Continuous hard disk activity: wmiprvse.exe

**Viensterrr** · 24-12-2008

I am getting a constant hard drive activity about once per second and using Process Monitor I can see that its the program called wmiprvse.exe. I have read that if its in the wrong place then it might be a virus, but its in 2 proper system folders. What should I do about it, can I just delete them? Thanks.

**Big Fish** · 24-12-2008

The other software that you have installed and Windows frequently perform tasks in the background which is normal. Do you get any kind of specific problem that concerns you, like error messages or crashes? If you are not getting anything like that then you dont have to worry.

**The Recruiter** · 27-12-2008

As told, if you dont have any issues, then there is very little to be concerned about. It might be one of the several different things working in the background from indexing to antivirus checks I suppose. Check the below articles for some more information:

The WMI Provider Host program (Wmiprvse.exe) may crash on a Windows Server 2008-based computer that has the NLB feature installed
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/959493

The WMI Provider Host program may stop responding when you run a program that uses the Offline Files WMI Provider on a Windows computer
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/935553

**Tony H** · 10-01-2009

The following solved this same problem for me . . .

Go to -> Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services and then right near the bottom is "Windows Management Instrumentation". Right-click it and choose "Pause". The process of wmiprvse.exe will stop. Leave it as “Automatic” and right-click again and "Resume" o “Restart”.