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
    2015-12-15T22:45:27+00:00

    I have found the area where to switch these of but the tick boxes are grey out and cant access them how would i access this any ideas?

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-12-17T16:45:23+00:00

    Hi Sam,

    Thank you for sharing your part of query in Microsoft Community.

    However, as per the age of the thread, I would recommend creating your own thread with all the necessary information intact to get the issue resolved. This way your issue will get the needed attention and targeted assistance from experts all over the community.

    I would suggest you to refer to the following article for suggestions on asking questions on forums.

    ***Suggestions for asking a question on help forums***

    Hope this information is helpful.

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-12-17T16:57:43+00:00

    Hi Sam,

    Thank you for sharing your part of query in Microsoft Community.

    However, as per the age of the thread, I would recommend creating your own thread with all the necessary information intact to get the issue resolved. This way your issue will get the needed attention and targeted assistance from experts all over the community.

    I would suggest you to refer to the following article for suggestions on asking questions on forums.

    ***Suggestions for asking a question on help forums***

    Hope this information is helpful.

    HI

    I don't agree with you. Sam's issue is exactly the same issue discussed in the thread, same OS, same process consuming CPU etc.

    If the thread is old and people are still posting in it, it's Microsoft's fault for not having fixed it after over 2 years, not Sam's fault, to me in makes perfect sense to gather all people with exactly the same issue in the same thread...

    I am also facing this issue and have to restart my computer otherwise the process takes a whole core of my CPU... 

    Cheers

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-12-23T08:28:41+00:00

    Hi Michael,

    Thank you for choosing Windows 8 and joining us on our Community.

    From the issue description, I understand that Windows Defender runs the security scan when the system wakes up from sleep mode or when you try to plug a network cable to the computer. And you don’t want this.

    You would have scheduled Windows Defender to do so. So I would suggest you to unschedule Windows Defender to do so and check.

    Follow these steps:

    a.      Press Windows key + W and type administrative tools.

    b.      Select Administrative Tools and select Task Scheduler.

    c.       Follow this path in the left hand pane. Task Scheduler Library/Microsoft/Windows/Windows defender

    d.      Uncheck all the boxes under Idle, Power and Network.

    e.      Now it won’t scan your computer.

    For any further queries related to Windows defender, feel free to get back to us any time. We will be glad to assist you.

    Sadly my machine does not allow me to uncheck these or any other boxes.  NO MATTER WHAT I DO.

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  5. Anonymous
    2015-12-23T18:31:12+00:00

    Hi Michael,

    Thank you for choosing Windows 8 and joining us on our Community.

    From the issue description, I understand that Windows Defender runs the security scan when the system wakes up from sleep mode or when you try to plug a network cable to the computer. And you don’t want this.

    You would have scheduled Windows Defender to do so. So I would suggest you to unschedule Windows Defender to do so and check.

    Follow these steps:

    a.      Press Windows key + W and type administrative tools.

    b.      Select Administrative Tools and select Task Scheduler.

    c.       Follow this path in the left hand pane. Task Scheduler Library/Microsoft/Windows/Windows defender

    d.      Uncheck all the boxes under Idle, Power and Network.

    e.      Now it won’t scan your computer.

    For any further queries related to Windows defender, feel free to get back to us any time. We will be glad to assist you.

    Sadly my machine does not allow me to uncheck these or any other boxes.  NO MATTER WHAT I DO.

    PaulLad,

    The problem may be simply that Tadasha didn't give very complete instructions, or that you're using Windows 10 and the instructions don't apply.

    Here's what I did using Windows 10. Even if you have an earlier OS, this might help you.

    a.     Press Windows key + X and select Control Panel.

    b.     Open Administrative Tools.

    c.     Open Task Scheduler.

    d.     In the left hand pane, navigate to Task Scheduler Library/Microsoft/Windows/Windows Defender.

    In the lower pane, all of the controls are probably disabled, but that's okay, because we only care about the top pane.

    e.     In the top pane, expand the Name column if you just see four instances of "Windows Defend..."

    f.     Double-click the first action ("Windows Defender Cache Maintenance") to access its properties.

    g.     Click the Conditions tab.

    h.     You can uncheck all boxes as Tadasha suggests under Idle, Power, and Network. In my case, I only had the first checkbox under Power checked by default. I decided to instead check all three boxes under Idle and change 10 minutes to 30 minutes. You can do as you like.

    i.     Repeat f. through h. for the other three actions ("Windows Defender Cleanup", etc.).

    If for some reason, the boxes on the Conditions tab are disabled (step g.), instead of doing step c., try right-clicking Task Scheduler and either 1) choose "Run as Administrator", or 2) choose "Properties" then "Security" to edit your privileges if you're able. However, neither of these should be necessary.

    Hope this helps.

    -medouneu

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