How do I temporarily disable MsMpEng (Windows Defender Antimalware) in a Windows 10 VM?

Question

When installing an update to QuickBooks, MsMpEng is using lots of CPU (I believe 100% of one of the two CPUs) and the update takes hours to complete. It should only take 5 minutes.

I suspect that Defender is scanning the same file over-and-over as the update is patching the files, or as the registry is being updated.

I need to be able to disable this msmpeng process when these updates are being installed. I cannot stop the WIndows services (there is no stop in the services menu for these services), and I cannot kill the process from the task manager (Access is denied). And I cannot find anyplace in the Azure manager where I can change a setting to allow me to disable the service.

Answer 1

Hello David Benning,

It sounds like you're experiencing significant performance issues due to the MsMpEng.exe process during QuickBooks updates. This process is part of Windows Defender and is responsible for real-time protection, which can sometimes cause high CPU usage during intensive tasks like software updates.

To address this issue, you can temporarily disable Windows Defender's real-time protection during the update process (while this is not a recommended action - ideal way is to add exclusion as mentioned in the end of this answer). Here are the steps you can follow:

1.      Temporarily Disable Real-Time Protection:

·         Open Windows Security by searching for it in the Start menu.

·         Go to Virus & threat protection.

·         Click on Manage settings under the Virus & threat protection settings.

·         Turn off the toggle for Real-time protection. This will temporarily disable Windows Defender's real-time scanning.

 

2.      Perform the QuickBooks Update:

Proceed with the QuickBooks update while real-time protection is disabled. This should reduce the CPU usage and speed up the update process.

 

3.      Re-enable Real-Time Protection:

Once the update is complete, go back to the Windows Security settings and turn on the toggle for Real-time protection to re-enable Windows Defender.

If you continue to experience issues, you might consider adding an exclusion for the QuickBooks update files in Windows Defender. Here’s how you can do that:

Add an Exclusion:

·         Open Windows Security.

·         Go to Virus & threat protection.

·         Click on Manage settings under the Virus & threat protection settings.

·         Scroll down to Exclusions and click on Add or remove exclusions.

·         Click on Add an exclusion and select the folder or files related to the QuickBooks update.

This should help prevent Windows Defender from repeatedly scanning the same files during the update process.

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