Windows 7: running virus programs overnite

When I run MSE virus program overnite, it seems to stop scanning somewhere during the wee hours. Then when I click on the computer in the morning, it wakes up & continues scanning for several minutes, then the scan finishes.
Do I have some 'setting' wrong?
In XP, (on old computer), this never happenned. When I opened up computer in the morning, scan was finished & results would be displayed.

Increase your time before sleep mode. It's falling a sleep before the scan is over. GL

One bug in Windows 7 is that although it will wake to do a task, it will not stay awake long enough to complete. I think that polarbear has given you sage advice.

I have MSE set to do a full scan every night. The problem is, it doesn't seem to have any kind of a log, so I have no real idea whether it actually ran or not. According to the "history" tab, it has never found anything at all. My biggest concern is whether to trust it or not.

Why dont you try it during the day, just once. You can watch it to make sure it is running properly. There are other free A/V out there if you are not satisifed with MSE.. If interested post in the Security forum. You will get a lot of good suggestions.

I've been having that same problem myself lately too.
The Mrs woke up this morning and saw the dishes in the sink that I forgot to do before crashing out last night

How do I do that?

go to control panel>> power option>> balanced [change plan setting]

I moved it to 2 hours. Is there an advantage/disadvantage to any of these settings?

The only disadvantage, the longer it runs the more electricity cost. Maybe, some minor wear and tear on the computer, but that is negligible.