Computer freezes at a specific time, daily.

[epple]

Well, my problem is that once a day for about a minute or so, my work computer becomes very unresponsive and the programs I work with stop responding to about 75%, as do Windows/Explorer. Nothing crashes, it's just unresponsive and for example Spotify continues in the background like nothing happened (unless there's already a heavy load it may cause a hick-up to the sound).

This all began about a month ago and starts at ~17:15 like clockwork. After Windows Update yesterday (yeah we're a day behind) this seem to have changed to around 10:45. :rofl:

I managed to get into the Resource Monitor during today's session and I saw what might cause this; MsMpEng.exe and MpCmdRun.exe were reading and writing excessively to the drive (mechanical). To my understanding this is MSE/Windows Defender/Antimalware. Turns out MSE was looking for definition updates around the same time, but if I check for updates manually this problem does not occur. I have a full weekly scan scheduled for 05:00 Sundays.

As this is a production machine I unfortunately cannot uninstall/reboot and wait half a day to see if these freezes might stop or not, so what I'm asking first is if anyone have had any similar issues or experienced anything like it? I'd like something concrete before I sacrifice any time on this.

I've tried to search the web but I can't really find anything useful, hence why I turn to the trusty Neowiners for help. :shifty:

The machine is a fully updated C2D Vista SP2 rig with Security Essentials Version: 2.0.657.0, Antimalware Client Version: 3.0.8107.0, Engine Version: 1.1.6903.0. It's getting an upgrade to W7 later in the summer, but for now everything (HW and SW) is working as expected, except for this daily annoyance of course... :pinch:

Any feedback is appreciated, thanks.

[fhpuqrgrpgvirzhpujbj]

Check Task Scheduler and see if anything is running at that time.

[epple]

Thanks omnicoder, this led me to Event Viewer (duuh, why didn't I think of this before?! :blushing: ) where it clearly states what's happening at those times.

Two entries at the same second, Microsoft Antimalware with Event ID 2000 (one for Signature Type: AntiVirus and the other for AntiSpyware). Then about a minute to a minute and a half later they're followed by WindowsUpdateClient with Event ID 19 stating "Installation Successful: Windows successfully installed the following update: Definition Update for Microsoft Security Essentials (...)."

Clearly it's during WindowsUpdateClient the computer gets unresponsive. So with the power of the late Michael Jackson I conclude "This is it!" :spindj:

Now I'm trying to find a way to change when this is runs. Does anyone know how? I can't find any reference to these events in Task Scheduler nor the MSE program and can't find much useful information about it when searching. :pinch:

[RiverCampher]

Thanks omnicoder, this led me to Event Viewer (duuh, why didn't I think of this before?! :blushing: ) where it clearly states what's happening at those times.

Two entries at the same second, Microsoft Antimalware with Event ID 2000 (one for Signature Type: AntiVirus and the other for AntiSpyware). Then about a minute to a minute and a half later they're followed by WindowsUpdateClient with Event ID 19 stating "Installation Successful: Windows successfully installed the following update: Definition Update for Microsoft Security Essentials (...)."

Clearly it's during WindowsUpdateClient the computer gets unresponsive. So with the power of the late Michael Jackson I conclude "This is it!" :spindj:

Now I'm trying to find a way to change when this is runs. Does anyone know how? I can't find any reference to these events in Task Scheduler nor the MSE program and can't find much useful information about it when searching. :pinch:

I believe it's in the control panel under 'Windows Update' which has the options to select how often to search for updates.

[gentoo]

You can not change the schedule for MSE updates. Have you taken a look here

Hope it helps.

[epple]

I believe it's in the control panel under 'Windows Update' which has the options to select how often to search for updates.

Thanks, but the only way to change this is to set the option to "Install updates automatically" which then will install them on the specified time. This, however, is not an option for me.

You can not change the schedule for MSE updates. Have you taken a look here

Hope it helps.

Thanks, how could I miss that link?! I suck at searching apparently. :whistle:

Anyway, it doesn't seem to be possible to specify when this automatic check is initiated unless you set up an automatic daily scan where it checks for definitions first. I will try this over the next few days and see if the problem persists or not.

For now, this may be considered solved and I'm very grateful for the input. :hug:

[epple]

Couldn't edit my previous reply, but here's an update:

The update/scan is now set to start at 06:00, and it does and finishes successfully, but the original issue still persists where it checks for and installs updates once again around 10:45. So, I'm not really sure what to do but do live with it, for now. Luckily there are not many weeks left until my vacation, and I plan on upgrading to Windows 7 on a rainy day during that time. Hopefully then the issue will magically disappear. :rofl:

Again, thanks for the above replies and I hope that maybe it will help someone else out one day. ^^