Windows Module Installer Worker (TIWorker.exe) and the High CPU Usage
Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 2:05 am
I've only ever noticed this on a couple laptops, because it kills battery and spins fans, although it may have affected other systems at some point. But apparently it can occur on both Windows 8.x and Windows 10, where the Windows Module Installer sometimes gets stuck on a 25-35% CPU bender and just won't quit. My research so far says:
-- This process is related to Windows update
-- It sometimes runs for a while after an update to perform system maintenance
-- It can occasionally be provoked to run indefinitely by a faulty system or hardware driver
-- It can sometimes be calmed by restarting
Fine and dandy, but I've had one case where I rebooted several times and it kept coming back, so then just let it run all night and it was still pegging a steady 25-35% CPU the next morning. Now I'm configuring a second-hand Dell E7240 ultrabook with a fairly clean installation, and it just happened again after the Oct.10 Patch Tuesday updates. So I dug into Google again and found this:
https://thewindowscentral.com/fix-tiwor ... isk-usage/
So far, Method 7 and Method 8 seem to have resolved the problem, but I'm wondering what I did, exactly, and if there's a more foolproof way of dealing with this issue?
For posterity, those fixes are:
-- This process is related to Windows update
-- It sometimes runs for a while after an update to perform system maintenance
-- It can occasionally be provoked to run indefinitely by a faulty system or hardware driver
-- It can sometimes be calmed by restarting
Fine and dandy, but I've had one case where I rebooted several times and it kept coming back, so then just let it run all night and it was still pegging a steady 25-35% CPU the next morning. Now I'm configuring a second-hand Dell E7240 ultrabook with a fairly clean installation, and it just happened again after the Oct.10 Patch Tuesday updates. So I dug into Google again and found this:
https://thewindowscentral.com/fix-tiwor ... isk-usage/
So far, Method 7 and Method 8 seem to have resolved the problem, but I'm wondering what I did, exactly, and if there's a more foolproof way of dealing with this issue?
For posterity, those fixes are:
Code: Select all
#Method 7: Repair the System Update Readiness Tool
#Start an elevated command prompt, change directory to C:\Windows\System32, run this command:
DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth #May take several minutes to complete
#Method 8: Clear the local updates cache
#Start an elevated command prompt and run the following command sequence:
net stop wuauserv #Stops the Windows Update Service
CD %Windir%
CD SoftwareDistribution
DEL /F /S /Q Download #Deletes the contents of C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download
net start wuauserv #Restarts the Windows Update Service