How to fix WaasMedic.exe High CPU and Disk Usage

What is WaasMedic.exe

In essence, WaasMedic.exe or WaasMedic Agent Exe is an important Update component that runs as a background service on Windows 10. It was first added in the 10th edition of Windows to manage the flawless installation of updates. Specifically, to ensure all update-related components remain healthy and undamaged. Whenever Windows faces an update struggle, Waas.Medic.exe ends up being involved in resolving potential issues. Unfortunately, some users have complained that there is exhaustingly high usage (up to 100%) of system resources when WaasMedic.exe is on. This can be caused by various reasons. For example, WaasMedic.exe may conflict with external devices (Hard drive or USB drive) as they are connected to your computer. In other cases, the culprit can be third-party or anti-malware software that forces WaasMedic.exe to run into compatibility issues. Whatever the case, it is not going to disappear itself. Unless you run the solution, the WaaSMedicSVC service is likely to continue slowing down your system due to high CPU, Disk, or Memory usage. To fix this issue, follow a list of solutions presented in our instructions below.

1. Pause automatic Windows Updates

As we already mentioned, WaasMedic.exe is closely related to updates. It gets activated when ongoing or failed updates. Thus, if you pause Windows to search Updates for some time, it should prevent WaasMedic.exe from being overactive as well. Here is how:

1. Press Windows key + I buttons to open the settings menu.
2. Select Update & Security, then move to the right panel.
3. Click Advanced Options.
4. Go to the Pause Updates section, then click Select Date.
5. Once the drop-down list appears, you can choose a date to delay automatic updates.

If you want to undo these changes, simply resume updates in the Windows Update section.

2. Clean up unnecessary system files

Some users recommend getting rid of redundant system files. This method involves wiping out recovery copies and cached files stored by your PC. It may be quite risky, as there will be no way to roll back to the previous version backed up on your system. Despite this, using such a measure helped users avert WaasMedic.exe to cause abnormally high CPU and Disk usage.

1. Open This PC.
2. Right-click on your main disk and choose Properties.
3. Find and click on Disk Cleanup.
4. Then select Clean up system files, check all the boxes, and click OK.
5. Once done, restart your PC and check if something has changed.

3. Turn off/delete third-party software

Third-party software like antivirus can be potentially tied in causing compatibility issues. Usually, it happens due to firewall settings that monitor all processes across your system and sometimes blacklist legitimate ones. Thus, it is recommended to turn off your antivirus completely for some time to check if there is a problem. If this is the case indeed, you should probably add the WaasMedic.exe service to the white list within your antivirus settings, or consider installing some alternative to your current antivirus as well. Also, it is worth scanning your PC for malicious or unwanted software as it could also be part of the issue. We recommend using anti-malware software developed by Malwarebytes as it has been exceptionally good at detecting and removing potentially harmful programs. Before closing this paragraph, it is also important to know that any third-party software installed from the web has a chance of raising a conflict within Update settings. If you remember downloading anything from the web recently, try to delete it and check if anything changed.

4. Unplug external devices and Update drivers

If there are any external devices like USB Drives connected to your PC, try to remove them and check whether the consumption of resources has changed. Such compatibility problems can be caused due to outdated or missing drivers. Thus, it is important to make sure all devices installed on your PC are having new and flawless drivers in store. You can do it manually or using a special utility for a faster solution. Both options are outlined below:

1. Left-click on the Start Menu button and choose Device Manager.
2. Ideally, you should update all devices available. If there is something marked with a yellow triangle, this means you should update in the first order.
3. To do it, right-click on the driver, choose Update, and follow the on-screen instructions.
4. Let Windows search for new drivers and download them eventually.

Drivers are key to the proper configuration of your system. They are the ones providing a stable connection between hardware and your operating system. Updating a number of drivers manually may take a lot of time rehearsing monotonous steps. Here you can download the best driver update utility, which will deal with this task on its own – Driver Booster from IObit:

Driver Booster start screen

Driver Booster scan results

Driver Booster tools section

5. Disable WaasMedic.exe via Registry Editor

The last solution on our line is turning the WaaSMedicSVC service completely. You should apply this in case no other method resolved the issue. Technically, there is nothing dangerous towards disabling the WaasMedic.exe service. Windows feels fine to operate without WaasMedic.exe enabled. Note that there is no point in deleting the WaasMedic.exe. Since it is a native Windows service, your system is more likely to reinstall it again. This is why disabling it will be a better option to try. Follow the steps below to do it:

1. Press Windows key + R together, type regedit in the box, and open it up.
2. Click Yes if prompted by the User Account Control window.
3. On the left side of Registry Editor, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WaaSMedicSvc.
4. After clicking on WaaSMedicSvc, you will see a list of entries on the right pane.
5. Find and right-click on Start, choose Modify, and type 4 in Value data.
6. Click OK, close the window, and restart your PC.

Summary

We hope this pack of solutions has helped you resolve High Resource Usage due to WaasMedic.exe. Normally, such problems are rare to happen on a global scale as they are more likely to target smaller groups of people. Despite this, there has been a number of people growing complaints regarding WaasMedic.exe. High CPU and Disk usage are known to be caused by other services as well. One of them is SysMain, which we also discussed on our website. If you are dealing with any other problems like malware or Windows errors, do not hesitate to scout our guides for whatever you need.