System processes like DllHost.exe and WmiPrvSe.exe are slowing down Windows 8

Question

Windows 7 started to work slower and I used Autoruns, ProcExp and ProcMon to look at what was causing the issue. I found that it happened when DllHost.exe and WmiPrvSe.exe were running, but I'm not sure if these are causing the problem. But every time I stopped those tasks, the OS worked normally.

Now the same problem exists in Windows 8. Also, the HDD is being used 100 percent.

I've done some research in Win 8 and Sysinternals' Process Explorer told me that those processes are mainly run by svchost.exe:

D:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k DcomLaunch

This runs DllHost and WmiPrvSe with these commands:

D:\Windows\system32\DllHost.exe /Processid:{3EB3C877-1F16-487C-9050-104DBCD66683}
D:\Windows\system32\WmiPrvSe.exe

Note: Processid is not always the same

What can I do to fix it?

Answer 1

First update your Windows.

I would suggest you to download Process Hacker from hear: Download Process Hacker

Now you can see all the processes running on your system. Also with right click you can search the Internet for more information on the process running on your computer. There is also a nice Graph where you can see what processes take how much CPU.

The dllhost.exe file manages DLL based applications. This program is important for the stable and secure running of your computer and should not be terminated. Without WmiPrvSE, users will not receive notifications when errors occur.

svchost.exe should not be stopped, also i would suggest not to stop WmiPrvSe. But if it uses to much CPU look at this Microsoft link hear. (not sure if for Windows 8)

Hit on your Keyboard Windows-Logo+R and write services.msc, from hear you might set some services from Automatic to Manual, which means that they will start only when needed, but be careful don't mess with a service if you don't know what it does. Check also msconfig.

At the end if nothing helps, your computer might be infected. Try to check your computer with antivirus.

If nothing helps download and run HijackThis then post the log here. It'll give us a decent idea of whats running and what could be hogging all your memory/cpu.

Hear are also some interesting threads on Super User:

• How do I troubleshoot a Windows 7 freeze or slowness?
• Why does WMI Provider Host (WmiPrvSE.exe) keep spiking my CPU?
• How to deal with a misbehaving dllhost.exe?