have many more programs or files on my computer than I did a few months ago. Now, though, my weekly idle full-system scans are taking more than an hour – far longer than they used to. What might explain the change?
I have the latest release of NIS, and I’m running Windows XP (SP2). My system hasn’t changed – nor have I noticed other O.S. issues – since the scans started taking longer.
Hi! BlebNevus,
The time has come for you to install XP SP3. Support for XP SP2 is coming to a close. Before you install XP SP3 make sure you have downloaded all available updates for XP SP2 with the exception of MSXML 6.0 as a special build is included with SP3. After you have these updates download and install XP SP3 from Windows Update/Microsoft Update site. An update to the XP SP2 build addresses issues some users experienced when installing SP3 outside of Safe Mode.
Be sure to defragment your hard drive after installing Windows XP SP3. :)
No changes made in my scan settings, nor do I have many more programs or files on my computer than I did a few months ago. Now, though, my weekly idle full-system scans are taking more than an hour – far longer than they used to. What might explain the change?
I appreciate the advice, but I’d need some evidence that it’s relevant to the duration of scans, which seems unlikely, frankly, especially since the slow-down I’m complaining about has taken place without my having changed the version of XP. (I have kept up with Windows updates, by the way.) Does anyone have a different idea as to the cause of the problem?
Hi BlebNevus
A full scan of an hour does not seem to be unduly long. I note that you said the number of files/folders has not unduly increased but has there been any notable changes made to your system in the few weeks prior to you noticing the increase in scan times?
MD Turner: Nope. That’s what’s so puzzling.
The only thing I can add is that I had an XP laptop that over a few weeks with seemingly no increase in files folders (same as oyurself) ended up doing the same thing with either idle full scan or maunual full scans. For other easons I eventually rebuilt the system with all of the programs and data that existed previously and scan times reduced dramatically.
It is worth noting that XP SP2 will shortly not receive Microsoft Updates so you should apply service pack 3 as soon as you feel comfortable doing so.
BlebNevus wrote:
MD Turner: Nope. That's what's so puzzling.
It may be worth checking the integrity of your HDD/Data by running chkdsk and also, perhaps, defragmenting the drive - just a thought.
Thanks for these suggestions. I do keep my disk defragmented (these days via Norton’s optimizer). At your suggestion I just ran a chkdsk and I also took a deep breath and upgraded to SP3. When it’s time for another full scan I’ll see whether these had any effect. In the meantime I’d be interested to hear from anyone else who has discovered a big jump in scan time.
Hi BlebNevus,
Scan times can vary significantly depending on the number of files that are skipped each time. If you go into Norton Security History and select Scan Results you can highlight and review each scan. Click the More Details button and then click the small + sign next to Total Items Scanned. While this may not be your issue, if shorter scan times correlate with many more skipped and trusted file counts, it could be one explanation for what you are seeing.
RootKitErad: I think you’re onto something! I checked one scan during each of the last four months and, sure enough, the number of items scanned has been steadily growing: 168K (Jan), 199K (Feb), 220K (Mar), 269K (Apr). But this just sets the question back a step: Given that I haven’t been downloading more stuff or otherwise using my computer any differently, why the increase in scanned (or scannable) items?
What is the breakdown for Trusted and Skipped files? Unless you have set the Scan Perfomance Profile under Computer Settings to Full Scan, files trusted by Norton will not be scanned. Additionally, skipped files are those that have been previously scanned since the last major virus definitions update and are known to be good. Both of these categories will vary in the number of items listed. The greater number of files in these two categories, the quicker the scan time. Your overall number of files on the machine will tend to grow over time with no assistance from you due to Microsoft updates (which also create uninstall files), third-party application updates, etc. I do a full system image backup regularly, and each one is always bigger than the last - it's the way things go.
Scan Performance Profile is set to “standard trust” and always has been, yet fewer than 3,000 files are marked as “trusted” after a scan (compared to 269,000 items scanned). I guess I assumed that more, rather than fewer, would be recognized and trusted as time went on. Paradoxically, installing XP SP3, as was recommended here, will probably bring a new bushel of program files and lengthen the scan time even further. But I still have the feeling I’m missing something that’s causing a hard drive which isn’t exceptionally stuffed (18 GB), and most of whose files don’t change from month to month, to take more than an hour to scan.
Hello BlebNevus
Another thing that can perhaps come into play here is that all the time there are new definitons that come into play. As malware becomes more complex and involves more files, it can take longer even if your total number of files remained the same. I would think that some malware can be easily found and others take more digging to find. If Norton is going to dig more deeply or more thoroughly, then that could add to the time also. For example, if a hypothetical malware A is a complex piece of malware, it will take longer to hunt for it and get rid of it if possible. In today's world, malware is becoming more complex.
If more malware is the explanation, then other users should be seeing the same sharp spike in scan time that I have over the last few months – and a comparable total scan time (adjusted for amount of hard drive space used). Is that the case?
Tech83 wrote:Hi! BlebNevus,
The time has come for you to install XP SP3. Support for XP SP2 is coming to a close. Before you install XP SP3 make sure you have downloaded all available updates for XP SP2 with the exception of MSXML 6.0 as a special build is included with SP3. After you have these updates download and install XP SP3 from Windows Update/Microsoft Update site. An update to the XP SP2 build addresses issues some users experienced when installing SP3 outside of Safe Mode.
Be sure to defragment your hard drive after installing Windows XP SP3. :)
Hi BledNevus.do you suggest installing XP SP3 IN Safe Mode, Microsoft wants me to...I have XP Prof/2005 Media Edition with only SP2, Should I remove MSXML 6.0 Service Pack before installing?.Microsoft sent me a stand a lone edition of SP3 for IT Professionals........Please Reply if you have the time......Gorpy 1
HI BlebNevus,
I really don't see an hour or so as being unusually long for a full system scan. There are so many things which happens behind the scenes as others have said. In addition to what others have said I did not see mentioned that Windows also creates periodic restore points. This could also increase your scan time. There is temporary Internet files and a host of other things which can also have an affect.
Some things to do occasionally:
- Periodically you might want to remove older restore points that you don't need any more.
- You should do occasional disk cleanups. Please see this Microsoft article for reference.
- In IE 8 you should do some cleanup occasionally also. From Tools go to Internet Options. Then under General tab click Delete under browsing history. Make sure you check only the options for things you want to clean and then click Delete.
- I'm happy to see that you have gone ahead and upgraded to XP SP3. I would highly recommend running disk defrag as your fragmentation level is likely to be higher after this update.
- You might also want to check Norton Insight occasionally for the number of trusted files. This should increase somewhat over time.
These kinds of things will help to reduce scan time but I would not expect a huge decrease in time but you should be able to get it down some.
In the end, NIS is doing its job I would not worry as long as it is not finding any problems.
Thanks
Allen
Allen: All good ideas, thanks – but it’s all stuff I’ve been doing right along. I’ve allocated only 1% of disk space to restore points. I regularly clean up temp files and my browser (Firefox) cache. I do defrags often and did one again after installing SP3 yesterday. And, for what it’s worth, Norton is showing exactly the same proportion of trusted files (92%) as when I installed it last fall. Nevertheless, there’s a steady increase in files scanned and, as a result, time devoted to this task. That’s why I’m curious as to whether others are seeing the same pattern.
Hi BlebNevus,
I have to say that 92% trusted is quite good. On my system I get 83%.
I am just not getting the sense that there is any problem here.
Thanks
Allen