Updated : Jan 21, 2020 in Technology

How You Can Promptly Deal With WMI Provider Host High CPU Usage Issue

WMI Provider Host is one of the crucial processes on Windows devices. Running in the background, it helps various applications of your computer to gather information about the system. 

However, after upgrading to Windows 10, many users have found the WMI Provider Host to use a massive portion of the device’s CPU. Consequently, the systems faced issues such as overheating, delayed response and frequent system crashes. 

So, if you find out a sudden surge in the CPU usage, it might be due to the WMI Provider Host. This can be quite an annoying and frustrating issue. However, there are some easy tips to smoothly troubleshoot the issue in question. We have discussed the solutions elaborately in the following sections.

A Brief Insight into WMI Provider Host

WMI Provider Host is a useful Windows feature with which the software on your system asks for information about the data of your Operating System. WMI( Windows Management Instrumentation) Provider is designed to gather and supply this data. 

This Windows feature is equally useful for commercial enterprises and private individuals. It is mostly used in different commercial ventures that manage and monitor many computer devices centrally. Moreover, you can even use this feature on your personal device. 

With the WMI Provider Host, you can access various crucial information about your system that is not usually displayed. For instance, you can check your computer’s serial number, the health status of the hard drive or even the model number of your motherboard. 

Probable Methods to Fix WMI Provider Host High CPU Usage Issue

Although useful, the WMI Provider Host can draw an unusually high amount of CPU. This can negatively impact the overall performance of your device. To get rid of this issue, you can go through the following solutions:

Method 1: Restart the WMI Provider Host

One of the most effective ways to handle this issue is to restart the service. This can help you to stop the service from using up your PC’s resources. Here’s how you can restart WMI Provider Host:

Step 1

At first, press the ‘Windows’ key and the ‘R’ key to launch the Run dialog box. Here, type ‘services.msc’ within the search box and hit the Enter button. Now, type ‘W’ in the search box to quickly locate the Windows Management Instrument service

Step 2

Thereafter, right-click on this option and choose the ‘Restart’ option. After this, press the ‘Windows’ key and the ‘X’ key. In the subsequent dialog box, type ‘cmd.exe’ and press Enter. This will prompt the launch of the Command Prompt. Now, click ‘Run as administrator’.

Step 3

Once you get into the Command Prompt window, provide the following commands. Hit the Enter button after each of these commands:

net stop iphlpsvc

net stop wscsvc

net stop Winmgmt

net start Winmgmt

net start wscsvc

net start iphlpsvc

Finally, restart your device and check if the issue still exists or not. 

Method 2: Perform a Clean Boot

It might happen that a particular application is causing high CPU usage through the WMI Provider Host service. With Clean Boot, you can successfully identify and isolate that specific application. In Clean Boot, the essential services and application will stay back, while the additional services will turn off. 

Before you begin, make sure to log in to your device with Administrative Privileges. You can perform a clean boot with the following instructions: 

Step 1

Press the ‘Windows’ key along with the ‘R’ key to open the Run dialog box. In the Run dialog box, type ‘msconfig’ and press the Enter button. Now, choose the ‘Services’ tab and look for the ‘Hide all Microsoft Services’ option. 

Step 2

Thereafter, uncheck the box next to the ‘Hide all Microsoft Services’. Then, choose the ‘Disable All’ option and click on the OK button. After this, go to the ‘Startup’ tab and choose the ‘Open Task Manager’ option. 

Step 3

After you enter the ‘Task Manager,’ click on the ‘Startup’ option. Now, click on all of those applications that are enabled and disable them. You need to repeat this process for all the applications present on the list. Once done, restart the device. 

Step 4

If the issue is resolved, make sure to enable the services one by one in a similar way. However, you must stop enabling the services when the issue returns back to your device. Identify the application that is responsible for the high CPU usage and disable it accordingly. 

Method 3: Uninstall Faulty Components and Services

Sometimes, faulty and defective components and services on your system can trigger WMI Provider Host high CPU usage. You can simply uninstall them to get rid of the issue in question. Here’s what you need to do:

Step 1

Begin by pressing the ‘Windows’ key and the ‘X’ key together. Thereafter, choose the ‘Event Viewer’ option from the list of many options. When the Event Viewer window opens, choose the ‘View’ option situated at the top of the screen. 

Step 2

After this, select the ‘Show Analytic and Debug Logs’. Now choose the ‘Applications and services logs’ and tap on the ‘Microsoft’ option. After this, go to ‘Windows’ and choose ‘WMI Activity’. From the ‘Operational’ log, find the items that are marked as ‘Error’.

Step 3

Now, open the Task Manager and go to the Services tab. Locate the processes that have similar IDs as you saw in the ‘Event Viewer’ section. Thereafter, you can either disable or uninstall these services one after another. 

Make sure to download these services once again from reliable sources. 

Concluding Remarks

To sum up, high CPU usage can make it difficult for you to use the computer. To stop the WMI Provider Host service from using high CPU, you can apply the above-mentioned solutions. These solutions are not only simple but also proven to be highly effective. We hope that this article will be helpful to you.

In case you have any suggestions or feedback to offer, you can make use of the comment section. 

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