You may be reading this article because you’ve noticed that the “Host process for Windows Service” is using an inordinate amount of your network’s resources. This process has been known to mysteriously devour 250 MB chunks of data at a time.
Method 1: Using Resource Monitor after a Clean Boot
We can try Clean Booting your PC before we dive into other remedies that involve configuring system settings. By using this boot, your computer will start up with only the bare minimum of software and drivers installed.
All services except for the absolute necessities are turned off. If the resource consumption does not happen in this manner, try turning on the processes again gradually to see if it returns.
Whether not, try switching on a different section and seeing if that works. Through this method, you may pinpoint the offending procedure and fix it.
- When you press Windows key + R, the Run window will open. In the blank space provided, type “msconfig” and hit Enter.
- Click on the tab labelled “Services” at the top of the screen. Choose to conceal all Microsoft features by clicking that box. When you do so, Microsoft’s services will be temporarily suspended, while all other services will remain active (you can also disable all Microsoft related processes too and check more extensively if there are no third-party services causing the problem).
- To proceed, hit the “Disable all” button, which should now be visible towards the window’s left edge’s bottom. There will now be no access to any external services.
- To save your changes and leave the edit mode, click the Apply button.
- Select “Open Task Manager” from the tab labelled “Startup” now. You’ll be taken to the computer’s task manager, where you can see a list of all the programmes and services that launch automatically every time you turn it on.
- Click “Disable” in the window’s lower right corner after selecting each service individually.
- Please reboot your machine and see if the issue persists. If it doesn’t, try enabling a smaller portion first (as was mentioned above). The services window is where you go to restart or disable a service after diagnosing it.
If it turns out that an external programme isn’t to blame, then you can move on to investigating internal Windows processes.
- To identify the problematic service, launch the task manager. If there are multiple occurrences of Host process for Windows service, expand each one to identify the offending Windows process. What follows is a case in point.
- As soon as you’ve located the service in question, hit Windows + R, enter “services.msc” in the resulting run dialogue, and hit Enter.
- You’ll need to look through the service options until you find it. Use the “Properties” option that appears when you right-click. Turn off the service and mark it as disabled in the startup type menu. To save your changes and leave, click the Apply button.
- Start your machine back up and check to see if the bandwidth problem has been resolved.
Method 2: Metered mode is activated on your connection.
Setting the internet connection you use as a “Metered connection” is a similar approach. In terms of Internet access, a metered connection is one that measures and limits your data transfer rates.
If you set this flag, Windows will avoid using that connection to execute any updates or other data-intensive tasks. This has the potential to temporarily halt the discussed bandwidth usage.
- Select “Properties” after expanding your existing internet connection via clicking the network icon.
- Select “Metered connection” from the menu. In almost no time at all, your computer will react, and you’ll notice a decrease in bandwidth. If it doesn’t work, try restarting your device.
Method 3: Disabling Shipment Optimization
Delivery Optimization is a Windows function that is enabled automatically. It’s possible that your computer will communicate with other devices on your network, either by sending or receiving updates. Though this function could offer significantly quicker updates, it will also increase your bandwidth requirements. We can see if the issue is resolved by turning off this function and erasing the delivery optimization files.
- Windows users can access the Windows Update settings by using Windows+S to bring up the search bar, then typing “Windows Update Settings,” and then clicking the resulting settings application.
- To access the more in-depth configuration options for the update, select “Advanced options” from the menu at the bottom of the page.
- Once you reach the subsequent page, look for “Delivery optimization” toward the bottom of the window and click it.
- Stop allowing downloads from other computers by clicking that button. Having made the necessary adjustments, you should close the settings menu and reboot the machine.
- To access the system drive’s properties, hit Windows + E, then right-click on Local Disk C (or the drive letter where Windows is installed).
- Select “Disk Cleanup” from the “General” menu.
- Ensure that “Delivery Optimization Files” is selected and then click OK. After you’ve finished cleaning out your hard drive, restart your machine to check the transfer rates and see whether they’ve improved.