How to Stop ‘Antimalware Service Executable’ High Usage?

Here are Few Methods to Stop 'Antimalware Service Executable' High CPU and Memory Usage in Task Manager on Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7 PC.

When buying a PC or a laptop, everyone would give you one common suggestion, i.e. to get antivirus software installed on it. However, if you are a Windows veteran and been using Windows operating system for quite some time, then you should know that the in-built Windows Defender service is one of the best antivirus tools for PC. Microsoft rolls out regular updates for Windows Defender keeping it up to date. But there is an issue that many of the Windows users are facing that this built-in antivirus tool uses several real-time background-running processes. One of which is the “Anti-malware Service Executable” to protect your PC.

Though this is an essential Windows Defender service running in the background, on many instances users have reported high CPU usage due to this background service. And high CPU, GPU, RAM, and HDD or SSD usage by this Anti-malware Service Executable service, drastically slows down the performance of your PC. Thankfully, it is quite a common problem in Windows operating systems and there are a bunch of fixes that you can try out to disable Antimalware Service Executable high usage. With that said, let us get straight into the article itself:

What is ‘Antimalware Service Executable’?

Before we go ahead and check out the solutions to disable the Anti-malware Service Executable service on your Windows PC, let us first understand what it actually is. Anti-malware Service Executable is MsMpEng.exe, and as already mentioned, is a part of the in-built Windows Defender. This is a service which runs as a background service in order to continuously keep track of Virus, Malware, and other harmful threats.

Antimalware Service Executable

Sometimes, this service also looks around the root files of your PC, thus making high CPU usage in the process. As the scanning relies on your CPU’s performance, it will eat up 90% or more of your CPU resources. If you are also experiencing this issue, then you should follow the below methods to disable the Anti-malware Service Executable service.

Disable Antimalware Service Executable High Usage

Here are Few Methods to Stop Antimalware Service Executable High CPU and Memory Usage on Windows PC

Add anti-malware to the list of exclusions

There is an option in the Windows Defender tool, that you utilize to exclude certain programs from the list of scans. Meaning that you can exclude some of the programs from scanning in the background. You can make use of this list of exclusions and add this Anti-malware Service Executable service and prevent it from high CPU, GPU, RAM, and HDD or SSD usage.

  1. Press the Win button on your keyboard or the bottom Taskbar and search for Task Manager.
  2. A process list will open and you need to look for Antimalware Service Executable process.
  3. Right-click on this service and click on the Open File Location option.
    Open File Location
  4. Once the file location opens, you will find the entire path of the Anti-malware Service Executable file in the address bar. Click on the Address bar and copy the entire path.
    Click on the Address bar and copy the entire path
  5. Now, again press the Win key on your keyboard or the Taskbar and search for Windows Security.
  6. Head to the Virus & Threat Protection option.
    Head to the Virus & Threat Protection option
  7. Select the Manage Settings button to enter Virus & Threat Protection settings menu.Select the Manage Settings button to enter Virus & Threat Protection settings menu
  8. Scroll down to the Exclusions.
    Scroll down to the Exclusions
  9. Open Exclusions and tap the Add an exclusion button.
    Add an exclusion button
  10. Select File from the drop-down menu and paste the path which you copied in step 4.
  11. It will automatically add it to the list of exclusions.
  12. That’s it!

Disable Real-Time Protection

You can also disable this antimalware services executable high usage by disabling the real-time protection. Besides, the high usage is because of the fact that it is a real-time feature and it continuously scans your Windows PC in the background.

  1. Press the Win button on your keyboard on Taskbar and search for Windows Security.
  2. Now, go to Virus & Threat Protection → Manage Settings, as shown in the above step.
  3. Here, you need to toggle off the Real-time protection option.

Virus & Threat Protection>>Manage Settings

Although, this is not advised as Real-time protection keeps a check on various malware, viruses, etc. attacking your PC. But if you are experiencing lag and performance drop in your PC due to this background process, then it is the way to go.

Disable Windows Defender from the Registry Editor

You can disable the entire Windows Defender antivirus service on your Windows PC from the Registry editor. Well, you should perform this step only if you have a third-party antivirus tool or a protection service installed on your PC.

  1. Press Win+R keys on your keyboard to open the Run dialog.
  2. Type regedit and hit the Enter button.
    Type regedit and hit the Enter button
  3. Expand the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
  4. Then expand SOFTWARE.
  5. Under Policies → Microsoft, you will find Windows Defender.
  6. Right-click on Windows Defender and click select New > DWORD.
    Windows Defender and click select New > DWORD
  7. On the newly created DWORD double-click and rename it DisableAntiSpyware. Now, set the value to 1.
  8. This will disable the Windows Defender antivirus tool on your Windows 10 PC.

Change Windows Defender’s Schedule

You can tweak the schedule of the Windows Defender antivirus tool and free up the CPU, GPU, RAM, and HDD or SSD for your extensive work. Meaning that you can allocate a different schedule for the Windows Defender to scan your PC.

  1. Press Win+R keys on your keyboard to open the Run dialog.
  2. Type “taskschd.msc” and hit the Enter button.
    Type “taskschd.msc” and hit the Enter button
  3. A new Task Scheduler window will open.
  4. Double click on the Task Scheduler Library.
  5. Now, head over to Microsoft → Windows → Windows Defender.
    head over to Microsoft>>Windows>Windows Defender
  6. Find the Windows Defender Scheduled Scan option in the middle pane and open it as shown in the image below:
    Windows Defender Scheduled Scan option
  7. You need to uncheck the Run with highest privileges option on the Property window.
    Run with highest privileges option on the Property window
  8. Under the Conditions tab, uncheck all the options as shown in the image below.
    Conditions tab, uncheck all the options
  9. That’s it!

Conclusion

So, there you have it from my side in this post. I hope you liked this post and following the above-mentioned methods, you were able to fix the anti-malware services executable high usage problem on your Windows PC. Let us know in the comments below if you come across any other solution for this issue. For more such awesome coverage, you should follow DigitBin and also follow us on the DigitBin YouTube channel. Until the next post…Cheers!

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Sagar N Bhavsar
A Six Sigma and Google Certified Digital Marketer who worked as an Analyst for a Top MNC. Technology and automobile enthusiast who likes to write, play guitar, and travel. Entrepreneur and Blogger.

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