Windows Modules Installer Worker - high CPU usage

Anonymous
2014-05-03T15:13:42+00:00

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.

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

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Anonymous
2014-12-18T22:28:10+00:00

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:

  1. Open services.msc (In Windows 8, WindowsKey+R and enter services.msc)
  2. Search "Windows module installer".
  3. Double click the "Windows module installer", and make it manual. It is usually set Automatic.
  4. Search "Windows update".
  5. Double click the "Windows update", and make it manual.
  6. 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)
  7. Click "Windows update"
  8. In left you can see "Change settings"
  9. Change the setting into "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them". It is usually set automatic.
  10. 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
2014-05-04T02:51:57+00:00

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
2015-01-11T07:32:43+00:00

Hi Louise,

Follow the steps given below.

  1. Press and hold the “Windows” button and the “W” button on the keyboard.
  2. In the search box situated in the upper right corner we need to write “Troubleshooting”
  3. Click(left click) on the “Troublesh o oting” icon.
  4. On the upper left corner of the Troubleshooting window we need to click(left click) on “View All”
  5. Click (left click) on “System Maintenance”
  6. 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.

  1. Press and hold the “Window” button and the “X” button on the keyboard.
  2. After the “Control Panel” is opened click (left click) on “Windows Updates”
  3. Select from the “View” menu in the upper right of the window “Large icons”.
  4. In the left side of the window click (left click) on “Check for updates”
  5. 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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  1. Anonymous
    2015-09-20T10:33:36+00:00

    Okay, let's hypothesize a bit here.

    So, lately I've been reïnstalling Windows 7 on older laptops of family and friends.

    They had the same issue just from the last few months.

    It turns out that trustedinstaller.exe (which operates on the Windows Modules Installer-process) is using up 100% of the CPU-time most of the time for hours on end, even after the supposed installation of the updates (the CPU time used is reduced for a while, then comes back up).

    As we all know, Microsoft is tryin to push it's Windows 10 OS to every Microsoft user out there (even suggesting Windows 10 upgrade on older/insufficient hardware), due to the subscription-based nature of the new OS.

    My guess is, that Microsoft is trying to make customers think their hardware is beginning to break down, and by frustration buying new hardware which comes with Windows 10.

    Currently, I'm trying to get an old laptop with Windows 7 in good working condition.

    The hardware doesn't indicate any faults (memtest is okay, no HDD failure, new cooling paste on the CPU, cleaned up from dust, no video artifacts etc.), and yes, after reïnstalling using a fresh copy of Windows 7, the system works like new.... for a few minutes.

    As you may have guessed it, the updates are being installed... and that's where so many people are noticing a very slow, unworkable computer.

    I know the laptop's hardware is okay, so I'll try to make the process-priority low, and see if that helps...

    Bear in mind, this laptop is from a person in her late 60's, just wanting to do some basic stuff like browsing the web, answering mails perhaps a bit of word processing.

    This issue almost drove her insane to the point where she said: "I'm done with it, soon I'll throw the piece of garbage out of the window."

    It's insane to think that a perfectly fine laptop, albeit somewhat dated, can't give an even basic user experience, when any Android- and iOS-based device handles this task with ease.

    It makes me think that it's made to fault this way.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-09-23T18:32:51+00:00

    Don't know if this helps but...

    Windows 10 Updates should be better scheduled as I believe was possible in the past...i.e. run within certain system usage parameters like time-of-day, #open_apps, etc..

    The recommendation to turn off indexing on the system drive (commonly C:) is probably a very sensible one for most people.

    One aspect I've also just discovered about Win10 Update is in Settings->Update & Security->Windows Update->Advanced Options->Choose how updates are delivered:

    It would appear that the settings here enable some kind of peer-to-peer protocol for sharing Windows Updates around your LAN or to others over the internet, presumably saving MS Servers from having all the work to do. This is a bit sneaky, understandably sneaky - but its implications are quite wide-ranging. If your setting allows your machine to share it's content to anyone in the world (the default setting it would appear), then your machines CPU, disk, network and memory is possibly being used to help distribute updates to other Windows 10 machines around your environment or potentially anywhere. In the "old" days this task might have been performed by a proxy server, whose tasks among other things, might be to cache commonly demanded network resources. It would appear MS has slipped in some of this technology without too much fanfare or apology to even standard "Home" versions of Windows 10.

    Maybe others would like to comment about this some more. It appears that you can turn off this feature, or restrict it only to your LAN, which means you might dedicate other machines on your LAN to this task!

    Hope this helps,

    Dave

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