Windows defender causing slow icon display

So in another thread I questioned why on boot up my desktop icons were a bit slow in drawing themselves. They take a few seconds to fully draw with a number of them showing as white generic paper icons. I then found folders with a large number of exe files were also slow to display the icons. Increasing icon cache, rebuilding it didn't make a difference. I was also noticing that the folders slow to draw the icons once finished gave no further grief if I subsequently opened them. Until the next reboot!

Finally i I know why, it's Windows defender. The antimalware service is kicking in causing the slow icon draw. I suppose it's doing its thing but the slow draw of the icons on the desktop when I log in annoys me. It's only a few seconds but running SSD and given the cost of the system I expect it to be a bit more instant. I am sure it's not as bad as this on my Windows 7 laptop which runs security essentials. I wondered if there was any advice to stop this behaviour. I turned off real time protection temporarily and can confirm that the folders were then drawing the exe icons instantly. So definitely defender the culprit.

i am also considering trying another paid anti virus. Kaspersky sounds like it has good rep and is lightweight - I was only going to go for the anti virus / real time protection aspect as I am happy with Windows in built firewall. Does it play nice with Windows 10? I just want something light on resources, nag free and something that won't interfere with the drawing of the icons. I thought defender being integrated and an MS product would give the littlest grief but I guess I'm wrong. Unless something can be set to prevent it real time scanning the desktop icons. I'd be happy if I could at least avoid that.

Turning off real time protection stops the issue. Plus I see the service kicking in via task manager.

cheers, Wayne

I haven't but will prob end up giving that a shot. I preferred to go with defender as it's supposed to be lightweight and integrates nicely. I was hoping there were tips to stop it scanning at the very least desktop shortcuts on start up. I was pondering kaspersky and only the anti virus part as I am more than happy with Windows own firewall. Which anti virus do you use? I am curious if other users of defender notice similar though.

Can you do that? Does that pertain to real time scanning? I'll definetely try that first before going down the kaspersky route. Thanks for that suggestion, I'll let you know when my wife lets me back on the computer, lol. I'd be very interested to know what you use given you high knowledge and rep.

cheers
wayne

Thanks chaps. I really appreciate the excellent advice. I will try the exception first and if no dice then a freebie as suggested. I will update the thread later hopefully