Can one prevent Antimalware Executable to start hogging CPU for extended periods each time some network adapter gets active?

Anonymous
2013-03-15T20:00:20+00:00

One of the most annoying habits in Windows 8 is, that the built-in "Antimalware Service Executable" (part of "Windows Defender") starts hogging my device's CPU with 60-70% (and 100% disk) for extended periods EACH AND EVERY time after I wake it up.

I wouldn't mind if it starts doing its business IN THE BACKGROUND but when I wake my device up from standby it's usually to get something done NOW and thus I find it increasingly unacceptable, that the system is always taken over by Window's defender exactly then and for up to several minutes! If I don't find a solution soon to throttle this beast, then I will disable Defender altogether!

What I noticed is, that this process seems to be actually triggered not by the system waking up, but by the network adapter becoming active. And actually, this happens each and every time ANY network adapter gets active! E.g. if my system has NO network connection at all and I plugin the network cable the Antimalware Service Executable starts. When - after it has settled again - I additionally enable Bluetooth then the Antimalware Service Executable starts its hogging business again. And if I then additionally enable the WLAN a few minutes later, it will AGAIN start to consume CPU!

So: can one decouple this? Running a scan ONCE after (re-)starting it is definitely enough, especially if Defender hasn't downloaded any new signatures since the last run! And, second, can one make Defender convince to strictly run in the background ONLY?

Michael

[Moved from Windows]

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Security and privacy

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-09-09T15:24:53+00:00

    Yip - I was able to do this but this feature is still slowing down my computer and unchecking these boxes did not help.

    What I find particularly unhelpful is that, in order to get to a useful answer, I have to read through loads of complaints and unhelpful patronising comments from people who think they are smarter than everyone else!

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-11-19T11:22:06+00:00

    This solution does not work and should be either removed or corrected

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-09-23T17:51:53+00:00

    I can confirm that "Antimalware Service Executable" eats an entire CPU core every time I boot my PC, whether it's a cold boot or not makes no difference. What's worse is this causes delays during Windows Startup that create a horrible user experience.

    This is not the experience I am accustomed to and feel something has changed in recent years.

    I certainly do not blame Windows 8, since if I intentionally damage the binaries for this process I no longer experience a problem.

    It doesn't matter what scheduled tasks settings are set to. The solutions provided in this post, although very informative, do not address the problem users experience.

    Microsoft needs to re-evaluate this product or yank it from the stack. Keeping this in the mix with these kinds of issues will only serve to sully their brand further.

    For reference I have a quad core extreme with an SSD and this process still manages to destroy boot times, luckily I only have to wait 2 minutes or so. I can only imagine the pain lower end users are experiencing.

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-03-18T16:22:14+00:00

    > ... whether Security Essentials is installed, or whether the old Windows Defender might still be active...

    From a decent upgrade installer I would have expected to take care of such issues! But it fits into my picture of Windows 8 by now. If there were an easy way to retrograde, I wouldn't hesitate for a second!

    I consider it my worst IT-related decision of the last half year to upgrade to Win8!

    M.

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  5. Anonymous
    2013-03-18T15:57:13+00:00

    Only this group of tasks is part of Windows 8:

    Task Scheduler Library => Microsoft => Windows => Windows Defender:  4 tasks:

         Windows Defender Cache Maintenance

              %ProgramFiles%\Windows Defender\MpCmdRun.exe -IdleTask -TaskName WdCacheMaintenance

         Windows Defender Cleanup

              %ProgramFiles%\Windows Defender\MpCmdRun.exe -IdleTask -TaskName WdCleanup

         Windows Defender Scheduled Scan

              %ProgramFiles%\Windows Defender\MpCmdRun.exe Scan -ScheduleJob

         Windows Defender Verification

              %ProgramFiles%\Windows Defender\MpCmdRun.exe -IdleTask -TaskName WdVerification

    So you can either disable or delete the others. But the more important questions is whether Security Essentials is installed, or whether the old Windows Defender might still be active; since both of those programs are incompatible with Windows 8 (and they’re also mutually incompatible).

    GreginMich

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