Title: Fatal Error
Last modified: August 30, 2016

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# Fatal Error

 *  Resolved [michaelisc](https://wordpress.org/support/users/michaelisc/)
 * (@michaelisc)
 * [10 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-1817/)
 * I am using the latest version of Wordfence.
 * When I do a scan I get this message- “Fatal error: Maximum execution time of 
   60 seconds exceeded in /home/rockyfor/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wordfence/
   lib/wordfenceScanner.php on line 161”
 * This effectively kills the scan (hence, the “fatal error” message, I’m sure.
 * I have just switched hosting from WebHost4Life to Site5.
 * URL is [http://www.rockyforkformulas.com](http://www.rockyforkformulas.com)
 * [https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordfence/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordfence/)

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

 *  Plugin Author [WFMattR](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wfmattr/)
 * (@wfmattr)
 * [10 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-1817/#post-6592205)
 * It may be that your old host had php set up differently, allowing longer-running
   scripts, or the new host has it set too long for a timeout that they have elsewhere.(
   Or the server may be somewhat overloaded.)
 * On your Wordfence Options page, try setting the “Maximum execution time for each
   scan stage” to a lower amount — usually a minimum of 15 is best, but you may 
   be able to go higher, depending on the current setting.
 * More details on the max execution time are here:
    [My scans don’t finish. What would cause that?](http://docs.wordfence.com/en/My_scans_don't_finish._What_would_cause_that%3F)
 * Let us know if this helps or if you still have trouble.
 * -Matt R
 *  Thread Starter [michaelisc](https://wordpress.org/support/users/michaelisc/)
 * (@michaelisc)
 * [10 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-1817/#post-6592207)
 * That got me past line 161 but now I am getting “Fatal error: Allowed memory size
   of 268435456 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 71 bytes) in /home/rockyfor/public_html/
   wp-includes/wp-db.php on line 2258.”
 * Should I attempt to increase the memory allocation (256 MB requested) or something
   else?
 *  Plugin Author [WFMattR](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wfmattr/)
 * (@wfmattr)
 * [10 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-1817/#post-6592208)
 * Yep — if you increase the memory on the Options page, that will usually help 
   for the new error you got. If the hosting provider has a lower limit, you may
   need to ask them to increase it on their end. (What they would need to change
   is the “memory_limit” option in the file “php.ini”.)
 * If you can’t get them to increase it, you may be able to disable some options
   like “Scan image files as if they were executable” (usually only needed for cleaning
   tough hacks), or removing large backup files from the server, if you have a backup
   plugin that stores large files on the server. You could also exclude backup files
   from scans using the field “Exclude files from scan that match these wildcard
   patterns”, if removing them isn’t practical.
 * Depending on where it is getting stuck, removing spam comments may help. In some
   cases, Wordfence is using little memory, but most of the limit is taken up by
   another plugin. I haven’t seen many of these lately, but sometimes disabling 
   another plugin will help (especially if you have extra plugins enabled you don’t
   really need anymore.)
 * -Matt R

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

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## Tags

 * [fatal error](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/fatal-error/)
 * [scan](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/scan/)

 * 3 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [WFMattR](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wfmattr/)
 * Last activity: [10 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/fatal-error-1817/#post-6592208)
 * Status: resolved