Driver
WinGauge Driver
Also known as wghwmon.sys
The WinGauge Hardware Monitor kernel driver, explained: what wghwmon.sys does, who publishes it, and whether it is safe to keep.
What is wghwmon.sys?
wghwmon.sys is the hardware-monitor driver for WinGauge, the real-time PC monitoring app from MudCrab Labs. The name is short for WinGauge Hardware Monitor. WinGauge installs the wghwmon.sys driver so the app can read the low-level sensors on your machine that ordinary software cannot reach on its own. In plain English: wghwmon.sys is the WinGauge Driver, and it is a normal, expected part of a WinGauge install.
- File name
- wghwmon.sys
- Product
- WinGauge Driver (Hardware Monitor)
- Publisher
- MudCrab Labs
- Type
- Windows kernel driver (.sys)
- Runs on
- Windows 10, Windows 11
- Signed by
- MudCrab Labs
What wghwmon.sys reads
CPU and GPU temperatures, fan speeds, voltages and per-core clocks.
Who publishes it
MudCrab Labs, the maker of WinGauge. The wghwmon.sys file is digitally signed.
When it runs
Only while WinGauge is monitoring. wghwmon.sys idles the rest of the time.
Is wghwmon.sys safe?
Yes, if it came from WinGauge. wghwmon.sys is a signed driver published by MudCrab Labs, and it is a normal part of the app. Like every hardware monitor of this kind (the same category as other tools that read temperatures and fan speeds), it needs a kernel driver to reach those sensors, which is all wghwmon.sys does. If you installed WinGauge, you can keep wghwmon.sys.
How to verify the wghwmon.sys signature
Right-click wghwmon.sys in Windows Explorer, choose Properties, and open the Digital Signatures tab. The signer of the genuine file reads MudCrab Labs. Windows will also show the signature as valid. Both together are how you confirm the wghwmon.sys file on your PC is the real WinGauge Driver.
I never installed WinGauge
Driver filenames are not unique to one product, so a file named wghwmon.sys could be shipped by another company or bundled with different software for its own hardware-monitoring purposes. That is normal and nothing to be alarmed about. If it came from a program you installed, it is doing its job for that program. WinGauge is one of the tools that uses this driver, but it is not the only possible source, and the presence of wghwmon.sys on your PC does not mean anything is wrong.
Common questions about wghwmon.sys
What is wghwmon.sys?
wghwmon.sys is the WinGauge Hardware Monitor driver, a small Windows kernel driver that lets the WinGauge PC monitoring app read low-level sensors on your machine, such as CPU and GPU temperatures, fan speeds, voltages and per-core clocks. The file name is short for WinGauge Hardware Monitor.
Is wghwmon.sys a virus?
No. The genuine wghwmon.sys published by MudCrab Labs is not a virus, malware, spyware or a keylogger. Because it is a low-level driver, a few antivirus tools may occasionally flag it heuristically, but the signed file that ships with WinGauge is safe.
Why is wghwmon.sys on my PC?
WinGauge installs wghwmon.sys during setup so the app can read sensors that ordinary applications cannot reach directly, such as CPU and GPU temperatures, fan speeds, voltages and per-core clocks. Other hardware-monitoring software may also install a file with this name for the same reason.
Should I delete wghwmon.sys?
If you use WinGauge and want to keep monitoring your PC, no. wghwmon.sys is the driver WinGauge needs. If you no longer use the app that installed it, you can uninstall that app through Windows Settings, which will remove its driver too.
Does wghwmon.sys slow down my computer?
No. wghwmon.sys only runs while WinGauge is actively monitoring, and even then it does minimal work: it polls sensors on a light schedule and hands the readings back to the app. Impact on CPU, disk and memory is negligible on modern PCs.
Still unsure about wghwmon.sys? Read the WinGauge help or learn more about WinGauge, the app that uses the wghwmon.sys driver.