How to turn off Smadav Real-Time Protection (Full Settings)

This guide provides a complete overview of the full settings for how to turn off Smadav Antivirus real-time protection. We will cover the simple, temporary “pause” for fixing software conflicts, the “Exception List” for a targeted solution, and the advanced, permanent method of disabling the core SMARTP.exe protection service.

You are in the middle of a critical task. You are compiling a large software project, or perhaps installing a new, resource-heavy game. Suddenly, your system grinds to a halt. Your disk usage spikes to 100%. You open the Task Manager, and you see the culprit: SMARTP.exe. It is the core process for Smadav's real-time protection, and it is aggressively scanning every single file your high-performance task is trying to access.

This is the central conflict of running a “second-layer” antivirus. Smadav built its reputation as a specialist, a nimble guard that runs alongside your primary security (like Microsoft Defender) to catch niche threats, especially from USB drives. But this two-guard system is a performance-killer. The real-time protection, the part that is “always on,” is a notorious source of disk I/O bottlenecks, false positives, and system lag.

To take back control of your system, you need to understand all the settings. You are not just looking for how to close a window. You are looking for how to turn off Smadav’s real-time engine itself. This guide will show you every method, from the temporary pause to the permanent “off” switch.

Understanding Your Target: The Two Faces of Smadav

Before you can disable the real-time protection, you must understand what it is. Smadav is not a single program. It has two distinct parts:

1. The “Face” (SmadAV.exe): This is the User Interface. It is the green dashboard, the settings panel, and the "S" icon in your system tray. When you close this window, you are not turning off the antivirus. You are just closing the control panel.
2. The “Engine” (SMARTP.exe): This is the Smadav Real-Time Protection. It is a high-privilege Windows Service that runs in the background, starting with your computer before you even log in. This is the "guard" that is actively scanning files, consuming CPU, and causing your lag.

To turn off the real-time protection, you must target the “Engine,” not the “Face.”

Why Does Smadav’s Real-Time Protection Cause Problems?

The conflict is not theoretical. It creates measurable performance issues, primarily because of redundancy. On any modern Windows 10 or 11 machine, you already have a powerful, built-in antivirus: Microsoft Defender.

In the 2024 and 2025 independent evaluations from security labs like AV-TEST, Microsoft Defender consistently receives perfect scores for both protection and performance. It is a world-class solution.

When you run Smadav’s real-time protection, you are creating a “two-guard” problem:

• Disk I/O Bottlenecks: When you launch a game or open a large file, both Defender and Smadav try to scan that file at the same millisecond. They “fight” for access, creating a bottleneck that you feel as stutter, lag, or slow load times.
• False Positives: With two different heuristic engines running, the chance of a false positive (a safe file being flagged as a virus) doubles. Smadav’s aggressive engine may quarantine a file that Defender knows is safe.
• Resource Drain: While Smadav is lightweight, its SMARTP.exe process is still a constant, low-level drain on your CPU and battery, which is especially noticeable on laptops.

Learning how to turn off Smadav’s real-time protection is the number one way to solve these issues.

Method 1: The Temporary “Pause” (The Official & Safest Method)

This is the “pause button.” It is the fastest, safest, and most common method. You should use this when you are temporarily doing a sensitive task and want to re-enable protection afterward.

Use this method for:

• Installing a new, trusted piece of software (like a game or Adobe Creative Suite).
• Playing a high-performance game to prevent lag spikes.
• Troubleshooting a system issue to see if the AV is the cause.

How to Use the System Tray Control (Fastest Way)

This is the intended, official way to pause the real-time guard.

1. Navigate to your Windows system tray (the icons in the bottom-right corner, near the clock).
2. You may need to click the small upward-facing arrow (^) to reveal all hidden icons.
3. Find the green Smadav “S” logo.
4. Right-click the Smadav icon.
5. A context menu will appear. At the top, you will see a checked option: “Disable Protection.”
6. Click “Disable Protection” to uncheck it.

The Smadav icon will immediately turn red. This is your visual confirmation that the SMARTP.exe real-time engine is now dormant.

Important: This is a temporary pause. The real-time protection will automatically re-enable itself the next time you restart your computer. This is a feature, not a bug, designed to ensure you do not accidentally leave yourself unprotected.

Method 2: The “Smarter” Fix (Using the Exception List)

Perhaps your problem is not all real-time protection, but just protection on one specific program. Your game lags, or your coding software is constantly being flagged.

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In this case, you do not need to turn off the guard. You just need to give him a “guest list.” This is the “Exception List,” also known as whitelisting. This is a key part of the “Full Settings.”

1. Double-click the Smadav icon in your system tray to open the main dashboard.
2. On the left-hand side, click the “Settings” tab.
3. Look for a button or link labeled “Exception List” (it may be called “Exclusion”).
4. This will open a list where you can add files or folders you want Smadav to ignore.
5. Click the “Add” button.
6. Navigate to the folder of your trusted game or application. For example:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\MyLaggyGame
• C:\Program Files\MyDevTool

Select the entire folder and add it to the list.

This is an excellent compromise. Smadav’s real-time protection remains active, guarding your downloads and USB drives, but it will now completely ignore your trusted, high-performance applications.

Method 3: How to Turn Off Smadav Real-Time Protection Permanently

This is the advanced, permanent solution. This is for the user who has decided they are done with Smadav’s real-time scanning. They want to demote Smadav from an “always-on guard” to a simple “on-demand tool” that they only use to manually scan suspicious files.

This is the true how to turn off Smadav method. It is a mandatory two-step process. You must do both.

Step 1: Disabling the “Face” (The Startup Application)

First, we must stop the user interface, tray icon, and pop-up notifications from loading when you log in. This stops the SmadAV.exe process.

On Windows 10 and Windows 11:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open the Task Manager.
2. Click the “Startup Apps” tab on the left-hand side (on Windows 10, it is the “Startup” tab).
3. Find “Smadav” (or “SmadAV-T”) in the list.
4. Right-click on it and select “Disable.”

On Windows 7:

1. Press the Windows key + R to open the “Run” dialog.
2. Go to the “Startup” tab, find “Smadav,” and uncheck the box.

At this point, your computer will boot faster. But you are not done. The “Engine” is still running.

Step 2: Disabling the “Engine” (The Core Protection Service)

This is the final, critical step. We will now go into the Windows master control panel and permanently disable the SMARTP.exe real-time protection service.

This process is the same for all versions of Windows.

1. Press the Windows key + R to open the “Run” dialog.
2. Type services.msc and press Enter. This will open the Windows Services console.
3. You will see a long, alphabetical list of every service on your system.
4. Scroll down and find the service named “SmadAV Protection Service.”
5. Right-click on this service and select “Properties.”
6. A new window will open. We need to do two things.
7. First, stop the service that is running right now. Click the “Stop” button.
8. Second, prevent it from ever starting again. Find the “Startup type” dropdown menu. It is currently set to “Automatic.”
9. Change the “Startup type” from “Automatic” to “Disabled.”
10. Click “Apply,” then “OK.”

You have now done it. The real-time protection is fully and permanently disabled. Smadav is now a completely dormant program. It will not run, scan, or use any resources until you manually click its icon from the Start Menu.

Security Analysis: You’ve Turned Off Smadav. What Now?

A responsible security expert must answer the final question: Are you now vulnerable?

On a modern, updated Windows 10 or 11 machine, the answer is a clear and confident no.

The Windows ecosystem is designed to be self-healing. The instant that Windows detects a third-party antivirus service has been stopped or disabled, Microsoft Defender’s own real-time protection automatically switches from passive to active mode.

By disabling Smadav’s real-time protection, you have not created a security vacuum. You have removed a conflict. You have eliminated the “two-guard” problem and allowed your primary, built-in, and top-performing antivirus to do its job without interference. Your system will be faster, more stable, and just as secure.

You came here looking for the “Full Settings” to turn off a problematic program. You have not only accomplished that, but you have also performed an expert-level system optimization, streamlining your defenses and placing your trust in a single, unified, and highly capable security solution.