MS Money Sunset takes 25 minutes to open on Windows 11 Pro: How do I add Defender exclusions?

VinceB · May 9, 2026

Hi everyone,

I recently performed a Dell factory reset on my XPS 8960. After reinstalling MS Money Sunset (version 17), I've found that it takes approximately 25 minutes for the application to open.

While monitoring the process in Task Manager, I noticed the CPU usage, before Money opens, was at 3% for a 52MB .mny file.
I also saw, after Money opened, that Microsoft Defender was consuming significant CPU resources during this time, only settling down after Defender finished.

I want to test if Defender is causing this abnormal delay by adding an exclusion for the Money executable file. How exactly do I go about doing that?

glasskuter · May 9, 2026

Before adding an exclusion why not disable defender and test. If that fixes it then add an exclusion. If it doesn't defender is not the problem.

Add or Remove Exclusions for Microsoft Defender Antivirus in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to add or remove exclusions for Microsoft Defender Antivirus for Windows Security in Windows 10 and Windows 11. Windows Security is built-in to Windows 11 and includes an antivirus program called Microsoft Defender Antivirus. Your device will be actively...

www.elevenforum.com

VinceB · May 9, 2026

OKay; How do I disable Defender, temporarily, and then re-enable after End-of-Test?
Is there a tutorial for diabling Defender?
Edited: Found tutorial.

VinceB · May 9, 2026

Please confirm that this tutorial: Enable or Disable Microsoft Defender Antivirus in Windows 1,1 and this is correct: Option One: Enable or Disable Microsoft Defender Antivirus in Local Group Policy Editor

BTW, Defender History does not show any PUAs .
I think I will do a deep Defender scan before proceeding further with this.

glasskuter · May 9, 2026

Open the Start Menu, type "Windows Security," and open the app.
Select Virus & threat protection.
Click Manage settings under Virus & threat protection settings.
Toggle Real-time protection to Off to disable, or On to enable

Steve C · May 10, 2026

FWIW I have no problems using the last UK version of MS Money on my Windows 11 Pro PCs.

VinceB · May 10, 2026

A deep scan did not reveal any threats.
I will first attempt Reply #5 here.

Then, I will attempt Windows Security's Option One for .mny files and for .mbf files in the Add or Remove Exclusions for Microsoft Defender Antivirus in Windows 11 tutorial next.

Steve C · May 10, 2026

VinceB said:
A deep scan did not reveal any threats.
So, I will attempt Windows Security's Option One for .mny files and for .mbf files in the Add or Remove Exclusions for Microsoft Defender Antivirus in Windows 11 tutorial next.

I've been using .mny files for 25 years without any issues!

VinceB · May 10, 2026

No Joy!
While Window Defender was disabled, the hour glass appeared and MNY Sunset hung for approximately 30 minutes.

I don't know what is causing the hangup during the opening of MNY Sunset. Any ideas?

I did not have this problem prior to needing to do the DELL Factory Reset sequence. The win11 pro box came with McAfee, but that expired shortly prior to the "Windows not loading/cannot signon issue" began, in March 2026 after a Tuesday Update. I wonder if there might be McAfee remnants that is now causing a conflict?

Time for a reboot here.

Steve C · May 10, 2026

VinceB said:
No Joy!
While Window Defender was disabled, the hour glass appeared and MNY Sunset hung for approximately 30 minutes.

I don't know what is causing the hangup during the opening of MNY Sunset. Any ideas?

I did not have this problem prior to needing to do the DELL Factory Reset sequence. The win11 pro box came with McAfee, but that expired shortly prior to the "Windows not loading/cannot signon issue" began, in March 2026 after a Tuesday Update. I wonder if there might be McAfee remnants that is now causing a conflict?

Time for a reboot here.

Money is over 20 years old. I would uninstall it then reinstall in an admin account and set installation compatibility for Windows XP. You can also post a question on this Google group Microsoft Money - Google Groups

VinceB · May 10, 2026

I began with MS Money 2003 Deluxe, and have transactions dating back to 1996.
This issue began after transferring/installing Money Sunset onto my DELL desktop PC, which had just done a DELL Factory Reset.

Money Sunset (version 17) ran w/o a problem on same PC previously.

@Steve C: TNX for the tip on Google group Microsoft Money - Google Groups

I rebooted, and also tested w/o cable connection to Internet router. Still No Joy!

glasskuter · May 10, 2026

VinceB said:
I wonder if there might be McAfee remnants that is now causing a conflict?

Did you use the Mcafee's Removal Tool (MCPR) or an uninstaller like Revo that completely gets rid of Mcafee? If you didn't then yes, there are most certainly left-over files and registry entries related to McAfee as a normal uninstall leave tons of stuff behine. You can use neither MCPR or Revo after the fact as MCPR has to be downloaded before you remove your particular edition of Mcafee and Revo has to be used to uninstall Mcafee. After the fact, one has to manually search for and delete Mcafee's files and registry entries or use a registry cleaner which I do not recommend.

While of course anything, including Mcafee, could have caused this, I would doubt it's leftover Mcafee stuff. More than likely a windows update changed something that MS Money Sunset uses OR your MS Money installation is corrupted in some way. You can try removing Money using Revo Uninstaller. Once uninstallation is finished use Revo's "SCAN" feature to find & remove all remnants. Make sure all boxes are selected, then select "Delete". Download Revo Uninstaller Freeware - Free and Full Download
Restart and install Money Sunset again.

Other things to try:
1. Make sure no system files are currently corrupted.
Open a command prompt as administrator and type dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
When complete restart. Then open command prompt as admin again and run sfc /scannow
Pay attention to the scan results to see if SFC found anything it could not repair

2. Clean Boot
Perform a clean boot to eliminate software conflict causing the issue. If it doesn't happen in a clean boot, you have some other software conflicting with Windows. You have to use process of elimination to find which one. Perform a Clean Boot in Windows 11 to Troubleshoot Software Conflicts Tutorial

3. Maybe the money file you are using is corrupted.

VinceB said:
I did not have this problem prior to needing to do the DELL Factory Reset sequence.

A word to the wise for the future. This could all have been avoided if you had a backup plan in place before you had the issue that prompted you to do a reset.

If you want to protect yourself in the future, consider having a backup plan that includes creating regular images of your system using a 3rd party imaging app. Restoring images can save your bacon (and everything on your system) whereas all a factory reset does is erase everything and just get windows working again as it was when you bought it.
There are many imaging apps, some paid, some free. IMO Hasleo Backup Suite is the best free one and Macrium Reflect is the best paid one. I've used Macrium for many years.

Maybe I need to be asking "what caused you to do a factory reset?" in the first place?"

neldog · May 10, 2026

I use Microsoft Money Deluxe Sunset on my almost one year old Dell computer with Windows 11 and MS Defender and have no issues. I did not do anything special to Defender to make it run.

VinceB · May 10, 2026

glasskuter said:
Did you use the Mcafee's Removal Tool (MCPR) or an uninstaller like Revo that completely gets rid of Mcafee? If you didn't then yes, there are most certainly left-over files and registry entries related to McAfee as a normal uninstall leave tons of stuff behine. You can use neither MCPR or Revo after the fact as MCPR has to be downloaded before you remove your particular edition of Mcafee and Revo has to be used to uninstall Mcafee. After the fact, one has to manually search for and delete Mcafee's files and registry entries or use a registry cleaner which I do not recommend.

No; I have not done anything to clean out McAfee. My "free" subscription and DELL warranty expired, about two weeks prior to my need to attempt a clean install of windows 11. My attempt to use Win11 ISO on a USB drive was not working as it should. I came upon a DELL diagnostic which allowed me to scan all PC hardware, and then gasve an offer to do a DELL Factory Reset. Doing the Reset has allowed me to now run Windows11 Pro again.

glasskuter said:
While of course anything, including Mcafee, could have caused this, I would doubt it's leftover Mcafee stuff. More than likely a windows update changed something that MS Money Sunset uses OR your MS Money installation is corrupted in some way. You can try removing Money using Revo Uninstaller. Once uninstallation is finished use Revo's "SCAN" feature to find & remove all remnants. Make sure all boxes are selected, then select "Delete". Download Revo Uninstaller Freeware - Free and Full Download
Restart and install Money Sunset again.

I will have to obtain Revo and use it to uninstall Money Sunset AND Scan for McAfee trash.

TNX.

glasskuter · May 10, 2026

glasskuter said:
You can use neither MCPR or Revo after the fact as MCPR has to be downloaded before you remove your particular edition of Mcafee and Revo has to be used to uninstall Mcafee

Sorry, I meant to type You CAN'T use either MCPR or Revo after the fact as MCPR has to be downloaded before you remove your particular edition of Mcafee and Revo has to be used to uninstall Mcafee

VinceB · May 11, 2026

glasskuter said:
Sorry, I meant to type You CAN'T use either MCPR or Revo after the fact as MCPR has to be downloaded before you remove your particular edition of Mcafee and Revo has to be used to uninstall Mcafee

I have used MCPR and it cleaned out about 20 McAfee products. I now have the Free version of Revo.

I plan to use Revo to uninstall MNY Sunset. My attention is now on the notion that my installation of MNY Sunset is somehow corrupted.

NOTE: MNY Sunset was running normally prior to my issue with Windows 11 not loading correctly and my not being able to logonto my DELL machine (it all began on about 22 March after a Windows update.) .

VinceB · May 13, 2026

glasskuter said:
........... You can try removing Money using Revo Uninstaller. Once uninstallation is finished use Revo's "SCAN" feature to find & remove all remnants. Make sure all boxes are selected, then select "Delete". Download Revo Uninstaller Freeware - Free and Full Download
Restart and install Money Sunset again.

I am not sure that the "free" version of Revo includes a "Scan" feature ??? I will re-do and try again.

I have used Revo to uninstall Money Sunset. Then, reinstalled MNY Sunset. No joy.

glasskuter said:
Other things to try:
1. Make sure no system files are currently corrupted.
Open a command prompt as administrator and type dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
When complete restart. Then open command prompt as admin again and run sfc /scannow
Pay attention to the scan results to see if SFC found anything it could not repair

I will give the above a try later.

glasskuter said:
2. Clean Boot
Perform a clean boot to eliminate software conflict causing the issue. If it doesn't happen in a clean boot, you have some other software conflicting with Windows. You have to use process of elimination to find which one. Perform a Clean Boot in Windows 11 to Troubleshoot Software Conflicts Tutorial

I am not clear on how to make use of a Clean Boot. I followed the tutorial Part One, and then rebooted the PC. Was that correct?

Oh! I must continue with the remaining Parts Two and Three for services and startup. Will re-do the procedure later....

Ghot · May 13, 2026

VinceB said:
Oh! I must continue with the remaining Parts Two and Three

Part Two is using Clean Boot to troubleshoot issues.
Part Three is returning to normal boot when you're finished.

The description at the top of the Clean Boot tutorial, pretty much explains things...

This tutorial will show you how to perform a clean boot to start Windows 10 or Windows 11 using a minimal set of drivers and startup programs for troubleshooting application conflicts.

Troubleshooting Windows can be a complex process due to the many different drivers, settings, and programs interacting simultaneously. This varied environment may lead to software conflicts that manifest in a number of ways. This varied environment may lead to software conflicts that manifest in a number of ways, often times as Windows struggling to start up properly or updates failing to install.

A clean boot starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs, so that you can determine whether a background program is interfering with your game or program. This is similar to starting Windows in Safe Mode, but provides you more control over which services and programs run at startup to help you isolate the cause of a problem.

A lot of these tutorial are... wordy.
But... take your time and read everything in the tutorial.

@Brink is very good at creating tutorials that explain themselves. He's NOT Microsoft.

Short version...

After you've done a "Clean Boot" into Windows, see if you're "Money" program works properly.

1. If it does, then something that boots "with" Windows is causing the problem.
2. If your "Money" program still doesn't work, then it's probably the program itself, or basic Windows, or something below Windows, that's causing the problem.

Clean Boot is just a troubleshooting aid.

MS Money Sunset takes 25 minutes to open on Windows 11 Pro: How do I add Defender exclusions?

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