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DonnyThompson 14 March 2017

pcrecord Boswell audiokid dvdhawk (or any of our other resident computer wizards)

Hi guys...

I had a W10 automatic update happen last week - one of those automatic things that happened in the middle of the night), and since then, I've noticed a spike in CPU and RAM usage from a background process called "Runtime Broker".

The first time it happened, I opened Task Manager and looked for processes that were showing high CPU and Memory usage. I found this process, and manually ended it, and immediately, my computer began to run smoothly again.
So, I committed that "answer" to memory ( my memory, not RAM lol) and now, if I notice my PC slowing down again, I open Task Manager, select this process, and manually end it, and the PC then runs smoothly again...

BUT - it only "ends" for an hour or so; when things start to slow down again, and this process reappears in the Task Manager list, and shows yet another spike in CPU and RAM use... sometimes, as high as 49%.

So, I manually end the process again, things are great for awhile, but this background process always eventually returns. I googled this problem, and found that, according to the Google responses I've seen - that it has to do with a "Windows Notification" setting.
So, I followed the directions given, opened up my "Settings" window, and disabled all "notify me" selections.

But it still keeps happening.

Could you provide me with some insight as to what this process is, and why it keeps returning? There has been no sign of any problems as a result of manually ending this process in Task manager - But this Runtime Broker Process always comes back, eventually.
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System Details:
AMD Athlon 3.4ghz, Quad Core, 20 Gig RAM,
Windows 10 ( most recent build/update)
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Any thoughts at all?

Thanks...
-d.

PS Marco... I have done what I could to optimize my W10 for audio production, following the various links that you've periodically provided over time here on RO ( Thank you, BTW). And those tweaks have really helped, too. Everything is running fine - except for this damned "Runtime Broker" process that suddenly appeared last week...

Topic Tags

Comments

pcrecord Tue, 03/14/2017 - 06:40

Runtime Broker is a normal process which provide access to other Windows processes. It is probably some W10 maintenance Tools starting off while the computer is idle or not working hard. When a first install or upgrade is done, a lot of things goes in the background.
The broker itself is usually very lite.

I know that drive maintenance are frequently started on mine.
I'll reseach it a bit further and get you back on this

DonnyThompson Tue, 03/14/2017 - 07:20

pcrecord, post: 448580, member: 46460 wrote: I'll reseach it a bit further and get you back on this

I appreciate the link, and yeah, those were the steps I followed earlier.

I get that it's supposed to be there, it's just that sometimes it eats CPU and RAM to the extent that everything on the system slows to a crawl - opening my Outlook mail program, or doing simple tasks like playing a YouTube vid, or even opening a simple program such as WordPad, all become very slow in responding if that process is eating CPU and Memory. I suppose it cold be coincidental, but this started happening just after the latest Windows Update/Build was installed.

If I knew what possible app or update was now causing this Runtime process to kick in, I'd be happy to either disable or even uninstall the app.

I use very few "windows apps"...

No games, no Cortana, I use this PC for production, youtube, email... and this forum. My system isn't choked with a lot of "bloatware" or windows "extras"...
Virus protection is the Windows defender that comes as part of any Windows system. I'm not surfing porn sites, or doing any P to P stuff, not downloading programs from Warez sites, or logging on to URL's that aren't trust-able.
-d.

pcrecord Tue, 03/14/2017 - 07:29

As I understand it, you should have some other processes going on when you get the CPU usage. Runtime broker is not supose to eat CPU and RAM, but the softwares that it calls/allows may do it.
It may be overkill but try process explorer, you'll get a better view of what is happening. Stay calm, this is packed with info...
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/processexplorer.aspx

thewonders Thu, 03/16/2017 - 08:15

DonnyThompson, post: 448589, member: 46114 wrote: I don't know the exact build number but I'm assuming it's the most recent version, in that the auto update happened only about ten days ago.

To get the version details of your Windows computer, open the command prompt window and type "winver" (without quotes).

DonnyThompson Thu, 03/16/2017 - 12:51

bouldersound, post: 448636, member: 38959 wrote: I don't know Win10, but in XP you can go to Services and switch things from "Automatic" to "Manual".

I don't believe this is still an option on W10, Boulder. It might be, but it isn't something I've been able to find as in previous versions.

thewonders, post: 448634, member: 23638 wrote: I've used this site for years as a guide to tweaking Services settings on all of my Windows machines. Here is the page for Windows 10 - at the bottom of the page is a chart that lists all Win10 Services and what is the safe setting to use for each of them.

http://www.blackviper.com/service-configurations/black-vipers-windows-10-service-configurations/

Thanks for this. I'll check it out. :)

DonnyThompson Thu, 03/16/2017 - 13:11

As a side note, I find that W10 took away a lot of control that the user used to have. Things like Boulder mentioned - having the ability to shut off automatic updates, is one. Cortana is a pain in the ass, and there's no way to get rid of it, no way to disable or uninstall. You can minimize its effect on the OS but it's still there. There are other things that tax CPU and Memory as well, such as Microsoft's App Store Marketplace. Im sure there are people who line the whole "Windows Experience" ... but for people like us who use our machines for very specific and specialized work, all that stuff is just bloatware ... at least to me it is.
If XP had gone 64 bit, and Microsoft was still supporting it, I'd still be using it. XP was probably the best and most solid OS they ever had; totally user friendly and customizable to the individual's needs, without a bunch of crap built in, and the crap that was there was very easy to disable or uninstall. There have been times where 10 has pissed me off to the point where I have considered rolling back to W8...

FWIW

pcrecord Thu, 03/16/2017 - 13:35

The versions are Home, Pro, Enterprise , Education
Home is a bit tricky to deactivate updates and antivirus (defender) and each versions have their own level of complexity.

DonnyThompson, post: 448639, member: 46114 wrote: Cortana is a pain in the ass, and there's no way to get rid of it,

Yes there is : http://www.pcworld.com/article/3109900/software/you-can-remove-cortana-from-windows-10-but-its-tricky.html
I did it on my laptop. On my audio workstation, I have the enterprise version, it has less gadgets and more control.

DonnyThompson, post: 448639, member: 46114 wrote: If XP had gone 64 bit, and Microsoft was still supporting it, I'd still be using it. XP was probably the best and most solid OS they ever had

My best OS was Windows 2000 (an enterprise version as well) so lite and powerfull !! :(

Seriously guys, if you have the choice get win10 enterprise..

kmetal Thu, 03/16/2017 - 16:20

I sprung for the the retail version of w10 pro for all my other computers beside the main one, which I'm gonna have to bite the bullet on w10 enterprise version, which is available by subscription.

If you do go w10 pro get the 'retail' version, not the cheaper 'oem' version. The oem version is tied to you motherboard so you can only put it on that one machine.

audiokid Thu, 03/16/2017 - 16:43

.

pcrecord, post: 448640, member: 46460 wrote: enterprise

Windows 10 Pro or even better... > Enterprise is the only way to go.

pcrecord, post: 448640, member: 46460 wrote: (an enterprise version as well) so lite and powerfull !!

exactly

DonnyThompson, post: 448642, member: 46114 wrote: Can you explain a little about what makes this version one that you like and prefer?

You can remove all the bloat. Exactly what we want for audio.

audiokid, post: 448588, member: 1 wrote: I use W10 pro. I can disable auto updates via "Services" and it stays off.

And it stays off.

Home edition keeps calling back to all the apps (bloat) to keep you up to date (resetting your computer to default). Thus, even though you disable things to optimize Windows 10, bloat turns on again and again and again.

Both Windows Pro and Windows Enterprise allow us to "see" and "disable" what we don't want running in the background etc. And it stays off.. Windows Enterprise is the best.

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