Never seen msmpeng.exe in task manager before and now it's always active.
My laptop is running on Windows 7 and I haven't had any problems till last night. I noticed it took a bit longer to start so I checked my task manager and saw msmpeng.exe running. I know msmpeng.exe has something to do with Windows Defender and Microsoft Security Essentials. I tried to disable it and have it so it doesn't automatically start when I boot up my laptop. The problem is that at the same time it disables my Microsoft Security Essentials. When I enable MSE agian, msmpeng.exe shows up again too. It doesn't slow down my laptop too much once my laptop is all booted up, but it bothers me that I've never seen it active before and now it seem like I can't shut it off without putting my laptop at the risk of getting viruses. Is there a way I can disable it and have Microsoft Security Essentials running still? Windows Defender has been disabled for god know how long because I never noticed it so I don't think it has anything to do with it. I don't think it's conflicting with my softwares because I haven't installed anything lately and I know for sure that I don't have any other anti-virus installed/running Your answers would be much appreciated. thanks
February 26th, 2010 7:50pm

You can't use MSE without his own engine (MsMpEng = Microsoft Malware Protection Engine). If it doesn't slow down your laptop, where's the problem? For more detailed answers, you could also try to ask in http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/msestart/threads, where the people behind MSE are regularly answering to related issues.Edit: Btw, the only process from MSE that should appear in TaskManager is Msseces.exe. You can monitor the activity of MsMpEng.exe with more sophisticated tools like ProcessExplorer. "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” (Thomas J. Watson, Sr.)
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February 27th, 2010 12:21am

Double post."I think there is a world market for maybe five computers. (Thomas J. Watson, Sr.)
February 27th, 2010 12:29am

^ ^ ^ This.As to Windows Defender:It isn't disabled - the engine is still running, it's just controlled from MSE now. Installing MSE merely disables the Defender GUI (because that functionality is in MSE.)-Chris[If this post helps to resolve your issue, please click the "Mark as Answer" or "Helpful" button at the top of this message. By marking a post as Answered, or Helpful you help others find the answer faster.]
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February 27th, 2010 7:02pm

Please note that this is a duplicate post with http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itprosecurity/thread/0325efdc-9e2e-4911-aec3-889e41fc50caPlease refer to the answer in that post. Thanks.Sean Zhu - MSFT
March 1st, 2010 4:10am

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