Windows Defender is an essential program on the Windows-based devices and it comes along with the bundled services in it. One of its components is the Antimalware Service Executable, which offers protection against many online threats and malware. However, many Windows users have reported that this Windows Defender component is having certain drawbacks. Its most common disadvantage includes the consumption of excessive CPU usage and other resources on devices. This is why running this feature can reduce the overall speed of your device’ processor. So, if you are using Windows Defender for a while and don’t know what is Antimalware Service Executable, keep reading this article. Here, you will get to learn the basic purpose of this service under Windows Defender and how you can deal with it.
You can also go through some of the possible technical fixes that can prevent Antimalware Service Executable from over-consuming the CPU power. For those who might be thinking of this program as malware, going through this content can give you much clarity on Windows Defender services.
Those who are using Microsoft Windows Defender on their PCs, often, you may come across this process of ‘Antimalware Service Executable’. For those who aren’t aware of “what is Antimalware Service Executable?”, follow the information below:
This is a feature that offers real-time protection to Windows-based devices and keeps track of every malicious activity. So, the main purpose of this Windows Defender process is to ensure that your system can run perfectly without any malware issues. With this program running in the background, you can still carry out other system processes on Windows.
On most Windows-based computers, you can find this process as MsMpEng.exe and get relevant information on Task Manager. As it directly deals with the real-time threats and provides instant protection, Antimalware Service Executable has to function non-stop. It performs scanning related tasks, which requires extensive CPU and other computer tools. Also, every time you carry out any task using Windows Defender, the MsMpEng.exe process keeps running in the background. However, this entire operation causes lots of technical issues in Windows including the issue of speed lags. This is why it is quite necessary to apply some technical solutions for reducing high CPU usage by Antimalware Service Executable program.
There are many technical methods that can resolve the problem you are facing regarding MsMpEng.exe on Windows Defender. So, if you want to understand how to resolve the Antimalware Service Executable, check out the following methods to fix it:
To resolve the system lag problems occurring due to Antimalware Service Executable, make sure Windows Defender is not running every scheduled task. There are a few settings on Windows, which users can modify to change the timings for Windows Defender tasks. So, basically, Windows make use of Windows Task Scheduler feature that allows proper management of scheduled activities.
Hence, to make the necessary changes, hit Windows and “R” buttons simultaneously. As you press both these keys altogether, you can access the Run dialog box on your PC. So, type taskschd.msc in the box and click on ‘OK’ or hit ‘Enter’ key.
Next, as the window of the Task Scheduler appears on your screen, you can first click on the Local folder for this Windows feature. Then select the option of Task Scheduler Library, which consists of lists of programs installed on Windows. So, choose ‘Microsoft’ and then Windows folders. There, you will find the program files for the Windows Defender on your computer.
After that, search for the task that is named as ‘Windows Defender Scheduled Scan’ on under the Task Scheduler. Then, double-click on this folder and it will show the ‘Properties’ window for this Windows Defender’s feature.
So, you will need to hit the ‘Conditions’ tab and view the four checks boxes. These boxes will have various startup options for initiating Windows Defender tasks on different parameters. However, for resolving the Antimalware Service Executable problem, you will have to untick all the four startup boxes. Finally, hit the ‘OK’ button in order to save these Task Scheduler settings for Windows Defender. In addition to this, it will also turn off Antimalware Service Executable to start functioning on its own in certain cases.
Some users who don’t understand what is Antimalware Service Executable process, they won’t know much about the functioning of MsMpEng.exe. If you locate the icon of this Windows Defender process and right-click on it, you’ll be asked to choose a file location. So, as you hit on the ‘Open file location’ tab, you will see that the file MsMpEng.exe exists within the Windows Defender folder. You can find this folder from the ‘Program Files’ on your PC.
So, when you click on this .exe file of Antimalware Service Executable, it starts increasing the CPU usage. Often, this happens as most users keep this process run automatically and not on manual scanning. Hence, to resolve the error caused due to MsMpEng.exe, this program needs to be switched to ‘Excluded files and locations’. This will stop Windows Defender to scan this file on its own and this will reduce CPU utilization by Antimalware Service Executable.
For this, go to Windows Settings and hit the ‘Update & Security’ tab. Then choose Windows Defender and navigate to the ‘Exclusions’ section. There, you have to select ‘Add an exclusion’ and it will take you to ‘Files and Folders’ location. In this option, you have to select MsMpEng.exe while clicking on ‘Exclude a file’.
In many cases, disabling or stopping the MsMpEng.exe program from running can resolve Windows Defender issue. Hence, if you want to know how to disable Antimalware Service Executable, you need to follow a few sequences of steps. These steps will be helpful to turn off Windows Defender, which in turn, will disable MsMpEng.exe.
For turning off Windows Defender, you can take help from the Registry Editor feature on your PC. Hence, hit Windows+R buttons and write ‘regedit’ in the Run dialog box. This will open the Registry Editor window, where you need to locate the Windows Defender folder.
If you can’t find it easily, then first search for HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and open the ‘Software’ folder. Then under the ‘Policies’, you have to click on ‘Microsoft’ and then you can view the folder for ‘Windows Defender’.
As you right-click on this folder, choose the option of ‘New’ and then choose ‘DWORD value’. Also, set the value for DisableAntiSpyware parameter as 1, if you want to disable both Windows Defender and MsMpEng.exe.
If the first solution couldn’t turn off MsMpEng.exe and you don’t know how to disable Antimalware Service Executable, try this method. So, by making few changes in the Group Policy Editor, an exclusive Windows Home feature, you can disable MsMpEng.exe.
For this, write ‘gpedit.msc’ after opening the Run dialog box by the steps discussed in the above section. As you press the ‘Enter’ key or hit the ‘OK’ button, it will display the Group Policy Editor.
Note: If you are using Windows 10, you may not be able to open Group Policy Editor on its Home version. Hence, you can apply a small trick and search for Real-time Protection under the Computer Configuration. So, you can first click on ‘Administrative Templates’ from Configuration folder and then open ‘Windows Components’. Once, you locate the option of ‘Windows Defender’, click on it and find the ‘Real-time Protection’ folder.
So, on the Local Group Policy Editor window, double-click on Real-time Protection. It will show various options to configure Settings. Hence, choose the option that enables the user to turn off Real-time protection.
Now, make sure to select ‘Enabled’ option when you enter the window for turn off real-time protection. To save these changes, you can hit the ‘Apply’ tab and then click on ‘OK’. Finally, restart your Windows to check if the CPU usage is still higher for Antimalware Service Executable process.
If the previous methods didn’t work, you can change the scanning schedule for Windows Defender. So, write ‘taskschd.msc’ in the Run dialog box and press the ‘Enter’ key. Then on Task Scheduler window, hit the ‘Library’, then open ‘Microsoft’ and finally click on ‘Windows’. These steps are similar to method 1 but, you have to select the ‘General’ tab instead of ‘Conditions’ in this solution.
So, locate the checkbox for ‘Run with highest privileges’, and untick the box. After this, you can repeat the rest of the steps discussed in the first method and hit the ‘OK’ button.
Hopefully, now the Antimalware Service Executable process will not consume much of our power and resource from the CPU on Windows. However, if you still want to know what is Antimalware Service Executable, you can get in touch with Windows technicians for further technical information.