MSMPENG.EXS uses high cpu

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jeanette
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J

Jeanette

I googled this and it appears to be windows defender. It seems to be
using up my CPU?

I think I have the latest version. Anyone have any ideas why it would
be using so much cpu?
 
Your observations are correct. Don't expect a fix. It's the nature of the
beast - software has to check the bits and bytes against a very large number
of signature definitions and that is a CPU intensive process. Spybot is just
as bad. A quick scan with Windows Defender typically takes several minutes
and you can still productively work on your computer; however, I would
schedule full scans when you don't need access. You might think about
upgrading to a dual or quad processor in the future - not because of WD.
The extra core(s) can be kept busy doing virus or spyware scans while you do
your work.
 
Even a three year old hyperthreaded processor keeps my MsMpENG.exe below
the 50% threshold of CPU usage, provided hyperthreading is enabled. Good
points from Mr.Cat particularly re. running the Quick Scan rather than the
Full Scan on a regular basis.

Jeanette, are you just running standalone Defender or do you have Windows
Live OneCare installed?
What are you using for an Anti-Virus, and are any other Anti-Spyware
products installed now or in the past? I believe you were using the
addware sponsored CyberDefender when last we heard from you, but I'm not
sure that was on the same system your using now or is it?
 
Jeannette - there can be issues of high cpu usage when updates are being
installed, which is often a silent activity.

There is a two part fix for this. One part is a patch which has already
been pushed to autoupdate users.

The second part is a new version of the update client, which can be obtained
here:

http://blogs.technet.com/wsus/archive/2007/05/15/srvhost-msi-issue-follow-up.aspx

So--you need to see whether 927891 is in place--add or remove programs, show
updates, and look down the list, and then you need the x86 version (most
likely) of the windows update client--the first of the three long links.
This is being distributed, but may not have reached everyone yet--it should
also be listed in add or remove programs.
 
Thanks for that link, Bill. I needed the client update to accompany the
patch... though I don't have the 100% CPU problem, here I am to tell the
tale... so I guess it worked, at least the module has the right version
attached to it now.

It's an important point to note that even with that update in place, "It is
expected that process-monitoring tools may still show CPU usage at near 100
percent, but computer unresponsiveness is not expected. If you watch the
process monitor, you may still see CPU usage at near 100 percent during
some scans if the computer is otherwise idle. This is expected behavior."
 
Bill said:
Jeannette - there can be issues of high cpu usage when updates are being
installed, which is often a silent activity.

There is a two part fix for this. One part is a patch which has already
been pushed to autoupdate users.

The second part is a new version of the update client, which can be obtained
here:

http://blogs.technet.com/wsus/archive/2007/05/15/srvhost-msi-issue-follow-up.aspx

So--you need to see whether 927891 is in place--add or remove programs, show
updates, and look down the list, and then you need the x86 version (most
likely) of the windows update client--the first of the three long links.
This is being distributed, but may not have reached everyone yet--it should
also be listed in add or remove programs.
Click to expand...
Jeanette wrote:

I am only running a 1 ghz cpu with windows xp. I am not running Windows
Live care. Its not scanning but it might be updating?

But anyone it seems the cpu use is near a hundred percent.
 
High CPU usage is confusing to most people. If you start task manager and
sort the performance tab graph by CPU , you will often see the system idle
process using most of the CPU.

This is mysterious to some--it shouldn't be--the CPU is 100% in use by
something at all times. In many systems, the idle process uses most of
it--that's what it does--runs when nothing else does.

If you are running a shared computing project such as Folding at Home, or
Seti, you will see that process using the excess CPU time on your
system--again--that's why you are running those processes--to use up CPU
cycles that would otherwise not do useful work for you.

So--100% cpu usage is not unusual--but unresponsiveness--or high usage by
threads that would normally use very little CPU is.

--
 
My home machine is a 750 Mhz PIII. I've got machines at work that are PII
350's--they all run Windows Defender without problem. I'd try the updates.

--
 
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