What is the MSMPENG.EXE - How to fix it?

MSMPENG.EXE belongs to Microsoft, and it is part of the "Windows Defender" program and is part of their security suite of software. This process is an application that belongs to the Service Executable application. The MSMPENG.EXE application is the core component of the Windows Defender which was previously known as Windows AntiSpyware.

When Windows Live OneCare is installed in your computer, the MSMPENG file is also automatically saved in your computer. Windows Defender uses this process to perform spyware scanning routines. It may also appear in your computer startup folder. The actual proper disk location is "C:\Program Files" or sometimes it can also be found in "C:\" itself, so always verify the location to make sure your file is not spyware or adware related. This file is not considered spyware or adware and it is legitimate. However there may be cases where MSMPENG can be considered as malware, especially since virus, Trojan, spyware coders try to disguise their executable file and pass it on as a legitimate file in order to go unnoticed.

This process has a much lesser security risk than other processes which are mandatory on your PC and cannot be terminated like for example SVCHOST is a prime target for malware creators, since there is usually more than 4 processes with the same name running on your computer at the same time and the process itself cannot be terminated or it can cause a total system shutdown or cause the system not to function properly as SVCHOST is a system critical process which hosts a group of other processes.

The program has no visible window or user interface and it is also NOT a Windows system file. This means that you can remove MSMPENG.EXE process from the Add/Remove Programs in the control panel.