Windows Modules Installer Worker - high CPU usage

Anonymous

Windows Module installer worker is constantly running with very high CPU usage.

My PC has suddenly ground to a halt.

All the latest updates are installed as well.

I'm running Windows 8.1 Pro 64 + update.

Thanks.

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Anonymous

In Windows 8 or 8.1 laptop, sometimes CPU fan run very fast and make noise because Windows Module Installer Worker occupies CPU more than 50%.

In this case, you can solve the problem by changing windows update into manual mode.

How to do it:

Open services.msc (In Windows 8, WindowsKey+R and enter services.msc)
Search "Windows module installer".
Double click the "Windows module installer", and make it manual. It is usually set Automatic.
Search "Windows update".
Double click the "Windows update", and make it manual.
Open Control panel(click the right button of your mouse at the lower left of you display monitor or LCD, e.g., at the Windows logo. and then you can see control panel menu)
Click "Windows update"
In left you can see "Change settings"
Change the setting into "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them". It is usually set automatic.
Reboot

The Windows module installer workers cannot bother you anymore.

Important:

Because Windows update is set manual, you MUST check regularly (weekly or monthly) windows update by yourself.

Also, cleaning up your disk may help to reduce CPU usage by windows module installer worker

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Anonymous

Hey Trek178 you should check if the PC is under schedule maintainance and try to troubleshoot the windows update to check if there was any problems. I've just got a same problem and troubleshoot it. Now it's over

Hope this may help you

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Anonymous

Hi Louise,

Follow the steps given below.

Press and hold the “Windows” button and the “W” button on the keyboard.
In the search box situated in the upper right corner we need to write “Troubleshooting”
Click(left click) on the “Troublesh o oting” icon.
On the upper left corner of the Troubleshooting window we need to click(left click) on “View All”
Click (left click) on “System Maintenance”
Click (left click) on “Next” and follow the steps presented on the screen.

Check for the issue and move to next method if you still face this issue.

Press and hold the “Window” button and the “X” button on the keyboard.
After the “Control Panel” is opened click (left click) on “Windows Updates”
Select from the “View” menu in the upper right of the window “Large icons”.
In the left side of the window click (left click) on “Check for updates”
After this is finished restart the Windows 8 PC and see if you still have this issue.

Let us know the status of the issue.

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208 additional answers

Anonymous

2015-08-20T15:55:06+00:00

Don’t get your hopes up.

I have fought with my Win 8.1 computer for about a year.

Either the windows update was causing problems or the cpu/disk

usage was so high the computer was unusable for the first 15-30 minutes after booting. Cpu/disk usage at or near 100%. Tried all the MS expert ‘fixes’ and nothing ever helped. I know that I spend many dozen, if not HUNDREDS of hours working on these problems in the past year. Some complete reinstalls, many images back to original setup. It's not like I didn't give Win8.1 a good try.

Soooooooo….. Finally tried Windows 10 on a different computer as ‘Tech Preview’ and now full, finished OS. Exactly the same problem on the Win10 computerwith high cpu/disk usage for 15-30 minutes after booting. I am ready to throw in the towel. Occasionally, rebooting after 5 minutes of having an unusable computer would help.

Windows Update, and Antimalware from MS seem to be the largest offenders, but sometimes there are MANY processes running at the same time to pull down the computers to the unusable state.

On ALL my Windows 7 computers, the windows update works great, and the cpu/disk usage NEVER goes over 50% and settles down to 0-5% after a minute or two. It's pretty hard to believe that it is THAT difficult to put in code that would limit all processes combined to less than 50-75% cpu/dish usage. Win7, WinXP, Win98, and Win95 coders all seemed to figure it out. I am really close to giving up on MS.

Come on Microsoft, We expect better.
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Anonymous

2015-08-30T00:19:15+00:00

I have done all of those with all errors corrected and it has not helped. I did change the windows modular installer from automatic to manual which gave the most benefit. After 2 weeks windows modular installer still runs about 20% of the time instead of 100% and total cpu usage dropped to around 20% or less (better than 100% for hours at a time). The sad part is that it takes 20+ minutes every time I boot the computer for windows modular worker (running at 60% cpu usage with total cpu usage over 90%) to close (every time I boot). It should not take 20+ minutes for the computer is usable and the cpu usage drops below 90%. I even reset widows update with no effect. It also starts at random times making my computer very slow to respond (5 to 20 minutes to respond). The benifits since all the repair is that I can use the computer more of the time but I still have to use my old Vista computer (which the windows 8 was to replace) or Linux computer too much of the time (when it is non responsive) and that updates are more inline with what they are on my other computers instead of 8 to 14 hours with the computer non responsive.

If I listed all the problems I have had with Windows 8.1 it would take me all day to list them and what I had to do to correct them.
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