Fixing wsappx high memory and CPU usage

Question

I recently had to move my Users folder from my C:\ drive SSD to the D:\ drive HDD as I was running out of disk pace. I did the move in safe mode by using robocopy (without following links) and then creating a junction to the D:\ drive. I was faced with three issues straight after restarting normally into Win10 Pro.

1. The start menu stopped working - this I fixed with re-installing the Windows store apps in powershell - 

Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}

2. The search box near the start menu was un-responsive - I fixed this by resetting Cortana
3. Memory and CPU hogging by wsappx - this is the crux of this question.

As can be seen below, wsappx is consuming loads of memory - the CPU usage does peter off after a while, though it still a concern. I mentioned the manner in which I rejuvenated the start menu by running the powershell command Get-AppXPackageand was wondering  whether this may be related (PS: the command ran for a while and did complete).

Answer 1

Hi and thanks for reaching out. My name is Bernard. I'm a Microsoft Windows expert and a Microsoft Windows fan like you. I'll be happy to help you out today.

I actually have the same problem as before and by following the steps provided below fixed my issue, I hope this works for you as well.

Method 1. Do clean boot:

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.

• In the search box on the taskbar, type msconfig and select System Configuration from the results.
• On the Services tab of System Configuration, select Hide all Microsoft services, and then select Disable all.
• On the Startup tab of System Configuration, select Open Task Manager.
• Under Startup in Task Manager, for each startup item, select the item and then select Disable.
• Close Task Manager.
• On the Startup tab of System Configuration, select OK. When you restart the computer, it's in a clean boot environment.

troubleshooting reference: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/929135...

Method 2. Run memory diagnostic tool: Memory diagnostic tool is a RAM test to check if there is any issues with RAM.

• Press Windows key + R then type in mdsched.exe hit OK then restart the device.

Method 3. Set the PC to best performance:

Press windows key + Pause/Break (or go to file explorer and right click This PC and click properties)

click on Advanced system settings> Under Performance click settings> Click Adjust for best performance and click OK

Note: this will reduce all appearance settings you have but will optimize the performance of the PC.

Let me know how does it goes and I hope that helps.

Bernard

Independent Advisor

Answer 2

Thanks for the reply. If you had the same issue and you resolved it, why are you providing three different methods, shouldn't one be enough?

Method 1: What is the purpose of this? in any case, you cannot  disable that service via msconfig on it's own, but all services? Do I then, on the next boot, re-enable the services and that should fix it? Please clarify.

Methods 2 and 3: These cannot be the fix.

Please re-read the question properly if you are in any doubt. These generic solutions that you are providing are not even thought through given the information I have provided.

Answer 3

I managed to fix this by removing and then re-installing Windows Store through (an elevated) powershell. I ran the following commands.

1. Get-AppxPackage *WindowsStore* | Select Name, PackageFullName

2. Using the PackageFullName from the first step, I removed the Store app with: Remove-AppxPackage -Package Microsoft.WindowsStore_12010.1001.2.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
3. Reboot
4. Then , using the Name from the first step, I re-installed the Store app with:  Add-AppxPackage -register "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps**Microsoft.WindowsStore**\AppxManifest.xml" -DisableDevelopmentMode

PS: Note that I included the Name in the registration path

4. Reboot

Now wsappx is no longer hogging system resources

After this, some store apps failed to update with an error. As with cortana (and the start menu), all I had to do was reset them through control panel / store.

It is important to note here that my particular scenario was that I had moved the Users' folder and the resource hogging by wsappx only occurred when I logged into accounts that existed before the move. If on reboot I only logged in using an account created after the move, then the issue did not occur.