Windows Default Media Player is a well-known and widely popular Windows Media Player on Windows. While it comes with the industry’s best features, support, and functionality, it was widely appreciated by older Windows users, but now it has been so criticised because of the laggy interface. However, the streaming media library gives more reasons to use Windows Media Player. If you have noticed, Wmpnetwk.exe is always running in the background, but when the user exits, the background process ends. However, some users have reported that Wnpnetwk.exe continues to run even after the user exits the game.
How do I fix wmpnetwk.exe for high memory and CPU usage in Windows?
Once you enable Windows Media Player and its Media Sharing Service, Wnpnetwk.exe comes into action. Once you quit the media sharing service on Windows Media Player, the process begins, and Wnpnetwk.exe ends. So here is the following guide that can help you fix the error:.
Malware infection
It could be possible that your system gets an infection caused by malware and viruses, which might not allow the background task to end the process. You can check the task in Task Manager and end the task.
- Open Windows Task Manager, right-click on the Taskbar, and choose Task Manager.
- Then, click on the Detail Tab and check for “wmpnetwk.exe.”
- Right-click on it and choose Properties.
- Then, it will open a dialogue box, and you can click on General.
- Check for file locations, and if it shows the default location, then everything seems fine.
- Default Location: C:\Program Files\ Windows Media Player
- If it shows another file location, then it is malware.
- For this, use your antivirus programme to remove malware.
- That’s it.
If it was using your resources but you didn’t find any malware, then follow the upcoming guide tofix Wmpnetwk.exee high memory
Stop the Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service.
If you want to end the Wmpnetwk.exe process, then you can end the task from the service. Follow the following guide mentioned below.
- Open the Windows Run Dialogue Box using Windows + R.
- Enter “Services” and hit enter.
- Then, check for the Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service.
- Now, right-click on it and choose “Stop.”
- That’s it. Restart your system.
Disable the Automatic Startup of the Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service
If ending the service didn’t work, then you can also disable wmpnetwk.exe from the Windows service. It does the same thing as the above method, but it needs more in-depth tweaks and doesn’t work following the instructions mentioned below.
- Open the Windows Run Dialogue Box using Windows + R.
- Enter Services, and hit enter.
- Next, check for Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service, and then right-click on it.
- Select Properties, and then in General under Startup type, it defaults to automatic.
- Click on it and change it to Manual.
- That’s it. Click on Apply and then OK to save the changes.
Once you apply and make sure to save the changes, all you need to do is restart your computer.
Disable Windows Media Player’s Network Sharing Service.
You can’t uninstall the Windows Media Player, but if you don’t use Windows Media Player’s Screen Sharing functionality, then you can entirely disable this functionality. Here is the step-by-step instructions mentioned below.
- Open the Windows Run Dialogue Box using Windows + R.
- Enter Services, and hit enter.
- Go to Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service, and then right-click to open Properties.
- There, in general, ensure that the Startup type is disabled.
- The default is set to automatic, and if you don’t use it, change it to disabled.
- That’s it. Click on Apply, and then click OK to save the changes.
This is how you can fix the issue with the Wmpnetwk.exe process.
Disable media streaming
You can completely disable Media Sharing Streaming to stop all the background processes. Follow the guide described below.
- Open the Control Panel, and you can use Search to find.
- Then, click on Network and Internet and change the View type placed in the upper-right corner.
- Next, select Network and Sharing, and there you will find the Media Streaming option.
- Now, check the box Allow to appear next to Media Programme on PC and Remote Connection.
- That’s it. Click OK to save the changes.
Disable or uninstall Windows Media Player.
If you weren’t able to end the process, then you should disable or uninstall Windows Media Player to save resources. Follow the following steps to disable or uninstall Windows Media Player:.
- Open the Control Panel. Use Windows Search if you can’t find it.
- Then, go to Programmes, and then select Programmes and Features.
- Navigate to the left-panel to open the Turn Windows Feature On or Off.
- Then, check for the Windows Media Features folder and double-click on it to expand the menu.
- Check the checkbox that appears next to “Windows Media Player” and then click OK.
- After that, confirm your action, and then restart your computer.