Windows Media Player is the default media player for Windows devices. It is one of the best media players in terms of features and functionality. Yes, many people don’t use this player due to its laggy interface, but the features on offer make a case for this player. One particular functionality used quite a lot by many Windows Media Player users is the player’s ability to stream from a PC’s media library on to other devices over a stable network.
When the user uses this functionality, the Wmpnetwk.exe keeps running in the background as this is the process that handles the media sharing service. As soon as the process completes the indexing of the media library on to the other device, it stops working aggressively in the background. But sometimes, a Windows user encounters a problem with this process running in the background as it takes a big hit on memory and CPU usage. If you are also struggling with it and want to fix it, this article will help you. Here, we have included everything that you need to know about the process and how to disable it if it takes up a lot of resources. So without any further ado, let’s get into it.
How to fix wmpnetwk.exe High Memory and CPU Usage in Windows?
When a user first enables the media sharing service on the windows media player, the wmpnetwk.exe process comes into play, and it starts running in the background. It immediately starts indexing the files in the PC’s media library, and during this process, you will definitely notice a rise in terms of CPU and memory usage. But as soon as the indexing is complete, this spike in resource usage should go down under normal circumstances. But many users have recently complained that even when they are not using the media sharing service, the wmpnetwk.exe process keeps running in the background, taking up a lot of the computer’s resources. This compromises the overall functionality of the Windows PC. So here, we will see what we can do to fix this problem with the wmpnetwk.exe process.
Malware infection:
There is a small chance that what you are dealing with here is a malware infection. Malware and virus are good at camouflaging themselves as essential window processes running in the background. And this malware will eat on the system’s resources. So if you are facing similar issues with the wmpnetwk.exe process, you should check whether it is indeed the actual media player process or malware running in the background pretending to be the Windows media player process.
- Right-click on the taskbar down below and choose Task Manager.
- Then click on the Details tab at the top of the Task Manager window.
- Look for the process “wmpnetwk.exe”, and once you find it, right-click on it. Then choose Properties.
- In the properties window, stay in the General and take a look at the file location. If it shows up as “C:\Program Files\Window Media Player,” then you are fine, and it is not a malware infection. But if the location shows up as anything other than the location mentioned above, then it is indeed malware pretending to be a windows media player process.
- If you have identified the file as malware, use your antivirus program to remove the malware from your computer completely. Once it is removed, you won’t have to worry about the wmpnetwk.exe process eating up your computer’s resources.
