Inspirion 5593 - Fan on High/Noisy - RunTime Broker?

[tms996]

Hi - I hope someone can help with advice for this as very unhappy at how my laptop is behaving! Its just over 6 months old Dell Inspirion 5593 running Core i5 with W10. Used for nothing else except Windows office products Word and Excel and bought recently to replace an old Toshiba.

The problem is that the fan comes on frequently and loudly and I do not understand why. I am not running any large program or operation - usually am only writing in Word. When I open Task Manager I see:

Runtime Broker is running at 50-60% CPU, very high power usage and CPU usage has gone up to 100%.
I have not been able to stop it from doing this, other than to shut the computer down and start again.

Why might it be doing this?

Windows 10 is current, Mcaffee is uninstalled and I am using Malwarebytes as I have for years.

[Scooobydont]

It is under warranty, call Dell.

[xeny]

tms996 said:

Runtime Broker is running at 50-60% CPU, very high power usage and CPU usage has gone up to 100%.
I have not been able to stop it from doing this, other than to shut the computer down and start again.

Why might it be doing this?

.

A quick google suggest runtimebroker may be a bitcoin miner (there's a similar or identically named component of windows for added fun).

This forum post may let you work out if your problem is malware, which would at least give you a starting point:

https://forums.malwarebytes.com/topic/203505-remov...

[Condi]

General starting point for me is to use Spybot S+D and CCleaner to check for malware and get rid of all the crap which collects on your computer over time.

FWIW Dell are not going to cover a warranty claim if it is malware or anything like that.

Last resort could be clean install of Windows after you have backed up you files. Like jumping into clean bedsheets.

EDIT - Runtime Broker itself is not malware.

https://www.howtogeek.com/268240/what-is-runtime-b...

[xeny]

Condi said:

EDIT - Runtime Broker itself is not malware.

https://www.howtogeek.com/268240/what-is-runtime-b...

There is a runtime broker that is a legitimate part of Windows. There's also a piece of malware that calls itself the same thing and eats all your CPU mining bitcoin.

Given that the OP is complaining of high CPU use.....

[Condi]

xeny said:

There is a runtime broker that is a legitimate part of Windows. There's also a piece of malware that calls itself the same thing and eats all your CPU mining bitcoin.

Given that the OP is complaining of high CPU use.....

Yes, but just because something is using a lot of CPU time doesn't mean its not a legitimate piece of Windows software. Certain background processes are infamous for hogging resources for inexplicable reasons.

As recommended, download Spybot (or your preferred malware program) and see what it finds.

[tms996]

Condi said:

General starting point for me is to use Spybot S+D and CCleaner to check for malware and get rid of all the crap which collects on your computer over time.

FWIW Dell are not going to cover a warranty claim if it is malware or anything like that.

Last resort could be clean install of Windows after you have backed up you files. Like jumping into clean bedsheets.

EDIT - Runtime Broker itself is not malware.

https://www.howtogeek.com/268240/what-is-runtime-b...

Thanks that explains a lot. I did try calling Dell, they refused to help as it was over 6 months old and they claimed that was all the warranty is for.
I run a few checks with Malwarebytes and I don't think its infected. Mostly the runtime broker kicks in, the fan goes full speed, but there is no obvious reason for this. Sometimes File Explorer is open. Sometimes not.

Run a full Malwarebytes and CCcleaner with nothing found.
However I have isolated the setting and turned off the hints as per the article.

Edited by tms996 on Friday 5th June 14:07