What is w3wp.exe? Is It A Virus Or Malware? (Expert guide)

Windows is the most preferred operating system for computers worldwide. Windows is close to the heart of many internet users because of its user-friendly interface. However, you can come across complex programs such as W3wp.exe. What is W3wp.exe? Is it a Virus or Malware?

More than 65.5% of internet users access the internet using Windows OS, according to a recent study done in May 2022. The percentage of users using Windows-based OS is more than the halfway mark of total users accessing the internet using other operating systems. It is easy to use a Windows-based OS to access the internet, but you may experience technical utility programs such as W3wp.exe. What is W3wp.exe? Is it a Virus or Malware?  

What is W3wp.exe on your Windows OS?

The W3wp.exe is a self-executing utility program and is part of the Windows OS system programs. The W3wp.exe utility program is an original program from Microsoft Inc, and you can expect to find it on Windows 10/8/7/XP. The [W3wp] is an acronym that derives from the IIS World Wide Web Worker Process. The utility program provides the worker process inside the Microsoft IIS (Internet Information Services) web server. The IIS server with the Apache HTTP Server and Nginx servers are the top servers for hosting and handling HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP requests. The IIS works via pools, and one IIS pool can execute multiple ISS worker processes.

Is W3wp.exe malware/virus?

The W3wp.exe utility program is not a virus or malware. However, unethical programmers can use the W3wp.exe file name to disguise malicious programs inside the Windows operating system. The location of the W3wp.exe utility program is [C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv], and any program with a similar name outside the file path may be a virus/malware program.

How to check if W3wp.exe is legit

You can check if the W3wp.exe utility program is legit by checking the file location of the program. You can use the method below to check the file location of the W3wp.exe utility program.

Checking the file location of W3wp.exe using Task Manager

You can use Task Manager to check the file location of the W3wp.exe utility program. You can follow the steps to check the file location of W3wp.exe via the Task Manager.

Step 1: Press the CTRL + SHIFT + ESC keys to launch the Task Manager Console on your Windows OS.

Step 2: Click on the Details tab before locating the [W3wp] utility program.

Step 3: Right-click on the W3wp.exe utility program before clicking on the Open file location option.

Step 4: Ensure the file path for the W3wp.exe utility program is [C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv].

Enable the W3wp.exe utility program on Windows OS.

The W3wp.exe utility program can be absent if it is disabled on your OS. You can follow the steps below to enable the IIS Manager.

Step 1: Click on the Search icon at the bottom left of your screen before typing Control Panel on the search box.

Step 2: Launch the Control Panel app before clicking on the Programs and Features section.

Step 3: Click on the Turn Windows features on or off option before locating the Internet Information Services option.

Step 4: Click the checkbox next to the Internet Information Services folder to enable it.

Step 5: Click on the [+] icon to enable other IIS features and web server components.

Is it safe to disable the W3wp.exe utility program?

It is safe to disable the W3wp.exe utility program if it causes high CPU usage on your PC. The W3wp.exe utility program can cause high CPU usage because of:

Step 1: Library logging occupies a large disk space when storing databases.

Step 2: Conflict in monitoring lock contention because of application lock.

Step 3: Serialization of immense JSON responses or action parameter binding on MVC.

Step 4: Query compilation of complex LINQ query expressions.

Resolve the W3wp.exe utility program causing high CPU usage

You can choose to resolve the W3wp.exe issues that cause high CPU usage instead of disabling or deleting the utility program. You can resolve W3wp.exe issues using two troubleshooting solutions. The first troubleshooting solution is to remove application blockages causing high CPU usage. The second troubleshooting solution is reducing CPU usage (for application code) to prevent CPU overloads and handle more traffic.

Disable the W3wp.exe utility program

There are three options you can use to disable the W3wp.exe utility program. The methods for disabling the W3wp.exe utility program are:

Conclusion

Now you know what W3wp.exe is. Note, however, that it’s important to research to know more about this Windows process file. Also, remember that disabling it can cause your Windows OS to crash. Find appropriate methods to get it done. That being said, we wrap up this post.