If your PC actually works fine, but suddenly makes loud noises and becomes hot and/or increasingly slow, Windows Modules Installer Worker may be the culprit. Simply look at Task Manager to see if this process is causing high CPU utilization.
Read on to learn what Windows Modules Installer Worker is, and how you can reduce CPU utilization and fix the issue with suitable tune-up tools like Avira System Speedup for Windows.
Is Windows Modules Installer Worker a virus?
Don’t worry: Windows Modules Installer Worker — or WMIW or TiWorker.exe as it’s also known — is neither a virus nor a new and dangerous form of malware.
Rather, it’s a core system process in Windows — but that doesn’t mean it can’t wreak havoc.
What is Windows Modules Installer Worker?
Specifically, Windows Modules Installer Worker is a part of the Windows Update service and is responsible for updating, installing, and uninstalling Windows updates. This critical Windows operating-system component works in the background, regularly scanning your system for pending updates to ensure your PC is always up to date. You don’t need to lift a finger — that’s because this update service takes care of everything automatically.
However, if you notice in Task Manager that Windows Modules Installer Worker is always eating up vast amounts of system resources or significantly sapping your system’s performance, it may be worth looking for possible causes or modifying your Windows Update settings.
What is triggering Windows Modules Installer Worker to cause high CPU utilization?
There are many different reasons why WMIW can lead to extremely high CPU — the core processor unit, or the main processing unit of your Windows PC — utilization.
First you should bear in mind that updating Windows and associated applications really eats into your system’s resources. And this almost inevitably leads to Windows 11’s Windows Modules Installer Worker driving up CPU utilization — but only temporarily.
Actually, this kind of short-term high CPU utilization isn’t a cause for concern — but only as long as your hard drive isn’t always groaning under 100% utilization. If it is, you should do some troubleshooting.
Installing updates
When Windows updates and/or optional components are downloaded and installed, this process may temporarily consume a lot of your CPU’s processing power. Thankfully, though, the impact is usually only temporary and things should settle back down again once the installation is complete.
Background update checks
Windows Modules Installer Worker often checks for updates, during which time — just like when installing an update — CPU utilization can be temporarily very high. However, after a while it should settle down again to normal levels.
Windows updates issues
Whether there are conflicts between updates, corrupt update files, incomplete updates, or third-party applications: If there are issues with certain updates, Windows Modules Installer Worker may get stuck in a loop — continually putting a lot of strain on your Windows PC’s CPU resources.
In such cases, you may need to check the Windows Update components — or you can use a tune-up tool like Avira System Speedup for Windows, which can help you update your drivers and a whole bunch more besides.
How to fix 100% utilization caused by Windows Modules Installer Worker
If Task Manager reveals that Windows Modules Installer Worker has been eating up vast amounts of CPU resources for a while, you can get to the bottom of the matter by going through and troubleshooting the possible causes.
Find pending and incomplete Windows updates
To begin with, check whether incomplete or pending updates are resulting in Windows Modules Installer Worker always causing high CPU utilization.
- Press the Windows and X keys simultaneously and select Settings from the context menu.
- Click Windows Updates on the top right and then click the Check for updates button in the window that opens.
- If new updates are available or pending, it’s time to download and install them on your computer.
- Now restart your PC so the updates can be applied.
Use Windows Update Troubleshooter
Running Windows Update Troubleshooter helps the update processes work as intended, which can fix high CPU utilization caused by TiWorker.exe.
Windows Update Troubleshooter is a tool built into the operating system that can help you identify and resolve Windows update issues.
If Windows Modules Installer Worker (or TiWorker.exe) is always causing high CPU utilization, this could also be due to update-process issues. Running this troubleshooter can help you pinpoint these issues and find possible solutions.
- Press the Windows and I keys simultaneously to open the Settings app, scroll down a bit, and then select Troubleshoot.
- In the window that opens, select Other troubleshooters, select Windows Update, and then click Run.
- This will scan for and detect system issues automatically — be aware, though, that this process may take a few minutes.
- Once the process is complete, restart your computer and check whether the issue is fixed and whether the Task Manager no longer shows Windows Modules Installer Worker causing high CPU utilization.
Restart Windows Modules Installer Worker
Restarting Windows Modules Installer Worker (TiWorker.exe) and the Windows Update service can help you fix high CPU utilization. Doing so resets all the activities of this operating system service — this may also fix the issues causing extreme CPU utilization in Windows 11.
- Press the Windows and R keys simultaneously, type services.msc in the search box, and click OK to open the Windows Services console.
- Scroll down to find the Windows Update service, right-click it, and select the Stop option.
- Now find the Windows Modules Installer service, right-click it, and select Exit.
- Wait a few minutes, right-click both services in turn, and select Start to reactivate them.
Can you turn off Windows Modules Installer Worker?
Although it might seem a good idea to simply disable TiWorker.exe to get rid of the issues of high CPU utilization and give yourself peace of mind, the opposite is true. That’s because this system component, which runs automatically in the background, is crucial to your computer’s smooth operation.
And if your operating system is unable to perform necessary updates, this multiplies the risk of you becoming a victim of a cyberattack. That’s because every update that’s issued closes security holes.
Instead, help Windows Modules Installer Worker perform the required updates without major hassle.
Use a tried-and-tested system optimization tool to improve processor performance and free up additional capacity so TiWorker.exe can work better. The good news is that it’s very easy to do with a tool like Avira System Speedup for Windows. And best of all, even the free version of this solution helps you monitor many aspects of your device’s performance and, if necessary, tune it up.