Applies to Windows Vista

See also

View the progress of a Windows Defender scan

You can view which type of Windows Defender scan is in progress and see how long it has been running.

To view the progress of a scan

  1. Open Windows Defender by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button, clicking All Programs, and then clicking Windows Defender.

  2. If a scan is in progress, the progress is displayed until the scan is complete. If the scan is complete, the status will display the scan results, and the date and time that the scan completed.

Tips

Tips

  • If a scan is in progress, you can click the Windows Defender icon Picture of the Windows Defender icon in the notification area in the notification area to view the status. To choose when the icon should appear in the notification area, click Tools, click Options, and then, under Real-time protection options, click the option that you want.

  • To view when your computer was last scanned for spyware and other potentially unwanted software, check the Status area on the Windows Defender Home page.