Have you noticed that your computer is running slow and discovered that MsMpEng.exe, part of Windows Defender, is hogging your CPU? This can be pretty frustrating, but there are a few steps you can take to fix it. First, make sure your Windows Defender is up to date. Outdated antivirus software can cause performance issues, so head over to Windows Security, go to "Virus & threat protection," and check for updates. Keeping everything current can help smooth out some of these issues.

Next, let's tweak some settings in Windows Defender. One thing you can do is change the schedule for automatic scans to run at times when you're not using your computer. This way, you won't feel the impact as much. You can do this by opening the Task Scheduler, navigating to "Library > Microsoft > Windows > Windows Defender," and adjusting the schedule. Also, consider adding certain files or folders to the exclusion list if they don't need to be scanned. This can free up some CPU power. You can do this under "Virus & threat protection settings" by managing exclusions.

Finally, if those steps don't help, you might want to dig a little deeper. Sometimes high CPU usage can be a sign of malware, so running a full system scan is a good idea. If you're still having trouble, you can limit the CPU usage for MsMpEng.exe through a registry edit. Open the Registry Editor (regedit), go to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan," create a new DWORD (32-bit) Value named "AvgCPULoadFactor," and set it between 10 to 50. If all else fails, consider switching to a different antivirus program that might be less resource-intensive. Just remember to disable Windows Defender to avoid conflicts. Have you had this problem before? Share what worked for you in the comments!

Hey MADY Kela, thanks for the tips!  Limiting the CPU usage through registry sounds a bit scary, have you tried just tweaking the scan schedule first?  Worked wonders for me.

Get access to lots of cool tools and services. It's great to be able to access and use good utilities. Follow and explore the world of classic bubble shooting games with lots of new challenges. Play and break new records with online opponents in the challenge coreball together.