Although Antimalware Service Executable is a necessary process that secures the system, it consumes lots of resources, which causes our computer to slow down. What’s worst is that users can’t directly ‘End Task’ the Antimalware Service Executable from the task manager.

If you use a third-party antivirus program and don’t want Antimalware Service Executable to consume too much resources, here’s how to terminate it.

1. Disable the Real-Time Protection of Windows Security

You can disable the real-time protection feature of Windows Security to get rid of the Antimalware executable process. However, we recommend you install another security tool after disabling the real-time protection on the Windows Security app.

1. First, click on Windows Search and type Windows Security. Next, open the Windows Security app from the list.

2. When the Windows Security app opens, click on the Virus & Threat Protection tab.

Virus & threat protection

3. Click the Manage Settings link under the Virus & Threat Protection settings.

Virus & threat protection settings

4. On the next screen, disable the toggle for Real-time protection. You can also disable the other two options – Cloud-delivered protection and Automatic sample submission.

disable the Real-time protection

This will disable the real-time protection feature of Windows Security/Defender and would fix the Antimalware Service Executable high CPU usage problem.

2. Disable Windows Defender From The Registry Editor

Since the ‘Antimalware Service Executable’ is associated with Windows Defender, we need to disable the Windows Defender from the Registry Editor. Although you can disable Windows Defender from Settings, it still runs some processes in the background. So, here’s how to disable Windows Defender from the Registry Editor.

1. First, open the Run Dialog box and type in regedit.

regedit

2. Now head to the following path – HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender

Navigate to the following path

3. In the next step, right-click on the Windows Defender and choose New > DWORD.

4. Name the new key as DisableAntiSpyware, double-click on it, and set the value to 1.

DisableAntiSpyware

3. Stop ‘Antimalware Service Executable’ from Group Policy Editor

If the registry method fails to stop the ‘Antimalware Service Executable, ‘ you can consider this method. In this method, users must change the Group Policy Editor to kill the process.

1. Open the RUN dialog box and type in gpedit.msc

gpedit.msc

2. On the Group Policy Editor, head to the following path – Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Windows Defender Antivirus/Real-time Protection. On the right-hand side menu, double-click on Turn off real-time protection.

Navigate to the following path

3. In the next window, select Enabled and click on Apply.

select Enabled

4. Disable Scheduled Tasks

Windows Defender has a few tasks scheduled to ensure proper security and protection. Since it’s scheduled to start at a given time, users don’t get the option to end the ‘Antimalware Service Executable’. So, users need to disable every scheduled task associated with Windows Defender to kill ‘Antimalware Service Executable’

1. Open the Windows search menu and search for Task Scheduler

Task Scheduler

2. In the next step, head to the following path – Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Windows > Windows Defender.

head to the following path

3. You will see four scheduled tasks. Right-click on all of them and select Disable

Select Disable

5. Install Any Other Antivirus tool

Windows Defender runs when your system doesn’t have any third-party security tools. It won’t run side by side with third-party software. So, if the methods mentioned above fail to disable the ‘Antimalware Service Executable’ from the Task Manager, you must install a third-party antivirus.

Install Any Other Antivirus tool

Third-party security tools like Malwarebytes and Kaspersky Security are more powerful and capable than the default Windows Defender. For a complete list of security tools, check out our article.

These are the best methods for fixing the ‘Antimalware Service Executable’ on a Windows PC. If you know other ways to fix the problem, please let us know in the comment box below.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here