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WMI Provider Host is a vital part of Windows, often operating in the background. This process enables other applications on your computer to request information about the system.
Normally, the WMI Provider Host process doesn't heavily utilize system resources. However, if another process on the system malfunctions, WMI Provider Host may start consuming a considerable amount of CPU.
Decoding WMI Provider Host (WmiPrvSE.exe) and its CPU Impact
What is WMI Provider Host?
WMI, short for Windows Management Instrumentation, represents a Windows feature offering software standards and admin scripts to request status on the Windows operating system and its data.
When requested, WMI Provider delivers this information. For instance, software or commands can find details about the encryption status of hard drives with BitLocker, view entries from the event log, or request data from installed applications, including WMI Providers. Microsoft provides a list of applications, including WMI Providers, on their website.
WMI Provider proves immensely valuable for enterprise computer management centers, especially as these details can be requested through scripts and displayed in the Admin console standard. Even on your personal computer, some software you've installed may request system information through the WMI interface.
Additionally, you can utilize WMI to search for other useful information not displayed in the Windows interface on your computer. For example, you can use the WMI Command Line (WMIC) tool to retrieve the serial number of your computer, find the model number of the motherboard, or simply check the health of your computer's hard drive.
Why does WMI Provider Host consume a lot of CPU?
Normally, WMI Provider Host doesn't use much CPU as it's not actively doing anything. In some cases, this process uses CPU when another software or script on the user's computer requests information through WMI, which is a normal occurrence. WMI Provider Host consuming a lot of CPU may be due to another application requesting data through WMI.
However, if the situation of WMI Provider Host consuming excessive CPU persists, it might be due to errors or incidents occurring. WMI Provider Host doesn't always hog system resources.
Restart the Windows Management Instrumentation service to resolve this issue. Alternatively, simply restart your computer. There's another method to restart the service without rebooting your computer.
To do this, open the Start menu, then type 'Services.msc' into it and press Enter to open the Services tool.
Next, locate and right-click on the Windows Management Instrumentation service, choose Restart.
If you notice WMI Provider Host consistently hogging CPU, it's likely due to another process on the system malfunctioning. If that process continuously requests a large amount of information from the WMI provider, it leads to the WMI Provider Host process consuming excessive CPU. The culprit causing the issue lies in the behavior of another process.
In cases of CPU running at 100%, you can refer to articles on fixing CPU 100 errors to address the CPU overload situation on your computer.
To identify the specific process causing issues with WMI, use Event Viewer. On Windows 10 or 8, right-click the Start button in the bottom-left corner, select Event Viewer to open the tool. On Windows 7, open the Start Menu, then type Eventvwr.msc and press Enter to open Event Viewer.
In the Event Viewer window, on the left pane, navigate to Applications and Service Logs\Microsoft\Windows\WMI-Activity\Operational.
Scroll through the list and locate recent 'Error' events. Click on each event, search for the error code on the right under ClientProcessId at the bottom of the window to find the ID of the process causing the WMI error.
You'll also find some errors here. Errors may be due to the same process ID or could be from different process IDs. Click on each error, check the ClientProcessId to identify the process ID.
The next step now is to pinpoint the error-causing process. First, open the Task Manager window by pressing the Ctrl + Shift + Esc key combination or alternatively right-click on the Taskbar, select Task Manager.
In the Task Manager window, click on the Details tab, then click on the PID column to sort the running processes by process ID, and find the process matching the ID displayed in the Event Viewer event records.
For instance, in this guide, the process HPWMISVC.exe is the culprit causing the error.
If the process is closed, you won't see it in the list. Additionally, when a program is closed and reopened, there will be different process ID numbers. That's why you need to search for recent events, as the process IDs from older events in Event Viewer won't assist you in finding anything.
Once you have this information at hand, you know which process is responsible for the error. Search online for the names of these processes to find software associated with them.
Moreover, simply right-click on the process in the list, select Open File Location to open the location of the process on the system, which may reveal the software package that the process is a part of.
What you need to do is update the software or uninstall it if not in use.
Can you disable WMI Provider Host?
Technically, you can disable the Windows Management Instrumentation service on your computer. However, disabling this process will impact other processes on the computer. Windows Management Instrumentation service is a crucial part of Windows, and it's best to leave it as is without doing anything.
As per the service description: 'if this service is stopped, most Windows-based software will not function correctly.' Therefore, it's not advisable to disable WMI Provider Host.
If encountering issues with WMI Provider Host, you need to identify the process on your computer causing the WMI Provider Host CPU overload, and then update, uninstall, or disable that process.
So, in the Mytour article, it explained what WMI Provider Host (WmiPrvSE.exe) is and why it consumes excessive CPU. Hopefully, the article proves helpful to you.
Not only WMI Provider Host (WmiPrvSE.exe), but there are also other processes, for example, svchost.exe, misunderstood by users as malicious programs on the system. If you'd like to share your opinions with Mytour, please leave your comments in the section below the article.
