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MsMpEng.exe swamping CPU

Locked MsMpEng.exe swamping CPU

  • Sunday, February 28, 2010 7:44 PM
     
     
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    I am running MS OneCare as anti-virus and firewall under XP Pro SP3. From time to time I have to disable the av and firewall to play online games (AmericasArmy 3 with PunkBuster). However, when I disable av and firewall through OneCare the process MsMpEng.exe goes bananas and swamps my cpu, making it darn near impossible to do anything. After some time it will calm down, but this can run on for 15 to 20 minutes.
    I've read several articles about the function of this process, and I'm aware of it's intended purpose. I'm also aware that hundreds if not thousands of people have the same problems with this process. My question is, why does it continue for so long after 'turning off' av and what can I do to genuinely control this program?
       

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    • Monday, March 01, 2010 12:36 AM
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      Do you have Windows Defender turned off?

      Jim
      Microsoft MVP Consumer Security - Forum Moderator - Live One Care - Live Mesh - Microsoft Security Essentials
         
      • Monday, March 01, 2010 2:45 PM
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        If you are disabling protection in OneCare, that should be turning off the MSMPENG service. If it is spiking the CPU when you disable protection, something is clearly not right. Since you have noted that you know others have problems with this process, you'll also know that the most common cause of CPU spikes for MSMPENG is a conflict wth other security software or a driver, however, that would not be the case when you disable protection in OneCare.
        I suggest that you contact support for help with determining the cause of this issue.
         

        How to reach support (FAQ) - http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/onecareinstallandactivate/thread/30400b52-7f26-4ba0-bc18-17e305329d90

        -steve

        ~ Microsoft MVP Windows Live ~ Windows Live OneCare| Live Mesh|MS Security Essentials Forums Moderator ~
           
        • Thursday, September 30, 2010 6:29 AM
           
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          For what it's worth: I had one CPU spike every 2-3 second because of MsMpEng.exe. The culprit was OracleXE, which I had recently installed.
          • Proposed As Answer by mortensi Thursday, September 30, 2010 6:29 AM
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          • Monday, December 27, 2010 6:36 PM
             
             
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            I was having the same problem and after some struggle, I resolved the problem by deinstalling McAfee Online Backup. I stumbled on this idea after installing Windows Installer Cleaner (no longer available through MS) and realized the last installed application on my machine was this McAfee product. Thank god I wasn't relying on this backup capability.