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WMI Provider Host and constant CPU utilisation

Anonymous
2015-01-29T13:00:31+00:00

Hi,

I'm running up to date Windows 8.1 Pro on Dell Latitude E6430.

For a while now, I have been experiencing strange issue with the WMI Provider Host process, so I decided to debug it.

The process is constantly utilising the CPU at around 30% or above.

I have followed some known solutions suggested in a couple of threads, like

WMI Provider Host constantly disrupting performance of my CPU, especially when music is playing

WmiPrvSe.exe Using 80 - 100% of CPU

as well as MSDN blog post on

WMI: How to troubleshoot High CPU Usage by WMI Components

But, I found something different to those other descriptions of the issue:

  1. I (re)boot my laptop and WMI Provider Hosts starts spinning the CPU around 30%
  2. I run following command, suggested in the blog post linked above to break out the WMI process into its own svchost process: sc config winmgmt type=own
  3. I restart WMIservice: net stop winmgmt & net start winmgmt
  4. Interestingly, the WMI Provider Host stops utilising the CPU

5. I restore the previous configuration, switching WMI process back into the shared svchost process by running following command: sc config winmgmt type=share

  1. I restart WMI service again: net stop winmgmt & net start winmgmt

7. Interestingly, the WMI Provider Host does not resurrect into intensive CPU utilisation and stays low profile.

The point 4 and 7 explain what seems to be unique in my case, that the WMI Provider Host process calms down just by switching the svchost from own to share and back to own mode.

I could script the steps 2, 3, 5, 6 together and schedule them to run them after reboot, that would solve my problem, but it's not the solution I'm looking for.

Could anyone help and shed some light on what may be the issue or how to debug it?

Best regards,

Mateusz Loskot

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-04-01T11:51:11+00:00

    Thanks.  This has been driving me crazy.  Had never heard the fan start up on my Surface Pro 2 until  a few weeks ago. Constant 50% CPU usage by WMIProvideer host NETWORK.  Deleted gopro from startup and no more cpu usage and no fan noise.  Must have been gopro update I did a few weeks ago.

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-01-30T05:00:56+00:00

    Hello Mateusz,

    As per your description, it seems like there is a corruption in Windows system files for WMI Provider Host. I will certainly help you with the same. I appreciate your efforts for trying to resolve the resolve issue using Microsoft web based resources.

    1. Do you have Windows 8.1 setup/repair DVD?
    2. Have you recently made any changes on your computer, prior to the issue?
    3. What is the complete make and model of your computer?
    4. Are you getting any error message .code while using computer or any application on your computer?

    As of now, I recommend you to go through the following methods:

    Method 1:

    Boot the computer in a **Clean Boot** state and check the status. A clean boot helps to verify if any third party application service or startup item is causing this issue.

    Clean Boot Disclaimer: Putting your system in Clean Boot state helps in identifying if any third party applications or startup items are causing the issue. You need to follow the steps from the article mentioned below to perform a Clean Boot.

    After restarting your computer, please perform System File Checker scan on your computer.

    Method 2:

    I would suggest you to perform **SFC scan** and check if that helps. The sfc/scannow command scans all protected system files and replaces incorrect versions with correct Microsoft versions.

    After performing SFC scan please reset Windows Update Components. It will restart the Windows update services and refresh the components settings.

    Please follow the steps to install available Windows Updates.

    1. Press Windows + C to open charms bar, type Windows Update in the Search box, then click Windows Update in the results pane.
    2. Click Check for Updates. After the scan is complete, click Review optional updates.
    3. Click the check box next to the updates, then click Install updates.
    4. If prompted, review the license agreement, then click I Accept.
    5. Follow the onscreen instructions to download and install the updates. If prompted, reboot your computer.

    Please check the CPU utilization again and if issue still persists please reply with the details of the troubleshooting steps with the result.

    Hope the information helps. Let us know if you need further assistance with Windows related issues, we’ll be glad to assist you.

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-02-02T11:02:50+00:00

    Hi,

    TL;TR: I have followed your suggestions and eventually managed to solve the problem.

    First SFC attempt failed to repair the corrupted files:

    C:\Windows\system32>sfc /scannow

    Beginning system scan.  This process will take some time.

    Beginning verification phase of system scan.

    Verification 100% complete.

    Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some

    of them. Details are included in the CBS.Log windir\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For

    example C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. Note that logging is currently not

    supported in offline servicing scenarios.

    C:\Windows\system32>

    The CBS.log displayed some files could not be repaired:

    2015-01-30 16:52:00, Info   CSI    00000923 [SR] Cannot repair member file [l:36{18}]"Amd64\CNBJ2530.DPB" of prncacla.inf, Version = 6.3.9600.17415, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_AMD64 (9), Culture neutral, VersionScope = 1 nonSxS, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, Type = [l:24{12}]"driverUpdate", TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral in the store, hash mismatch

    2015-01-30 16:52:00, Info   CSI    00000925 [SR] Cannot repair member file [l:36{18}]"Amd64\CNBJ2530.DPB" of prncacla.inf, Version = 6.3.9600.17415, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_AMD64 (9), Culture neutral, VersionScope = 1 nonSxS, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, Type = [l:24{12}]"driverUpdate", TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral in the store, hash mismatch

    So, I run DISM followed by SFC which successfully fixed the issue:

    C:\Windows\system32>DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

    Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool

    Version: 6.3.9600.17031

    Image Version: 6.3.9600.17031

    [==========================100.0%==========================]

    The restore operation completed successfully. The component store corruption was repaired.

    The operation completed successfully.

    C:\Windows\system32>

    C:\Windows\system32>sfc /scannow

    Beginning system scan.  This process will take some time.

    Beginning verification phase of system scan.

    Verification 100% complete.

    Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.

    C:\Windows\system32>

    After normal reboot, the WMIissue is gone.

    By the way, my wife noticed similar issue on her laptop with Windows 7 and following similar procedure above, then disabling startup components one by one, we found out that a bug in GoPro Studio was causing WMI Provider Host to spin the CPU.

    Thanks for your help.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2015-02-12T08:01:30+00:00

    Hello Mateusz,

    I am glad to know that we were able to fix the issue. Your efforts to resolve this problem is very much appreciated. 

    Please feel free to reply, in case you face any other issues with Windows in future.

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-02-12T05:03:58+00:00

    I score around 20% on the technical side, however for the past 2 days i have noticed the fan on my laptop running 24/7. so I looked into the CPU usage and found that the WMI Provider host was clocking between 30-99%. 

    I am running sfc/scannow to check for probs, but when i scrolled to the bottom of your note, something struck me. I just updated the gopro studio app. 

    I uninstalled it and the problem went away...

    After some searching, I came across this: 

    http://www.reddit.com/r/gopro/comments/2nuat5/psa\_disable\_gopro\_studio\_importer\_as\_it/

    Hope this helps if others are having probs.

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