Coincidence or accident? Microsoft Security Essentials bug rendering XP machines hamstrung like a virus.
Hot on the heels of Microsoft's retirement of XP, users are reporting some rather severe issues with their boxes, caused by the company's security suite. While no data is at risk, and the OS remains operable, if stricken with this bug, you'd swear that you've actually contracted a virus. The PC will be slow, "down to a crawl" as one Google+ user has said.
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Further, errors related to "MsMpEng.exe" might also arise on boot, and this is the process that needs to be killed in order to regain normality with your PC. To disable MSE, you can go to your Windows run line (Win + R), type "services.msc" without quotes and hit enter, then scroll down to "Microsoft Antimalware Service". Once found, right-click it, go into the properties, and then choose "Startup type: Disabled". After a reboot, MSE will stay clear, and your PC should be back to normal. Note that you may have to boot into Safe Mode in order to successfully complete this disabling. You can also uninstall it via the standard Programs and Software control panel.
