[Solved] Antimalware Service Executable High Memory/Disk Windows 11/10 2024

If you found that the Antimalware Service Executable high disk usage occurs on Windows 11/10, take it easy, you're not alone. Many Windows users are encountering Antimalware Service Executable high memory problems.

In this article, you'll learn everything about Antimalware Sevice Executable and how to fix Antimalware Service Executable high CPU issue.

Besides, at the end of this article, we recommend a free partition management tool to help you easily create, resize, clone, move, merge, and format partitions to improve computer performance.

Read Also: 100% Disk Usage in Windows 10

What Is Antimalware Service Executable High CPU/RAM/Disk/Memory Usage?

The Antimalware Service Executable (Msmpeng.exe) process is part of Windows Defender, a built-in antivirus feature that comes with Windows 11/10. You can find this on the Details tab in your Task Manager.

Antimalware Service Executable provides real-time scanning and is responsible for checking files for malware whenever you access them. It also performs background system scans to check for dangerous software, install antivirus definition updates, and does anything else a security application like Windows Defender needs to do.

Its scanning relies heavily on your computer's CPU; that's why you find Antimalware Service Executable high CPU, huge disk, memory, RAM, and even network bandwidth, draining computer resources, especially after getting a Windows 11/10 update. Go to the next part to solve antimalware service executable high memory Windows 11.

How to Stop Antimalware Service Executable High Disk Usage [5 Ways]

If the Antimalware Service Executable process takes up a high CPU on your Windows 10, don't worry. We have easy solutions for you to deal with it. Now, read this article in-depth and try the five easy methods to fix the windows antimalware service executable high memory/CPU usage.

Fix 1. Disable Real-Time Protection
Fix 2. Change Windows Defender's Scheduling Options
Fix 3. Add Antimalware Service Executable to Windows Defender's Exclusion List
Fix 4. Disable Windows Defender in Registry
Fix 5. Update all Available Device Drivers

Showing fix 1 and fix 3, this video guide released by A2MTech is help to disable antimalware service executable high memory/CPU/Disk on Windows 10. 

If you think this video is helpful, don't hesitate to share it with your friends. Click the buttons below can quickly share this article.

Fix 1. Disable Real-Time Protection

Antimalware Service Executable high disk usage issue is large because of the real-time feature, which will constantly scan your Windows computer no matter what you do. It acts quickly and consumes much CPU storage, which leads to high CPU and memory usage.

The most probable fix to the Antimalware Service Executable high CPU issue is turning off the real-time protection. After this, the Windows Defender won't work, and your computer will be vulnerable. So, use this method only as a temporary solution.

Step 1. Click the "Start menu > Settings > Update & security".

Step 2. Select "Windows security > Virus & threat protection > Manage settings". 

Step 3. Switch the "Real-time protection" setting to Off.  

Fix 2. Change Windows Defender's Scheduling Options

Change Windows Defender's schedule is an effective way because the real-time protection feature mainly causes the error. Follow the details below and fix the Antimalware Service Executable high disk usage issue.

Step 1. Press Windows key + R at the same time to invoke the Run box. Type taskschd.msc and press Enter.

Step 2. Double-click on "Task Scheduler Library" > "Microsoft" > "Windows".

Step 3. Find and expand "Windows Defender". Then double-click "Windows Defender Scheduled Scan".

Step 4. Uncheck "Run with highest privileges" on the property window. 

Step 5. Uncheck all the items in the "Conditions" section. Then click "OK".

With the steps above, your error should be fixed now. If, unfortunately, it doesn't help you, make sure to try the second solution below.

Fix 3. Add Antimalware Service Executable to Windows Defender's Exclusion List

Step 1. Press the Windows logo key + I at the same time to open the Settings window. Click "Update & security".

Step 2. Click "Windows Defender". Then click "Add an exclusion" in Exclusions.

Step 3. Click "Exclude a .exe, .com or .scr process".

Step 4. Type MsMpEng.exe. Then click "OK".

Alongside enabling Windows' built-in virus-defending utility, you can also turn to thrid-party virus-cleaning software for help. TotalAV is one of the famed and reliable anti-virus software that you can rely on to scan and clean up all malware, virus, and even online threats from your PC:

Fix 4. Disable Windows Defender in Registry

When your Windows defender got corrupted by being overworked due to continuous file scanning, the Antimalware Service Executable high CPU issue may be settled by disabling Windows defender.

Step 1. Press Windows Key + R to open the Run Dialog Box.

Step 2. In the Run Dialog Box, type regedit and click "OK" to open the Registry Editor.

Step 3. In the navigation pane on the left, double-click the folders to navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender.

Step 4. If you find a registry entry named DisableAntiSpyware, double-click it and set its value data to 1.

Note: If you do not see a registry entry named DisableAntiSpyware, right-click in the main Registry Editor pane and select "New" > "DWORD (32 bit) Value". Name this new registry entry DisableAntiSpyware. Double click it and set its value data to 1.

Fix 5. Update all Available Device Drivers

Is your Windows 10 still running slow after trying the above? You can also try to update all your available device drivers. The latest drivers can keep your computer running stable and quickly.

You can manually update your device drivers manually by going to the manufacturer's website and searching for the exact device's most recent correct driver. Make sure to choose drivers that are compatible with your variant of Windows system versions.

Run Computer Without Antimalware Service Executable High CPU/RAM/Disk Usage Issue

Windows Defender is a free and valuable tool to protect your computer from a virus attack, but it can certainly eat up your CPU. By following the methods in this article, you'll be able to fix the Antimalware Service Executable high disk usage issue and keep your computer running at full speed.

Bonus Tip: How to Partition Hard Drives on Windows 11/10/8/7 for Free

When we use a computer, we all want it to perform at its best. Disk management is an important way to enhance system performance. EaseUS Partition Master Free makes it effortless to partition hard drives and take full advantage of your disk space. It provides other one-stop partition and disk management solutions for Windows 11/10/8/7, for instance:

• Resize/move partitions (the Pro version allows to move space from D drive to C drive directly), create, format, delete, and merge partitions
• Completely wipe out all the data on the hard disk to prevent information from being leaked or recovered

The following steps show how to resize and move partitions effortlessly and securely with this renowned partition management software.

Step 1. Launch EaseUS Partition Master to check for free space at the Partition Manager section.

• If your hard drive has unallocated space, jump to Step 3 to create partition.
• If the hard drive has no unallocated space, continue with Step 2.

Step 2. Shrink a disk partition to create unallocated space.

Right-click on the target drive partition with a lot free space and select "Resize/Move".

Drag either end of the partition rightwards or leftwards to shrink the partition size so as to get ample unallocated space. You can visually know how much space you've decreased in the "Partition size" area. Click "OK".

Click "Execute xx Task" and then "Apply" to save all the changes.

Go back to Partition Manager, there should be unallocated space appearing on the same disk and you can continue with the next step to create new partition on your hard drive.

Step 3. Create a new partition with unallocated space on the target hard drive.

 Right-click on the unallocated space and choose "Create".

Customize the partition size, partition drive letter, partition label, file system (NTFS, FAT32, EXT2/3/4, exFAT) and more in the Advanced Settings. Click "OK".

Finally, click "Execute * Task" and "Apply" to complete creating partition with the unallocated space on your disk. Repeat the steps to partition a hard drive and get many more partitions.

Read More About Antimalware Service Executable High Memory/CPU/RAM

Here are the five top frequently asked questions related to the antimalware service executable high disk usage issue. If you also have any of these problems, you can find the methods here. 

Why is Antimalware Service Executable Using So Much?

Antimalware service executable high disk CPU is mostly caused by the real-time feature that can constantly scan files, connections, and other related applications in real-time. Whenever you download new files or any software or access any files, antimalware keeps scanning everything to check whether it is malicious or not. It acts quickly, which leads to the problem of high memory and high CPU usage.

Is It OK to Disable Antimalware Service Executable?

If you are suffering from antimalware service executable high CPU usage, disk, or memory usage problem on your Windows, you can turn off the real-time protection. 

After doing that, Windows Defender will be disabled as well as Antimalware Service Executable. If your computer is unprotected, viruses can easily get into it. We do not recommend that at all. 

How to Stop/Disable Antimalware Service Executable from Disk?

• Type Task Scheduler in the Search button. Click to expand "Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Windows".
• Click "Windows Defender" in Windows. Then double-click "Windows Defender Scheduled Scan".
• Uncheck "Run with highest privileges".
• Uncheck all the items in the Conditions section. Then click "OK".

Why Is My Disk Usage at 100?

If you see a very high disk usage, that means something else is not quite right. First, you can check your disk usage by opening the Task Manager in Windows 10. You'll see a quick overview of CPU, memory, disk, and network utilization on the main process tab.

To fix Windows 10 100% disk usage issue, you can:

• Restart your system  
• Check anti-virus software  
• Update windows 10  
• Check disk error  
• Stop the superfetch service
• Clean up junk files and running memory
• Reset virtual memory and increase the ram
• Perform a clean boot on windows 10
• Upgrade the hard drive to a larger one