Suddenly your computer starts to run slow and while you are trying to figure out what happens, you find this process called Tiworker.exe in the Task Manager. It’s draining up most of the CPU and Disk resources, causing either the CPU usage, disk usage or both running as high as 100% constantly.
If this is what happen to you, you have came to the right place. We’ll tell you what Tiworker.exe is, why it is causing high CPU or disk usage, and what you can do about it.
Is Tiworker.exe a Virus? What does it do in Windows 10?
If the tiworker.exe is from the following directory, then no, it is not a virus.
C:\Windows\WinSxS\
It can be in multiple folders from this directory which looks like this.
C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-servicingstack_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.16299.251_none_16dd4c82321e5ccc
They are all legit as long as they are in these folders. To check where the tiworker.exe is located, follow the instruction below.
- Right click your taskbar and select Task Manager.
- Go to Details tab.
- Right click tiworker.exe, then select open file location.
If it is not in the said directory (completely outside of C:\Windows directory), you have a problem. It could be a virus or malware in disguise pretending to be tiworker.exe. If this is the case, scan your computer with an antivirus software immediately to remove it.
So, what is Tiworker.exe and what does it do?
Tiworker.exe is a Windows Modules Installer worker process that Windows 10 used during Windows Update to install new modules and updates after it downloaded them to your PC. It’s one of the core system files Windows relies to run. It does no harm and you shouldn’t attempt to remove it.
How to fix Tiworker.exe if it’s causing high CPU, disk and memory usage?
We aren’t going to show you all the unnecessary solutions that will waste your time. There are only three things you can do.
If this is your first time seeing it runs in your Task Manager, just wait it out. Give it an hour or so to complete its job. Sometimes when there are huge modules Windows Update downloaded, it can take some time for tiworker.exe process to do its job and install the modules.
If it has been running for more than 10 hours and waiting is no longer an option here, there must be something wrong with either Windows Update or Windows system file.
The second thing you should do is re-run Windows Update manually. Go to Start Menu. Search for Windows Update. Then click on Check for updates to begin the update manually.
If you’ve done updating your Windows and yet the tiworker.exe is still running crazily high in disk and CPU usage, you can now try to scan and repair Windows system file by using System File Checker. Here’s how to do it.
- Go to the Start Menu.
- Type cmd. Right click it and select Run as Administrator.
- In the command prompt, enter the following command.
sfc /scannow
- The scan will begin and it may take up to an hour for completing the scan.
The command above will automatically scan for corrupted system file in your Windows 10 and attempt to repair them. If the scan goes fine, it should fix the problem. If it shows you “Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them“, do the following.
In the same command prompt, enter the following command.
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
The Windows DISM tool which stands for Deployment Image Servicing and Management is a built-in tool in Windows 10 to fix Windows Update errors. The above command will allow DISM to check and repair Windows Update if there is any error with it. Sit back and wait for the process to complete.
When it’s completed, run Windows Update again and let it finish without interrupting it. This should fix the problem.
