I'm trying to kill the msmpeng.exe process because it's leaked a large amount of memory, but every time I attempt it, even when running as SYSTEM, I get an 'Access is denied' error. I used schtasks to run a batch file with the taskkill command, but it didn't work. I've already turned off Tamper Protection in Windows Defender. Is there any trick to forcefully restart this process, or am I stuck with it?
4 Answers
It sounds like Windows Defender is designed to protect itself from being killed, which is why you’re facing access issues. Additionally, the memory leak might not be a leak per se; Defender can vary its memory usage based on what it's scanning, and sometimes it could just be bloated memory usage. You might want to check what's triggering the high usage instead of trying to kill Defender itself.
Did you know that SYSTEM isn’t the highest privilege level? There’s something called TrustedInstaller which is even higher. You can use a PowerShell module to gain that level but be careful; it can trigger security alerts if you’re on a work computer. Just a heads-up!
MSMPENG is part of Windows Defender and operates at a kernel level, so it’s tough to stop it once it’s running. In general, it’s best left alone unless it really affects system performance. Usually, it shouldn’t use more than 200MB; if it is, you could look at your settings or triggers for any unexpected scans.
Windows Defender is built to prevent external processes from interfering with it. You might consider just letting it stabilize rather than trying to kill it. If you're really facing memory issues, maybe check if you're willing to upgrade memory rather than forcing a restart of Defender.
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