The TiWorker (This is an automated scheduled task that comes pre-configured in Windows Server 2012 R2) process is related to the following services;
- Windows Update service
- TrustedInstaller.exe
- Windows Modules Installer service
The symptoms for this issue that your Windows 8 or Server 2012 system runs slowly and applications lag. If you press CTRL+ALT+DEL and check the Windows 8 or Server 2012 Processes. Then you will see a process called tiworker.exe using around 80% – 90% of your CPU time. If you try and end this process the tiworker.exe automatically starts itself again.
After 30 minutes or so the issue will go as the tiworker,exe process will end. This process is used by Microsoft’s auto update services when downloading and applying updates to Windows 8 and Server 2012, it runs an applicability scan hence why the process will restart when you kill it as it will run until it has checked if there are updates for applications you are running.
To resolve the issues, 2 workarounds can be applied to the affected system (But there is not a confirmed fix for the issue)
- Workaround 01 : Applying the hotfix from the Microsoft
- Workaround 02 : Disabling the related services (Windows Update service / Windows Modules Installer service)