Msmpeng.exe is a background process Microsoft Windows Defender uses for spyware scanning. It is automatically saved on PCs after installation of Windows Live OneCare. The main functions of this process are removal, quarantine and prevention of spyware infection.
Scans can be scheduled for any time or users may load the file manually. The Quick Scan, the Full Scan and the Custom Scan are the three options available to the user. Not only does this file search for spyware, it also searches for Trojans and worms especially from the Internet via email. In addition to this, it prevents unauthorized access to personal computer systems.
The framework of this process is based on GIANT Antispyware, produced by GIANT Company Software Inc. Apart from the usual scanning, the Windows Defender includes a variety of real-time Security Agents that comb through parts of the Windows operating system containing unsafe programs. Once msmpeng.exe identifies any malicious files, users may report them to Microsoft using Spynet, which also forms part of the Windows Defender suite. Through this utility, users receive information on which applications and device drivers are usable on their computers. The process under discussion may remove Active X applications. It occupies a minimal amount of memory, at just 14,032 bytes and is located in the common path, %programfiles%\Windows Defender\MsMpEng.exe. Its typical location is the system program file.
On certain occasions, the process may be camouflaged in the form of malware. In this form, msmpeng.exe destroys useful files and reveals very sensitive information like usernames, passwords, online banking information and personal data to remote systems. In other cases, such malware has even crippled firewalls. As for performance, it may consume a hundred percent of the central processing unit at startup, for several minutes, leading to very poor system. The immediate course of action is to terminate the process, then remove it via the ‘Add or Remove Programs’ feature.
Alternatively, computer users can disable the system’s startup items using MSCOFIG. As the process is useful, reinstall the latest version of Microsoft Windows Defender. From the Windows website, users can run free scans of their computers to rid their systems of any malware. Adware and Spybot take up less memory than Windows Defender and achieve the same goal. Regular system optimization as well as thorough registry scans is equally important. The latter checks every level of the system for any malicious software.
Tags: Microsoft Onecare, msmpeng, msmpeng.exe
