MsMpEng.exe is draining my CPU!it is taking up 90% of my CPu. it takes about 30 minutes to boot and even then it is completely unresponsive.I uninstalled Security Essentials and then resinstalled it. there was no improvement.the only way i am able to work now is becasue i turned off "Monitor file and program activity on your computer"I am running Windows 7 x64 Business on a Lenovo notebook with a dual core CPU with 4GB RAM. It was working great until this morning. i noticed that there was a recent update to Security Essentials this morning (KB972696, Definition 1.71.2445.0). is anyone else experiencing this problem? is there a way to fix this?

Hi biconix, high CPU usage can be caused by several factors, including 1) Acquiring image data 2) Decoding JPG image 3) Transferring Data to application, etc. I suggest you first perform a Clean Boot and see the result: 1. Click Start, type "MSCONFIG" (without the quotations) in the Search Bar and Press "Enter" to start the System Configuration Utility. Note: Please click Continue if the "User Account Control" window pops up. 2. Click the "Services" tab, check the "Hide All Microsoft Services" box and click "Disable All" (if it is not gray).3. Click the "Startup" tab, click "Disable All" and click "OK". (except Microsoft Security Essentials related items)4. Restart the computer and test the issue. Note: Clean Boot is a troubleshooting step. If some programs have been disabled, we can re-enable them later. If you see the System Configuration Utility, check the box of "Don't show this message" and then click "OK". Please test this issue in the Clean Boot environment. Meanwhile, I suggest you also check MSE forum via the following link and thread: http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/category/mseExcessive CPU utilization by MsMpEng.exehttp://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/msestart/thread/ff286d70-ea06-45bb-b057-6f79ca7a01bbHope this helps!Sean Zhu - MSFT

MsMpEng.exe is draining my CPU!it is taking up 90% of my CPu. it takes about 30 minutes to boot and even then it is completely unresponsive.I uninstalled Security Essentials and then resinstalled it. there was no improvement.the only way i am able to work now is becasue i turned off "Monitor file and program activity on your computer"I am running Windows 7 x64 Business on a Lenovo notebook with a dual core CPU with 4GB RAM. It was working great until this morning. i noticed that there was a recent update to Security Essentials this morning (KB972696, Definition 1.71.2445.0). is anyone else experiencing this problem? is there a way to fix this? hi , a Q , can you click upgrade ? the downward arrow , top right corner , click update also in the update tab open the task manager , look for MsMpENG.exe , how much is the commit size ?? where did you download MSE from ? only use this site http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/you can also use a usb stick to increase performance , and make the cache and page file bigger if you continue to have problems with MSE , contact support and make submit a support case http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/support.aspx?mkt=en-us&s=3#mainNavis anything changed on your comp ? something new installed ? do you have other security software installed on your comp ?there are problems with older versions , and version that are given on disk with various magazines , some private sites offer downloads that are incomplete also , they all tend to have this behaviour , i am not saying this is the case in your case but its possible , ... dont wory , you will get a solutionhave a nice dayScan with OneCare + 50 Windows 7even Tips + Plagued by the Privacy Center? REMOVE IT + Threat Research & Response Blog + Sysinternals Live tools + TRANSLATOR+ Photosynth + Microsoft Security + Microsoft SUPPORT + PIVOT from Live Labs + Microsoft Live Labs + Office 2010 beta + Get Windows LIVE!

I am getting the identical issue as posted at top, immediately after installing MSE on an XP machine. Very frequent 100% cpu usage esp for example when opening programs. So I followed the step recommended here & elsewhere of turning off "Monitor file and program activity on your computer". On doing this I instantly get the warning that: "microsoft security essentials reports that it is turned off" and the security warning icon is red. Anyone else? And what level of protection does one actually have after turning that monitoring option off? Very pressed for time to the temptation is to install an alternative free AV prog...