How do I disable and stop the WMI service?
At a command prompt, enter net stop winmgmt . Other services that are dependent on the WMI service also halt, such as SMS Agent Host or Windows Firewall.WMI Service process communicates with providers, consumer clients and the services.exe via Advanced Local Procedure Calls (ALPC) communication channels. In the WMI Threat model presented by Binarly, attacking the ALPC communication channels is one of the ways to disable WMI without triggering any security alert.However, it's highly not recommended to do so. According to the service's details, stopping Windows Management Instrumentation will cause most Windows-based software to not function properly. We recommend never disabling or stopping this service, nor the corresponding process in the Task Manager.

How do I block WMI : In Control Panel, click Security and then click Windows Firewall. Click Change Settings, and then click Exceptions. In Exceptions , to enable WMI traffic, select Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), to disable WMI traffic, clear Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) .

How do I stop and start WMI service

Stop the service "Windows Management Instrumentation". Type "net stop winmgmt" and confirm with "Y". Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the path C:\windows\system32\wbem and rename the folder "Repository" to e.g. "Repository_old". Start the service "Windows Management Instrumentation" again.

How do I check my WMI service : Confirm WMI is broken

  1. Launch the WMI MMC snapin: go to Start -> Run -> type wmimgmt.msc.
  2. Right click WMI Control (Local) and click Properties.
  3. If WMI is working correctly, you will see Successfully connected window as shown below.
  4. If you see Invalid class or any other error message then WMI is not working properly.

Confirm WMI is broken

  1. Launch the WMI MMC snapin: go to Start -> Run -> type wmimgmt.msc.
  2. Right click WMI Control (Local) and click Properties.
  3. If WMI is working correctly, you will see Successfully connected window as shown below.
  4. If you see Invalid class or any other error message then WMI is not working properly.


Checking if the WMI service is running

  1. From your Windows machine, open services. msc.
  2. Search for the Windows Management Instrumentation service.
  3. Check if the Status is Running. If not, Start the service.

How do I know if my WMI is running

Confirm WMI is broken

  1. Launch the WMI MMC snapin: go to Start -> Run -> type wmimgmt.msc.
  2. Right click WMI Control (Local) and click Properties.
  3. If WMI is working correctly, you will see Successfully connected window as shown below.
  4. If you see Invalid class or any other error message then WMI is not working properly.

Open the Command Prompt as an administrator. Type "net stop winmgmt" and press Enter. If prompted, type "Y" to stop the WMI service.In the left-hand pane, click Services & Applications -> WMI Control, right-click and select Properties. If WMI is working correctly, you will see Successfully connected window as shown below.

Right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator. Type net stop winmgmt into the command prompt and press enter. When prompted if you wish to continue, type Y and press enter. Type winmgmt /resetrepository into the command prompt and press enter.

How do I turn on WMI : To enable or disable WMI traffic using firewall UI

In the Control Panel, click Security and then click Windows Firewall. Click Change Settings and then click the Exceptions tab. In the Exceptions window, select the check box for Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) to enable WMI traffic through the firewall.

How do I restart WMI service : Type "net stop winmgmt" and confirm with "Y". Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the path C:\windows\system32\wbem and rename the folder "Repository" to e.g. "Repository_old". Start the service "Windows Management Instrumentation" again. Type "net start winmgmt".

How do I make sure my WMI is running

Checking if the WMI service is running

  1. From your Windows machine, open services. msc.
  2. Search for the Windows Management Instrumentation service.
  3. Check if the Status is Running. If not, Start the service.


To enable or disable WMI traffic using firewall UI

In the Control Panel, click Security and then click Windows Firewall. Click Change Settings and then click the Exceptions tab. In the Exceptions window, select the check box for Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) to enable WMI traffic through the firewall.1. Open Command Prompt or enter “cmd” in the search bar in the Windows Start menu in the target machine. 2. In Command Prompt, type: wmic /NODE:"HOST IP" /USER:"USERNAME" /PASSWORD:"PASSWORD" SHARE.

How do I start WMI service : WMI is initiated automatically at system startup or it starts automatically when the first management/monitoring application or script seeks a connection to the WMI namespace. To start a WMI service: Navigate to the command prompt. Enter net start winmgmt[/<switch>]