High CPU usage by Antimalware Service Executable > Microsoft Defender, when Windows Firewall turned off

Question

Hello,

I am using a Windows 10 Pro edition, 64-bit, version 20H2, OS build 19042.1466, on an HP ENVY 17 laptop, processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10510U CPU @ 1.80GHz 2.30 GHz, 32.0 GB RAM. I became aware of high CPU usage for "Antimalware Service Executable > Microsoft Defender Antivirus Service" (from 40-70% of CPU usage at any given time). I read online this could be fixed by turning off Windows Defender (I have other anti-virus software installed). However, even with Windows Defender turned off, "Antimalware Service Executable > Microsoft Defender Antivirus Service" remains listed on Task Manager, at 43.5% CPU. I believe this is significantly slowing my PC down - combined CPU usage is now 97-99%. Any assistance is appreciated. Thanks.

Answer 1

Hello confooseddesi89,

Good day! I'm John Dev a Windows user like you and I'll be happy to assist you today. I know this has been difficult for you, Rest assured, I'm going to do my best to help you.

Please try Melowin Mar's solution in this older thread with a similar problem. People found this helpful.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/for...

After that, restart your computer using Clean boot of Windows

**Perform a Clean Boot

Determine whether a background program or a software conflict is causing the issue.

Go to the search box > type msconfig

Select System Configuration > go to the Services tab.

Select and make sure to put a check mark on "Hide all Microsoft services"

Click Disable all.

Go to Startup tab > Open Task Manager > Disable all the unnecessary services running there. Restart your computer.

Kindly check the support article below for more details

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/929135...

Kindly let me know if this helps or if you have any further concerns.

Kind regards,

John DeV

Independent Advisor

Answer 2

Hello,

See if this video fix helps you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQeM7MM6YJM

Let us know if this helps!

Answer 3

I disabled all my non-Microsoft services and then re-enabled all of them. This did the trick, and the "Antimalware Service Executable" is now at 2.7% CPU. (All other suggestions did not work.)

Thanks!

Answer 4

Thank you, but this did not work for my issue.

Answer 5

Hello confooseddesi89,

You're welcome. I'm glad to help.

Stay safe and have a great day!

Kind regards,

John DeV

Independent Advisor