antimalware service executable And svchost.exe killing gamingon pc

Question

Any idea what these do? When I try to game sometimes during the week on my PC those programs are running and sucking up and making my hard drive run at 90%, that’s causing massive FPS drops and laggy gameplay. Any idea how to fix or minimize how much it uses when I game?

Answer 1

Hello grizzgolf,

Welcome to the Microsoft Community.

It seems your antimalware application is taking up too much resource of your system when running in background and has caused your gaming experience to be poor. Which antimalware application are you using? In fact, most modern antimalware applications should have some kind of "gaming mode" or similar, which makes its service take less system resource when you are at work or gaming. You may want to look for some specific settings for your antimalware application.

The svchost.exe (Service Host) process is a crucial part of the Windows operating system. It is used to host and manage services that run from dynamic-link libraries (DLLs) rather than executable files (EXEs).

I'm sorry to hear that you're having trouble with your computer. High disk usage by svchost.exe can be frustrating, especially when it affects your gaming experience. Here are some common reasons and solutions for this issue:

1. Malware or Virus: Sometimes, malware can disguise itself as svchost.exe and cause high disk usage. Running a full antivirus scan can help identify and remove any malicious software.
2. Windows Updates: Pending or stuck Windows updates can cause svchost.exe to use a lot of disk resources. Make sure your system is up to date by checking for and installing any pending updates.
3. Event Viewer Logs: Large or corrupted log files in the Event Viewer can also lead to high disk usage. Clearing these logs might help reduce the load:
   • Press Windows key + R, type eventvwr, and press Enter.
   • In the Event Viewer, expand Windows Logs.
   • Right-click on Application, Security, Setup, System, and Forwarded Events, then select Clear Log for each.
4. Background Services: Some background services hosted by svchost.exe might be consuming excessive resources. You can identify and disable the culprit services:
   • Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc), go to the Details tab, and find svchost.exe.
   • Right-click on it and select Go to Service(s) to see which services are associated with it.
   • Stop the services one by one to identify the one causing high disk usage.
5. Windows Update Issues: Sometimes, issues with Windows Update itself can cause high disk usage. Running the Windows Update Troubleshooter might help resolve these issues.

If these steps don't resolve the issue, you might consider performing a clean boot or even a clean install of Windows to ensure there are no underlying problems. Clean Boot is to help you check if a background program is causing the issue. This will start Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. How to perform a clean boot in Windows - Microsoft Support

1. Press Windows + R, type msconfig, and press Enter.
2. Go to the Services tab, check Hide all Microsoft services, and then click Disable all.
3. Go to the Startup tab and click Open Task Manager.
4. Disable all startup items.
5. Restart your computer.
   Disclaimer: A “clean boot” starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. It helps to determine whether a background service is interfering with your game or program and to isolate the cause of a problem.   
   These steps of "clean boot" might look complicated at first glance. However, to avoid any trouble for you, please follow them in order and step-by step so that it will help you get back on track.

If the above suggestions cannot fix the problem for you, let’s try performing an in-place install or in-place upgrade which will refresh your Windows files and operating system without removing files or applications. That being said, we always recommend that if you have important data, you should back it up before making large system changes. If you want to back up your data first, please do so. Once you are done backing up, you can follow the steps in the following guides: 

1. How to run In-place upgrade in Windows 11 - Microsoft Community

Best Regards,

William.Y | Microsoft Community Support Specialist