Windows Defender Smartscreen CPU Utilization & BSOD


  1. climbanymtn
    Posts : 2
    Windows 10.0.19041 Build 19041
       New #1

    Windows Defender Smartscreen CPU Utilization & BSOD


    A few months ago I began to notice that Windows Defender Smartscreen process would always run whenever I restart, launch a browser, or launch an app that connects to the internet (despite Smartscreen being disabled via Windows Security settings). The process runs for about 5-6 minutes every time it launches and consumes 15-17% of CPU per Task Manager.

    In addition to Windows Security Settings I also used the group policy editor (in Admin Templates) to disable every setting for Smartscreen. Nevertheless, upon restart the process still runs.

    Last week I had a BSOD (first time ever on this laptop) that I believe was due to Smartscreen competing for CPU resources with my stock market trading software that utilizes a high % of CPU.

    I would like to figure out how to disable Smartscreen from running. Right now I have to manually right click on the process in the task manager every time it starts to run and manually end the task.

    Windows Version: Windows 10 Pro 19041.804 (but the issue has been around for at least 2 prior versions)
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  3. Paul Black
    Posts : 18,034
    Win 10 Pro 64-bit v1909 - Build 18363 Custom ISO Install
       New #2

    Hello @climbanymtn,
    Welcome to TenForums.

    climbanymtn said:
    I would like to figure out how to disable Smartscreen from running. Right now I have to manually right click on the process in the task manager every time it starts to run and manually end the task.

    Have you seen this? . . .

    > How to Turn On or Off Microsoft Defender SmartScreen for Apps and Files from Web in Windows 10

    I hope this helps.
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  4. climbanymtn
    Posts : 2
    Windows 10.0.19041 Build 19041
    Thread Starter
       New #3

    Paul Black said:
    Hello @climbanymtn,
    Welcome to TenForums.




    Have you seen this? . . .

    > How to Turn On or Off Microsoft Defender SmartScreen for Apps and Files from Web in Windows 10

    I hope this helps.
    Yes, I already took a look at that. I have implemented options 1 and 3 to no avail. I don't understand why Group Policy edits are having no effect. I made the edits to the Admin Templates and I am logged in as Admin.
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  6. TairikuOkami
    Posts : 5,492
    Windows 11 Home
       New #4

    You can use brute force, run CMD as admin and copy/paste
    Code:
    takeown /s %computername% /u %username% /f "%WinDir%\System32\smartscreen.exe"
icacls "%WinDir%\System32\smartscreen.exe" /grant:r %username%:F
taskkill /im smartscreen.exe /f
del "%WinDir%\System32\smartscreen.exe" /s /f /q
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

 

  Related Discussions
Source: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/core-infrastructure-and-security/windows-defender-smartscreen-file-and-flash-player-blockage/ba-p/2066746 ...
Turning Smartscreen back on (smartscreen can't be reached...)
in AntiVirus, Firewalls and System Security

I believe I inadvertently switched off Smartscreen during setup so now, each time I try to install something, Windows says Smartscreen can't be reached right now. It's NOT my internet connection. Can someone help?
Issue My desktop computer has become unusable because it is so slow. I'm not very technical so any suggestions or input would be appreciated. (Apologies in advance for the poor quality of the information but the computer is so slow it is hard...
It seems recently that my Hard drive utilization consistently stays between 90% and 100%. I have shut down as much back ground services as I can find and stopped as many sartup services as I could see that weren't directly OS related. However disk...
Our Sites
Site Links
About Us
Windows 10 Forums is an independent web site and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Microsoft Corporation. "Windows 10" and related materials are trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

 © Designer Media Ltd
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 20:30.
Find Us




Windows 10 Forums