Windows 10: process stuck on launch waiting on Defender Firewall / BFE svchost

For the past month or so I've intermittently had a process get stuck immediately upon launch. Task Mgr wait chain always shows the stuck process blocked on a call to one of the svchost processes. Once this happens, every new process launch from there on gets stuck. The only workaround I've found so far is to reboot.


This situation just happened again. This time I figured out that the problem svchost instance contains the Windows Defender Firewall mpssvc and Base Filtering Engine BFE services.


Here's a bit more detail about the sequence of events: I just clicked on a PDF file in Explorer, which launched a new instance of Adobe Acrobat Reader. The new instance got stuck even though I already had other PDF files open in other Acrobat instances. After identifying that Defender/BFE svchost was the culprit, I tried launching the Defender MMC snap-in. That new process also got stuck on launch.


So far, it has usually been Acrobat that gets stuck first. But one time it seemed to be Excel. This is the only pattern that I've noticed.


Is this a known problem?


I wasn't able to find a similar problem description in a basic search of the community forum and the web.


I'm currently running Windows 10 version 1909 build 18363.900. I'm only seeing this issue on my older desktop PC. I have not seen it occur on my newer laptop. Both are running the same Windows build with Defender enabled.


Thanks for any pointers.

:)

 

Analyzing Svchost processes in Windows

Here's how to track down detailed information about any Svchost.exe process running in Windows 7/8.

a) You can use the Tasklist command-line tool to learn which services are running in a Svchost.exe. Just run cmd (command prompt) and hit

Tasklist /svc /fo list

Scroll through the list and find what you need. It's not quite intuitive so you can use third party programs with gui. See below:

b) You can use svchost viewer. Best utility. Note: to run this under XP you need .Net framework 2.0





c) Svchost Process Analyzer is another app for that.





d) And another app called Svchost lookup tool





e) And it won't hurt if you use Process Explorer and System Explorer.


It's never bad to keep your system under control, plus all these apps are portable no installation is required.

kthbai

 

What does the svchost do?

Lots of Windows services are tied to the SVChost, and /or are listed as SVChost in the process list(s).

Unfortunatley with Vista, there's a lot more dependencies between the services, and thus you'll be FORCED to run more instances of SVChosts; unlike XP where things were more independent and you could disable more features resulting in less SVChost instances. That and XP and Vista are different.

Regardless of your Windows version, you can check out some service slimming guides or goto Black Viper's website and take his advice. Depending on your needs you may be able to cut down the amount of SVChost running, and save some RAM.

XP should never have an SVChost using 50mb. Vista however can.

 

windows defender firewall

Hi Faye,

Third-party antivirus programs usually have their own uninstallers provided by the software developer. We suggest checking the developer's website or contacting their support team for assistance with uninstalling their program. After fully uninstalling the
third-party antivirus software, you may turn on Windows Defender by following these steps:

• Click Start.
• Type Windows Defender Security Center and press Enter.
• Click Firewall and network protection.
• Click Private (discoverable) network and click On.
• Click Public (non-discoverable) network and click On.

Let us know if you have any other concerns about Windows Defender.