Windows Management Instrumentation - Windows Vista Service
Provides a common interface and object model to access management information about operating system, devices, applications and services. If this service is stopped, most Windows-based software will not function properly. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.
This service also exists in Windows 10, 11, 7, 8 and XP.
Startup Type
| Windows Vista edition | without SP | SP1 | SP2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| Home Basic | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| Home Premium | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| Business | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| Ultimate | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
Default Properties
| Display name: | Windows Management Instrumentation |
| Service name: | Winmgmt |
| Type: | share |
| Path: | %WinDir%\system32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs |
| File: | %WinDir%\system32\wbem\WMIsvc.dll |
| Error control: | ignore |
| Object: | localSystem |
Default Behavior
The Windows Management Instrumentation service starts as localSystem and runs in a shared process of svchost.exe. If Windows Management Instrumentation fails to load or initialize, Windows Vista startup proceeds. No warning is displayed, but the error is recorded into the Event Log. If you disable this service, then 3 other services will be unable to start (see the "Dependencies" section below).
Dependencies
Windows Management Instrumentation will not start, if the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) service is stopped or disabled.
If the Windows Management Instrumentation is stopped, the following services will not start and initialize:
Restore Default Startup Type of Windows Management Instrumentation
Automated Restore
1. Select your Windows Vista edition and Service Pack, and then click on the Download button below.
2. Save the RestoreWindowsManagementInstrumentationWindowsVista.bat file to any folder on your hard drive.
3. Right-click the downloaded batch file and select Run as administrator.
4. Restart the computer to save changes.
Note. Make sure that the WMIsvc.dll file exists in the %WinDir%\system32\wbem folder. If this file is missing you can try to restore it from your Windows Vista installation media.