My wmiprvSE.exe process keeps using up most of my cpu power and is completely draining my battery because of it. As far as I can tell, it always happens when I'm using my laptop unplugged and happens immediately after logging on, starting up, or returning from standby. I know that it's not spyware, but where do I even start on troubleshooting this service?
Last edited by Kalos; 20 Jan 2011 at 15:23.
I tried that once, it restarts immediately. It also hosts network services to doing it in the first place probably wasn't the best idea.
Appears to actually be related to my AVG resident shield. Disabling makes the whole thing disappear... but this is not something I want to keep disabled.
Edit Never mind, I lied. Just a coincidence that my computer decided to behave for a few minutes when I did that.
Hmm, sorry that did not work. Btw: AVG is pretty useless. I would use another AV program: Avira, Avast or MSE are free candidates.
If you simply google the process name, you'll find it is a common problem, so I'm sure one of the hits will be related to your system.
On a side note, WHS is right. AVG's days in the spotlight have long since passed. It fell out of favor due to system stability issues after updates, lower detections rates, and other general issues. If you want to go free, MSE is the choice, but Avira and Avast also make quality free products.
Hi Kalos -This is the "Windows Management Instrumentation" service (Not part of AVG) and supposedly is required for the "smooth operation" of Windows. The information I've found on this service is rather vague but it CAN be disabled by accessing the "Services" (in "Administrative Tools" in the Control Panel) and right clicking the entry, selecting properties, startup type, and then selecting "disable".
On my rig, even though this service uses quite a bit of memory, it never uses more than 1% of the CPU time (according to the Task Manager) so I just leave it alone.
Well, disabling it wasn't the optimum option, as now I have to configure my IP and wireless settings manually, but on the other hand, if I unplug my computer, I still have the performance that it's supposed to have. So... marginal victory.
Though, if you're a Linux fan, you can rejoice in this being the issue that finally got me to dual-boot after months of hemming and hawing over it. Between validation issues with a copy I bought directly from Microsoft on my Desktop (don't you love it when you're punished for not stealing from people?), and a myriad of service issues on this one... this operating system was clearly coded by chimpanzees. Drunk ones.
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