wicainventory. exe causes high CPU usage

Anonymous
2014-05-17T23:22:50+00:00

I need a solution to the problem that I have with my computer accusing a VERY HIGH CPU usage by the file system WICAINVENTORY.EXE.   NO information or solution available (if any) in the Microsoft support area nor community.  This was installed in April as an automatic update, since then I have observed the cooling system (fan) starting very frequently and at high speed.

For your reference:

wicainventory.exe                       installed version 6.3.9600.17057

operative system                        windows7 home premium with service pack1 installed.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Windows update

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2014-07-04T17:13:47+00:00

After an extensive Web search, I discovered that Wicainventory is installed as part of the "Recommended" Win7 update KB2952664

Microsoft's Knowledge Base article for that update lists the files involved but does not say what it does, other than it is a  "Compatibility update for upgrading Windows 7"

Some of its files are dated mid-April, 2014, and it was installed on my system in late April.

Of course, many of us are not in the least interested in upgrading Windows 7 to any currently offered alternative.

For instructions on uninstalling Windows updates, see

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/remove-update#1TC=windows-7

Uninstalling it from my system did not require a reboot, but supposedly it'll be offered every time updates are available.

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-05-18T01:04:37+00:00

    Hi

    Thanks for choosing Microsoft Community

    Open task manager and find wicainventory.exe in details/services and set priority to low or real time and check.I have snap of win 8 task manager,Your may be different

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-06-11T05:31:33+00:00

    Question 1:  Does setting the priority low once means it will be low when this process starts again?  I am guessing no.

    Question 2:  Does setting the process priority low implies it would get less CPU time only, or it also implies it will also get less "hard-disk" time?  I am guessing only the former.  As you are aware, hard-disk is the slowest component in the system, and wicainventory.exe makes the hard-disk totally busy.  My computer is non-reponsive not because CPU is busy as the title for this thread indicates, it is non-responsive because the hard-disk is busy.

    Question 3:  Which service or scheduled task is causing this to run?

    Question 4:  Is there a tool where I can see which service is taking the CPU?  I only see service.exe or rundll.exe etc. in the task manager, and since there are often so many of them, am unable to figure which one of them is the culprit.

    Question 5:  How do I get rid of this?  With this behavior from the program, I do not feel comfortable with "cannot be removed and disabled" as an answer.

    Question 6:  Why did Microsoft put this to begin with, and start it randomly without users permissions?

    Question 7:  When will Microsoft and Windows start being transparent and accountable for what happens on the system?

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-06-11T22:16:33+00:00

    I have just had my Panda antivirus suggest that this application has changed, and requested if i wanted to allow it to make outbound connection or block it...

    ... based on the fact it doesnt sound important to me, and nothing has suggested it has been updated, i have taken this as a reason to block it.

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-06-29T16:35:17+00:00

    Same here, since the last windows updates.

    Wicainventory.exe starts at every boot, getting high cpu usage, and slowing startup a lot.

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