High CPU and Disk I/O primarily caused by MsMpEng.exe?

Support & Help Requests
,
1

Is anyone having intermittent high cpu temp at idle?
I’m running latest bios 0.21. thanks.
Haven’t had time to look into it properly just putting it here as a placer until i get more time.

I suppose most users would probably not notice because the fan is loud all the time generally so you would be unaware of a cpu spiking high unless using HWMonitor / HWiNFO or Resource Monitor?

Obviously it would be noticeable playing a game as when mine is spiking out i can struggle to close resource monitor so gaming wouldn’t be doing too good.

2

Only for comparison: bios 0.19 - constant 47-49 degrees at idle while charging.

3

using Windows Resource Monitor I can see that the bulk of the cpu sometimes spiking cpu to go above 100% is msmpeng.exe
and tiworker.exe

msmpeng.exe see here https://thewindowscentral.com/msmpeng-exe-high-cpu/

and tiworker.exe see here https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-performance/high-cpu-usage-caused-by-tiworkerexe/ae12110a-15ca-49cb-be24-c6200072b436

4

FYI - Using psensor (https://itsfoss.com/check-laptop-cpu-temperature-ubuntu/) in Ubuntu Mate 19.04 Live to check CPU temp at idle and its 46-47 degrees.

1 Like
5

Ok so further diagnostics after doing ALL windows updates and restarting and checking all was happy indicates that the issue is with MsMpEng.exe

I’m getting excessively high CPU and some Disk I/O issues and sudden increase in Memory Hard Faults/sec

see screenshot.

msmpeng
msmpeng2560×1600 1.16 MB

This is happening frequently but in bursts so I will experience spike in CPU and I/O and then will be maxed out for a 2-4 minutes then die off on its own. Then 15 minutes or so the same thing happens again.

I’ll try get a better screenshot as I managed to catch this. I’ve modified the Thread Title to reflect the issue.

Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks

6

It just happened again and as well as the above I see mscorescw.exe several times appear as status (terminated)

screenshot2
screenshot22560×1600 594 KB

7

@petem MsMpEng.exe is part of Windows Defender (built-in antivirus). You could try disabling that and download a different A/V program. Otherwise, it might just be doing updates and running initial scans and might calm down after awhile.

8

Hmm. I never enabled it. I Just checked in “Windows Security” app and “Virus & threat protection” has a yellow exclamation mark and a button that says turn on.

I assume therefore that it’s not enabled?

EDIT: Rule 1 - Never assume. lol. I’m always quick to say this to others but seeminly dont take my own advice huh? lol
I can see that inside settings "Real time protection and Cloud Delivered Protection and Automatic sample submission are all ON.

I will disable thanks. @Bluegizmo83

9

@petem lol no problem, we’ve all done it :slight_smile:

I did also find this, if it still shows up after disabling Defender:

If Windows Defender is “off” should MsMpEng even be running?

Only and only if you have Microsoft Security Essentials or System Center Endpoint Protection installed.

Otherwise, no.

1 Like
10

To Disable Windows Security for All Users I used regedit to changed following Registry Keys

(Windows Defender Security Center Service)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SecurityHealthService

(Security Center service)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wscsvc

Start DWORD

2 = Enable
4 = Disable

I then restarted the machine.

see here:

Marking as resolved - pending re-test.

11

Nope. Still happening.
Any one have any suggestions?
I’ve checked and cannot see Microsoft Security Essentials installed or System Center Endpoint Protection

12

@petem might be worth checking the windows system services (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services) and scroll down to the Windows Defender items and make sure they’re Startup Type is set to Manual or Disabled.

1 Like
13

For some reason when I go in here I can see

  1. Windows Defender Antivirus Network Inspection Service
  2. Windows Defender Antivirus Service

Both will not allow me to stop them and when I double click and get properties Start / Stop / pause and resume are greyed out.

I tried in normal and running Control Panel>Administrator Tools>services in Administrator mode

I also tried in msconfig > services but seems it won’t disable

Any solution ?