Windows 7 WMIPRVSE.EXE CPU usage

I just developed a problem with WMIPRVSE.EXE. It consumes about 50% of a dual CPU for about 14 secs and drops back to normal for about 9 secs. System ran fine until today. Last updated Apple software and Java yesterday. Restored from backup of a few days ago without any change. Any help would be appreciated.

 

I removed both updates and problem continues. After rebooting, it appeared OK until I fired up IE8 (timing?). Sometimes, it appears to affect IE8, cannot access site on first try, but can later.