# Why is WaaSMedicAgent.exe reading all my documents? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 30, 2021, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-waasmedicagent-exe-reading-all-my-documents/941122 "2021-04-30T20:24:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2021, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-waasmedicagent-exe-reading-all-my-documents/941122/1 "2021-04-30T20:24:29Z")
Occasionally a process named “WaaSMedicAgent.exe” will hog system resources after startup. It causes my hard drive to spin for four to five minutes at 100% utilization, bringing the whole system to its knees. According to Process Monitor, WaaSMedicAgent.exe is reading the master file table and a bunch of files from user directories. For example, today Process Monitor showed “WaaSMedicAgent.exe” reading some source files from a programming tutorial I followed months ago. I saw it read some of my work documents even though I logged in on a different user account - it was in folders where I keep contracts, paystubs, tax receipts, patient medical records, &etc. I mean, it appears that it just went and read every single file in all of my user directories. Why? Presumably “WaaS” stands for Windows-as-a-Service, and “Medic” means it is some sort of diagnostic or repair utility. Maybe Windows is not used to being powered down and calls on the WaaSMedicAgent for diagnostic purposes (though I power down through the system menu). That still doesn’t explain why it would pour over my documents. Maybe it is doing disk defragmentation, but I don’t think it makes sense to defragment the hard drive _on startup_, when, you know, I definitely want to _use_ the system. ~Max, Windows 20H2 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2021, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-waasmedicagent-exe-reading-all-my-documents/941122/2 "2021-04-30T20:36:08Z")
I don’t have an answer as to why it was accessing documents, but this process is apparently something that is supposed to keep the wheels from falling off while Windows updates are being applied in the background. I’ve never noticed it running myself, but I do know from experience that things like driver failure or inexplicable hardware problems are often the herald of the ‘update and restart/update and shut down’ options appearing in my start menu. WaaSMedicAgent.exe is supposed to stop those problems happening when an update is being prepared. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2021, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-waasmedicagent-exe-reading-all-my-documents/941122/3 "2021-04-30T22:45:28Z")
It appears to be just a badly designed process with redundant and low-value plug-ins, including the stuff you describe: Microsoft no longer does user testing before releasing new OS elements. [Fleex’s Lab: Why WaasMedic Agent hammers the disk (fleexlab.blogspot.com)](https://fleexlab.blogspot.com/2021/03/why-waasmedic-agent-hammers-disk.html) ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-waasmedicagent-exe-reading-all-my-documents/941122/4 "2021-05-01T04:36:01Z")
Awesome explanation, thanks. For posterity, > “It calculates and logs the total size of each of several directories: […] \users […]” ~Max