Personal computing discussed

Moderators: renee, Flying Fox, Ryu Connor

 
ludi
Lord High Gerbil
Topic Author
Posts: 8646
Joined: Fri Jun 21, 2002 10:47 pm
Location: Sunny Colorado front range

Windows Module Installer Worker (TIWorker.exe) and the High CPU Usage

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:

#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
Abacus Model 2.5 | Quad-Row FX with 256 Cherry Red Slider Beads | Applewood Frame | Water Cooling by Brita Filtration
 
Chrispy_
Maximum Gerbil
Posts: 4670
Joined: Fri Apr 09, 2004 3:49 pm
Location: Europe, most frequently London.

Re: Windows Module Installer Worker (TIWorker.exe) and the High CPU Usage

Wed Oct 11, 2017 5:04 am

As far as I know it's just a symptom of failed updates getting stuck. I used to see it a lot on Windows 7 machines and the solution for me was to stop windows update service, wipe the c:\windows\softwaredistribution folder, start windows update service, and try again.

If the problem persisted, reinstalling drivers was my first port of call.
Congratulations, you've noticed that this year's signature is based on outdated internet memes; CLICK HERE NOW to experience this unforgettable phenomenon. This sentence is just filler and as irrelevant as my signature.
 
just brew it!
Administrator
Posts: 54500
Joined: Tue Aug 20, 2002 10:51 pm
Location: Somewhere, having a beer

Re: Windows Module Installer Worker (TIWorker.exe) and the High CPU Usage

Wed Oct 11, 2017 6:17 am

It amazes me that after all these years, Windows Update is still such a POS.
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
 
bthylafh
Maximum Gerbil
Posts: 4320
Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2003 11:55 pm
Location: Southwest Missouri, USA

Re: Windows Module Installer Worker (TIWorker.exe) and the High CPU Usage

Wed Oct 11, 2017 8:03 am

just brew it! wrote:
It amazes me that after all these years, Windows Update is still such a POS.


It's better than it used to be, but yeah.
Hakkaa päälle!
i7-8700K|Asus Z-370 Pro|32GB DDR4|Asus Radeon RX-580|Samsung 960 EVO 1TB|1988 Model M||Logitech MX 518 & F310|Samsung C24FG70|Dell 2209WA|ATH-M50x
 
SuperSpy
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2403
Joined: Thu Sep 12, 2002 9:34 pm
Location: TR Forums

Re: Windows Module Installer Worker (TIWorker.exe) and the High CPU Usage

Wed Oct 11, 2017 8:41 am

just brew it! wrote:
It amazes me that after all these years, Windows Update is still such a POS.

I'd go more for 'disappointed' over 'amazed'.

How many times have they fixed the 'Windows Update may take $hugenum of time to sort itself because of the indexing method crapping out after n updates' issue?
Desktop: i7-4790K @4.8 GHz | 32 GB | EVGA Gefore 1060 | Windows 10 x64
Laptop: MacBook Pro 2017 2.9GHz | 16 GB | Radeon Pro 560
 
Topinio
Gerbil Jedi
Posts: 1839
Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2015 9:28 am
Location: London

Re: Windows Module Installer Worker (TIWorker.exe) and the High CPU Usage

Wed Oct 11, 2017 9:05 am

bthylafh wrote:
It's better than it used to be, but yeah.

Sometimes, sometimes not.

It's incredible, really, that after all these years and despite the massive scale of deployment, none of the undeniably smart people at Microsoft have managed to architect and bring to the masses a means of efficiently patching their software. Either Windows itself is actually so insanely architected that this is impossible, or this is the monther of all layer 9 problems (within Microsoft, and the rest of the world be damned).
Desktop: 750W Snow Silent, X11SAT-F, E3-1270 v5, 32GB ECC, RX 5700 XT, 500GB P1 + 250GB BX100 + 250GB BX100 + 4TB 7E8, XL2730Z + L22e-20
HTPC: X-650, DH67GD, i5-2500K, 4GB, GT 1030, 250GB MX500 + 1.5TB ST1500DL003, KD-43XH9196 + KA220HQ
Laptop: MBP15,2
 
DragonDaddyBear
Gerbil Elite
Posts: 985
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 8:01 am

Re: Windows Module Installer Worker (TIWorker.exe) and the High CPU Usage

Wed Oct 11, 2017 9:46 am

That's what Universal Apps are for. It is much easier to patch. If only developers would use it.
 
TheRazorsEdge
Gerbil Team Leader
Posts: 219
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2007 1:10 pm

Re: Windows Module Installer Worker (TIWorker.exe) and the High CPU Usage

Wed Oct 11, 2017 10:29 am

ludi wrote:
but I'm wondering what I did, exactly, and if there's a more foolproof way of dealing with this issue?


That is basically the most foolproof way to resolve update issues (unless they are caused by something besides Windows, of course).

You did two things:

Method 7 repairs your Windows installation, which will replace any corrupted files and should reset/clear any pending servicing actions. (Servicing is the start-to-finish process of installing Windows or updates, and it includes all of those steps that occur behind the scenes or after a reboot.)

Method 8 is a soft reset of Windows Update. You stopped the service, cleared its download cache, and restarted it. A more thorough version of Method 8 would wipe all state data instead of just the download cache by deleting one step higher in the directory tree:

CD %Windir%
DEL /F /S /Q SoftwareDistribution


The Windows Update service (wuauserv) will automatically create the folder with default permissions if does not exist when the service starts.
 
just brew it!
Administrator
Posts: 54500
Joined: Tue Aug 20, 2002 10:51 pm
Location: Somewhere, having a beer

Re: Windows Module Installer Worker (TIWorker.exe) and the High CPU Usage

Wed Oct 11, 2017 10:29 am

DragonDaddyBear wrote:
That's what Universal Apps are for. It is much easier to patch. If only developers would use it.

I thought that was more about portability? Isn't it built on top of the same underlying OS foundation (which will still need to be patched "the old fashioned way") under the hood?
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
 
DragonDaddyBear
Gerbil Elite
Posts: 985
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 8:01 am

Re: Windows Module Installer Worker (TIWorker.exe) and the High CPU Usage

Wed Oct 11, 2017 11:04 am

You're probably right. It is much faster to install and update, though.
 
TheRazorsEdge
Gerbil Team Leader
Posts: 219
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2007 1:10 pm

Re: Windows Module Installer Worker (TIWorker.exe) and the High CPU Usage

Wed Oct 11, 2017 12:17 pm

just brew it! wrote:
I thought that was more about portability? Isn't it built on top of the same underlying OS foundation (which will still need to be patched "the old fashioned way") under the hood?


Universal apps run in a container of sorts. It provides a different API and abstraction layer than what Win32 apps have. More granular permissions are available as well. They are more function-based in nature, similar to Android.

I do not understand how this is relevant either. Your OS needs the same patches regardless of whether you have universal apps installed.
 
Chrispy_
Maximum Gerbil
Posts: 4670
Joined: Fri Apr 09, 2004 3:49 pm
Location: Europe, most frequently London.

Re: Windows Module Installer Worker (TIWorker.exe) and the High CPU Usage

Wed Oct 11, 2017 12:58 pm

just brew it! wrote:
It amazes me that after all these years, Windows Update is still such a POS.


FTFY!
Congratulations, you've noticed that this year's signature is based on outdated internet memes; CLICK HERE NOW to experience this unforgettable phenomenon. This sentence is just filler and as irrelevant as my signature.
 
Topinio
Gerbil Jedi
Posts: 1839
Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2015 9:28 am
Location: London

Re: Windows Module Installer Worker (TIWorker.exe) and the High CPU Usage

Wed Oct 11, 2017 12:59 pm

DragonDaddyBear wrote:
That's what Universal Apps are for. It is much easier to patch. If only developers would use it.

How is that at all relevant in a thread about patching the OS?
Desktop: 750W Snow Silent, X11SAT-F, E3-1270 v5, 32GB ECC, RX 5700 XT, 500GB P1 + 250GB BX100 + 250GB BX100 + 4TB 7E8, XL2730Z + L22e-20
HTPC: X-650, DH67GD, i5-2500K, 4GB, GT 1030, 250GB MX500 + 1.5TB ST1500DL003, KD-43XH9196 + KA220HQ
Laptop: MBP15,2
 
DragonDaddyBear
Gerbil Elite
Posts: 985
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 8:01 am

Re: Windows Module Installer Worker (TIWorker.exe) and the High CPU Usage

Wed Oct 11, 2017 1:28 pm

Microsoft patches do more than just the OS. IE and Office were particularly problematic at one point in my career. If you're not on Legacy IE or using "Desktop" Office then you wouldn't have to patch those. It's a quick app reinstall if you have issues.
 
caconym
Gerbil
Posts: 28
Joined: Tue May 17, 2016 3:28 pm
Location: Reno, NV
Contact:

Re: Windows Module Installer Worker (TIWorker.exe) and the High CPU Usage

Wed Oct 11, 2017 2:06 pm

Yeah, I recently noticed that this had been happening to me for months on my little 7" Windows 8.1 tablet. I only use it as an e-reader and thought the battery was just going out. Finally occurred to me to launch the task manager and saw the Windows Update process whipping the CPU at a steady 40%. Apparently it'd been trying and failing to install updates since December of last year. The Windows Update error log had grown to 500 MB (!!!).

I ended up just turning off updates since I only really use it as a reader, but I might try nuking the SoftwareDistribution folder and seeing what happens.
3D art desktop: [email protected] - 32gb@2400 - 500gb m.2 850 EVO - GTX 1070 + 750ti (for PhysX) - Noctua NH-U9B - Phanteks P400
2D art laptop: Thinkpad Yoga - i7 4500u - 8gb RAM - 128gb SSD - way too many different Wacom EMR styluses
 
M@R
Gerbil In Training
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Feb 02, 2018 11:03 pm

Re: Windows Module Installer Worker (TIWorker.exe) and the High CPU Usage

Fri Feb 02, 2018 11:31 pm

Hi Ludi;
Tried your fixes 7 and 8.
7 did not work on my 2 month old HP laptop running Windows 10 (already sent for repair as the keyboard failed and now the machine is so unresponsive the better half is ready to throw it in the trash).
When I tried to run DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth the switches /Cleanup-image and /Restorehealth were not recognized. Performed a Dism.exe /? (a DOS suggestion) and did not see those switches listed. Anybody know which switches would work? Screen list below.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>dism.exe /?

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.16299.15


DISM.exe [dism_options] {Imaging_command} [<Imaging_arguments>]
DISM.exe {/Image:<path_to_offline_image> | /Online} [dism_options]
{servicing_command} [<servicing_arguments>]

DESCRIPTION:

DISM enumerates, installs, uninstalls, configures, and updates features
and packages in Windows images. The commands that are available depend
on the image being serviced and whether the image is offline or running.


GENERIC IMAGING COMMANDS:

/Split-Image - Splits an existing .wim file into multiple
read-only split WIM (SWM) files.
/Apply-Image - Applies an image.
/Get-MountedImageInfo - Displays information about mounted WIM and VHD
images.
/Get-ImageInfo - Displays information about images in a WIM, a VHD
or a FFU file.
/Commit-Image - Saves changes to a mounted WIM or VHD image.
/Unmount-Image - Unmounts a mounted WIM or VHD image.
/Mount-Image - Mounts an image from a WIM or VHD file.
/Remount-Image - Recovers an orphaned image mount directory.
/Cleanup-Mountpoints - Deletes resources associated with corrupted
mounted images.

WIM COMMANDS:

/Apply-CustomDataImage - Dehydrates files contained in the custom data image.
/Capture-CustomImage - Captures customizations into a delta WIM file on a
WIMBoot system. Captured directories include all
subfolders and data.
/Get-WIMBootEntry - Displays WIMBoot configuration entries for the
specified disk volume.
/Update-WIMBootEntry - Updates WIMBoot configuration entry for the
specified disk volume.
/List-Image - Displays a list of the files and folders in a
specified image.
/Delete-Image - Deletes the specified volume image from a WIM file
that has multiple volume images.
/Export-Image - Exports a copy of the specified image to another
file.
/Append-Image - Adds another image to a WIM file.
/Capture-Image - Captures an image of a drive into a new WIM file.
Captured directories include all subfolders and
data.
/Get-MountedWimInfo - Displays information about mounted WIM images.
/Get-WimInfo - Displays information about images in a WIM file.
/Commit-Wim - Saves changes to a mounted WIM image.
/Unmount-Wim - Unmounts a mounted WIM image.
/Mount-Wim - Mounts an image from a WIM file.
/Remount-Wim - Recovers an orphaned WIM mount directory.
/Cleanup-Wim - Deletes resources associated with mounted WIM
images that are corrupted.

FFU COMMANDS:

/Capture-Ffu - Captures a physical disk image into a new FFU file.
/Apply-Ffu - Applies an .ffu image.
/Split-Ffu - Splits an existing .ffu file into multiple read-only
split FFU files.

IMAGE SPECIFICATIONS:

/Online - Targets the running operating system.
/Image - Specifies the path to the root directory of an
offline Windows image.

DISM OPTIONS:

/English - Displays command line output in English.
/Format - Specifies the report output format.
/WinDir - Specifies the path to the Windows directory.
/SysDriveDir - Specifies the path to the system-loader file named
BootMgr.
/LogPath - Specifies the logfile path.
/LogLevel - Specifies the output level shown in the log (1-4).
/NoRestart - Suppresses automatic reboots and reboot prompts.
/Quiet - Suppresses all output except for error messages.
/ScratchDir - Specifies the path to a scratch directory.

For more information about these DISM options and their arguments, specify an
option immediately before /?.

Examples:
DISM.exe /Mount-Wim /?
DISM.exe /ScratchDir /?
DISM.exe /Image:C:\test\offline /?
DISM.exe /Online /?


Proceeded to fix 8 but deleted the entire Software distribution directory (ok folder but it is a DOS prompt right CD\ doesn't stand for change folder to root)
Method 8A: Clear the software distribution folder.
#Start an elevated command prompt and run the following command sequence:
net stop wuauserv #Stops the Windows Update Service Note: Had already killed it in task manager
CD %Windir%
DEL /F /S /Q SoftwareDistribution
net start wuauserv #Restarts the Windows Update Service

Lots of folders were smoked.
Went to Windows settings (app?) then went to Windows Update. It said there were updates waiting for me. Clicked the Update.
My old friend Windows Modules Installer Worker reappeared but was much more docile using only 20% of the CPU and actually dropped to 0%.
Now I'm being prompted for a reboot so I must go.
I'm writing this on another PC.
Thanks for the help.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest
GZIP: On