Addressing WowVoiceProxy.exe issues...

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09-22-2019, 11:32 AM
nodoze

Addressing WowVoiceProxy.exe issues...

WowVoiceProxy.exe seems to run away on a CPU using more and more resources and can be a big problem if you are running multiple WoW clients.

In my case I was having high CPU usage even with an extremely beefy 16 core i7-6900K CPU (example here).

After running 'taskkill /f /im WowVoiceProxy.exe' multiple times at an administrator command prompt I was able to get the usage back down (example here). Each time I ran it the processes would start back up but if I ran it enough times I could usually get it to stay down to only 2 processes. Eventually though more would start and eventually I would have high CPU again.

After reading several threads across the internet I tried multiple things including:

- Modifying the permissions of WowVoiceProxy.exe so that it would not run: This was problematic and caused my Blizzard patcher to try to force a full reinstall of WoW...

- Restrict WowVoiceProxy.exe in Windows FireWall: This seemed to actually work at first for serveral days but then all of sudden it seemed to stop working. I tried multiple ways to get it under control again but none worked. It could be in part because the user I login with is an Administrator and/or because I launch both ISBoxer and the Blizzard Launcher/Patcher with Administrator privileges but I didn't want to stop running like that so I looked for other solutions...

- Restrict WowVoiceProxy.exe via regedit: This didn't seem to work at all for me. Again it could be because my user and the processes are running with Administrator privileges.

- Restrict WowVoiceProxy.exe via gpedit.msc (I am running Windows 10 Professional): This didn't seem to work at all for me. Again it could be because my user and the processes are running with Administrator privileges.

I considered running the taskkill script regularly via a batch file but didn't like the idea of just band-aiding the problem and each time the processes are killed and respawned there are spikes in various areas...

I tried other things to no avail and then finally went back to the one solution that seemed to work for at least awhile which was controlling WowVoiceProxy.exe via Firewall... Since the built in Windows Firewall wasn't working anymore I researched multiple "top 10 lists" and tried the typically highest rated free FireWall (Zone Alarm) and it worked. It has only been since yesterday so still early to say for sure but I wanted to share what looks to be an actual solution... So far I haven't had any nagging to upgrade and it has been entirely free...

Now when I launch my 5+ WoW clients I briefly get this announcement from Zone Alarm in my lower right hand corner and things are so much better.
09-22-2019, 11:46 AM
MiRai

If you're using build 6530, or later, of Inner Space, which was released ~20 days ago, then it blocks WowVoiceProxy from running.
09-22-2019, 12:06 PM
nodoze

Quote:

Originally Posted by MiRai

If you're using build 6530, or later, of Inner Space, which was released ~20 days ago, then it blocks WowVoiceProxy from running.

Thanks MiRai.

Interesting. I am running 1.16 Build 6304 and have it set to 'Always patch at startup' & even 'Download development (test) patches' but it doesn't seem like it is doing that. I restarted multiple times over the last few weeks (especially when doing all the above) and even restarted my PC and Innerspace this morning...

When I right click on Innerspace to open the console I see both of the above boxes checked and it says:
-Current Live Version: 1.16 Build 6365;
-Current Development Version: 1.16 Build 6553;

Even though I have it set to 'Always Patch at Startup' it doesn't seem to automatically patch... Do I need to manually click the red 'Patch these files' button even if set to always patch?

If I do that with my current settings will I get 6535 or 6553?

I suspect 6553 if I normally only want the most stable live version I suspect I likely I should uncheck 'Download development (test) patches' to only get 6535 but figured it would be smart to ask for guidance.
09-22-2019, 12:13 PM
gormless

I just renamed the .exe file to .bak. It doesn’t launch anymore and no more random stuttering. It has to be redone every time you patch though.
09-22-2019, 12:14 PM
MiRai

Quote:

Originally Posted by nodoze

Even though I have it set to 'Always Patch at Startup' it doesn't seem to automatically patch... Do I need to manually click the red 'Patch these files' button even if set to always patch?

Yes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nodoze

If I do that with my current settings will I get 6535 or 6553?

You will get whichever version you've selected: If you've enabled development patches, then you'll get a dev build, otherwise you'll get the live build.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nodoze

I suspect 6553 if I normally only want the most stable live version I suspect I likely I should uncheck 'Download development (test) patches' to only get 6535 but figured it would be smart to ask for guidance.

Very rarely is there an "unstable" development build, especially for World of Warcraft.
09-22-2019, 12:26 PM
nodoze

Quote:

Originally Posted by MiRai

Yes.
...
You will get whichever version you've selected: If you've enabled development patches, then you'll get a dev build, otherwise you'll get the live build.
...
Very rarely is there an "unstable" development build, especially for World of Warcraft.

OK thanks so much!

I went ahead an unchecked dev/test builds for now and patched up.

I am still going to leave Zone Alarm firewall/AV in place because they seems to work significantly better than the ones built into windows and give me more control over things executing (as exemplified in this scenario).

I guess ISboxer users (once patched up) don't really need this thread anymore... In my case I do run my 6th account outside of ISboxer so it does still help me there.

There are some Boxers don't use ISboxer so hopefully this thread at least helps them.
09-19-2020, 03:56 PM
Nolife

Quote:

Originally Posted by MiRai

If you're using build 6530, or later, of Inner Space, which was released ~20 days ago, then it blocks WowVoiceProxy from running.

I'm so sorry to surface this again, but was this ever a thing that IS would actually block WowVoiceProxy from running? If so, I would LOVE to have this feature again. If not, is there any possible way to delete WowVoiceProxy.exe from Utils folder when launching MB setups? Maybe from Pre-Session Startup?
09-19-2020, 08:31 PM
MiRai

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nolife

I'm so sorry to surface this again, but was this ever a thing that IS would actually block WowVoiceProxy from running? If so, I would LOVE to have this feature again. If not, is there any possible way to delete WowVoiceProxy.exe from Utils folder when launching MB setups? Maybe from Pre-Session Startup?

Nothing has changed since my post almost one year ago. Inner Space still continues to block WowVoiceProxy, and I see the voice error message (stating that the game cannot connect) every time I log into the game world when launching through Inner Space.
09-20-2020, 06:11 AM
nodoze

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nolife

I'm so sorry to surface this again, but was this ever a thing that IS would actually block WowVoiceProxy from running? If so, I would LOVE to have this feature again. If not, is there any possible way to delete WowVoiceProxy.exe from Utils folder when launching MB setups? Maybe from Pre-Session Startup?

Quote:

Originally Posted by MiRai

Nothing has changed since my post almost one year ago. Inner Space still continues to block WowVoiceProxy, and I see the voice error message (stating that the game cannot connect) every time I log into the game world when launching through Inner Space.

And nothing has changed since my last post on this either so there is a fix for any type of boxer (including those that do not run InnerSpace). Personally I actually am doing both on my PC as even when I have my 5box team running in InnerSpace I am often launching 2+ other clients outside of InnerSpace for utility/auction house/passive crafting/checking RAF rewards/retail/etc and don't have a problem in either case anymore.
11-28-2020, 07:04 PM
nodoze

Since ISBoxer/InnerSpace is no longer allowed with WoW this has been coming up alot. Bumping thread to move it to the top so it is easier to find.
11-29-2020, 11:29 AM
Wubsie

Personally on my linux setup I just had my script for launching clients also remove the.exe completely prior to launching the first client. It gets rebuilt when you log in to the b-net client for updates so removing it once wasn't enough. No issues noticed from simply removing it so far.
02-27-2021, 01:05 PM
Moorea

wowopenbox now reliably kills and prevent the WowVoiceProxy.exe from restarting (in v3.5.3 or newer)