Windows 10 ExifTool EXE hangs or runs very slowly

Started by Phil Harvey, August 03, 2016, 08:30:55 AM

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Phil Harvey

A recent update of Windows Defender causes ExifTool to either hang or take a long time to launch.

Adding exiftool to the exclusion list in the Windows Defender settings may help, but ExifTool may still be slower than when Windows Defender is disabled completely.

See this post for more details.

- Phil
...where DIR is the name of a directory/folder containing the images.  On Mac/Linux/PowerShell, use single quotes (') instead of double quotes (") around arguments containing a dollar sign ($).

José Oliver-Didier

Thanks Phil! Indeed, adding Exiftool to the Windows Defender exclusion list has improved performance on my PC.

I also would like to add problems I recently encountered with Acronis True Image 2019, specifically with the Acronis Active Protection feature. I recently noticed a severe slowdown using Geosetter (which uses Exiftool) and traced it down to True Image. That application also provides an exclusion/whitelist under Managed Processes in the Active Protection Settings.

Ref: Active Protection blocks legitimate applications https://kb.acronis.com/content/60193
blog: http://jmoliver.wordpress.com
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GWild

I had this issue and a simple SCAN of the exe using Defender (right click, Scan with...) and Defender now allows the executable to run normally.