If you notice that the system slows down, went to the Task Manager and found an unfamiliar Runtime Broker process that consumes resources, do not rush to worry - this is not an indicator of some terrible irreversible changes in the OS, and it is rarely infected. It is quite possible to cope with a similar situation, and now we will tell how.

Eliminate excessive system load runtime broker.

What is this process responsible for?

Runtime Broker primarily supports the performance of programs placed on the Microsoft Store and sends notifications from them to the user - that is, at first glance it seems that this is not a particularly important process if you do not use the app store. But the Runtime Broker function is actually a bit wider: it provides the normal operation of the voice assistant Cortana, Search and Windows Firewall, as well as the rather unpleasant for the user tracking and information transfer options Microsoft, which is modestly called “gathering information to improve service. " Now you know what the process is, and you can move on to explaining why it suddenly gives you such an unreasonable load on the system, which is displayed in the Task Manager.

Why does it use a lot of RAM resources

Usually, the runtime broker.exe service starts immediately as soon as you turn on the PC and does not cause trouble, but sometimes it loads the processor or consumes a lot of RAM. This happens for two reasons:

• incorrect distribution of resources between services due to a system error;
• viruses.

Moreover, if the load goes exactly to the RAM, then this causes suspicion of a crash in the OS, and if it is on the CPU, then it may well be malware.

What if Runtime Broker loads memory or processor

The first thing you should try is the simplest solution:

1. Open the Task Manager.
2. Find a process in the list, select it.
3. Disable task execution with button below.
4. Restart the OS.

If the failure is random and not too serious, the system will redistribute the memory anew, and, quite possibly, this time everything will work correctly. If you still used the Microsoft Store and downloaded something from there, and then noticed an increase in the load on the processor, try to get rid of the application:

1. Click "Start" and find the icon of the problem software in the tile.
2. Click on it with the right button and select "Delete".

You can save the service from the need to absorb a lot of resources, if you limit the scope of its duties, for example, disable the receipt of alerts from subordinate programs:

1. Click "Start" and the gear wheel icon.
2. Select the title “System” and the subtitle “Notifications”.
3. Move the first slider to the “Off” position, confirming that you do not want to receive any notifications from the software.

For the same purpose, you can resort to disabling autorun programs from Microsoft Store:

1. Click the cog wheel icon again and scroll down the list of options.
2. Select "Privacy" and "Background Applications".
3. Disable all that appear to be useless to you, or individually, by checking how it affected memory consumption.

Visit also the "Update Center" (you can find it through the search bar) and try to disable them for applications from Microsoft Store:

1. Open Advanced Settings.
2. Select the “Delivery Optimization” section.
3. Cancel boot from other PCs.

You can also make a complete shutdown of the Runtime Broker in Windows 10:

1. Press the Win + R combination, in the appeared line enter: “regedit” and click OK.
2. Before you open the registry, you need to find a folder in it: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SYSTEM / CurrentControlSet / Services / TimeBroker Svc
3. Inside it will be several files, you will need Start. Double click on it and enter 3 in the bottom line.

After you have disabled the service in this way, it will no longer run with the system and work. You can also create a bootable USB flash drive with File Manager, start the system with it, find RuntimeBroker.exe (C / Windows / System32) and change its name to runtimebroker.bak. In this case, the service will behave completely passively, as if it was removed. Please note that working with system files and the registry requires some knowledge, a random error can cause serious damage to the OS. Pre-better to make a copy of important information. For this:

1. Open the Registry Editor in the manner described above.
2. Click on the computer icon with the right mouse button and select the “Export” option.
3. For storage is best suited flash drive or "Disk D".
4. Wait until all items are copied, and only then proceed to all operations related to the intervention in the registry.

How to determine if the runtimebroker.exe process is a virus

Some viruses replace the system files themselves, causing various failures and malfunctions. Runtime Broker can be their victim. To check if this is the case, you can try the following:

1. Find the service in the System32 folder (the path to it is described above).
2. Click on it with the right mouse button and select "Check with ..." - then comes the name of the antivirus installed on your PC.

If you do not have an antivirus or you do not fully trust him, you can do this:

1. Again, find the Runtime Broker in the System32 folder and click on it with the right mouse button.
2. Select the option “Properties” - “Digital Signatures” and see if the element belongs to “Microsoft”. Any other name, dash or mark "unknown signature" indicates the introduction of extraneous program.

The same is evidenced by the unauthorized movement of the service from the system folder assigned to it to another one. In this case, it is better to download a good antivirus (if you do not have it) and run a deep scan of the entire system, sending the detected viruses to quarantine or deleting them altogether. For this purpose, various 3-in-1 optimizers and the like will not work. - we need a truly effective program. Then it is appropriate to clean the registry with an application like CCleaner to remove the effects of changes made by suspicious software.