Microsoft is killing this 25-year-old Windows tool. Your scripts might break
With the latest Windows 11 preview update (KB5120998), Microsoft is finally bidding farewell to a tool that has been part of the operating system since Windows XP: the Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC). It’s being removed from Windows 11 in an upcoming patch, and it’ll affect both Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2.
The announcement comes via Microsoft’s official release notes for KB512098, meant for Release Preview Builds 26100.9267 and 26200.9267. The removal is set to be incorporated into the regular Windows versions when the update gets its wider release.
Microsoft already classified WMIC as deprecated back in 2024. Since then, the company has been phasing the tool out, with new Windows 11 installations already excluding WMIC. But with this preview update, even existing Windows PCs will no longer have WMIC at all.
What exactly is being phased out?
WMIC is a command-line utility that can be used to retrieve system information and automate administrative tasks. Administrators and power users could, for example, use it to retrieve hardware data, BIOS information, or run processes via commands.
With this update, Microsoft is removing the wmic.exe executable file. The underlying Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), however, remains fully intact and will continue to be supported.
For most home users, the change is unlikely to have any immediate impact. Most Windows users have probably never used WMIC.
These scripts may be affected
Problems are most likely to arise where older management and automation scripts still rely directly on WMIC. After installing the update, such commands will no longer work.
The following may be affected:
- Batch files containing
wmiccommands - PowerShell scripts that launch WMIC as an external utility
- Login and startup scripts
- Scheduled tasks
- Inventory and monitoring scripts
- Older installation and deployment packages
Anyone using such commands and scripts should review them and, where appropriate, switch to modern alternatives.
Microsoft suggests using PowerShell as a replacement. It provides access to the same WMI data and is considered even more powerful and better suited to modern automation.
Part of a larger Windows update
The removal of WMIC is just one of several changes in update KB5120998. In this update, Microsoft is also trialing the return of a freely positionable taskbar. Users should once again be able to place it at the top, bottom, left, or right edge of the screen.
In addition, the Start menu is gaining new resizing options, Windows Search is being revamped, and Microsoft is integrating additional security features such as “Administrator Protection.”
With the end of WMIC, Windows is thus bidding farewell to yet another tool from the Windows XP era. For most users, the change will go unnoticed; however, anyone still using older administration or automation scripts should check and fix compatibility soon.
