How to fix Microsoft Compatibility Telemetry (CompatTelRunner.exe) High CPU and Disk Usage

What is Microsoft Compatibility Telemetry (CompatTelRunner.exe) High CPU and Disk Usage

Also known as Microsoft Compatibility Telemetry, CompatTelRunner.exe is the name of a native Windows service helping developers to collect reports on the performance of your system. This information is normally gathered by Microsoft in the background mode to form the list of logs, habits, bugs, and other things, which may be valuable for working on future improvements. Originally, this service was brought into the mix for Windows 7 and 8.1 within the KB2977759 update. Unfortunately, despite CompatTelRunner.exe is quite innocent and helpful for delivering improvement updates, it sometimes may go awry causing high resource consumption. As a result of this, most systems start lagging and crashing due to high CPU and Disk usage. In order to fix this, you can disable the service without consequences. There is no real sense in trying to delete it forever as it is more likely to reinstall itself at the of the day. Microsoft Compatibility Telemetry was created solely for informational purposes, which is why you can disable it quickly. Below, we have introduced a full guide to show you how:

1. Make sure Windows is up-to-date

Before disabling the Telemetry service itself, it is worth installing fresh updates first. There is a chance that Microsoft Compatibility Telemetry is currently corrupted or malfunctioned. If you have not updated your system for a long time, new updates may resolve the issue. To check whether you have pending updates, do the following:

1. Press Windows key + I simultaneously to open Settings. Choose Update & Security.
2. On the right pane click Check for Updates. Wait until Windows finds new updates and install them. Sometimes users will see the Install button straight away because Windows has already found the updates before.
3. After this updating process is done, reboot your PC and check whether anything changed.

2. Check integrity of the system files

Less likely, but Microsoft Compatibility Telemetry may end up working incorrectly due to missing or damaged files. Such files are usually inherently linked between many Windows services that ensure proper communication. If some of these files are out of their native environment, then it may be causing service-related issues. Below, we are going to use both SFC (System File Checker) and DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Management), which will detect and restore absent components. Here is how:

Using SFC

1. Open Command Prompt by typing cmd into the searching box next to the Start Menu button.
2. Right-click on Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator.
3. Once the console is opened, type the sfc /scannow command and click Enter.
4. When the fixing process is done, restart your computer.

Using DISM

1. Open Command Prompt as we did in the previous step.
2. Copy and paste this command DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth.
3. Click Enter and wait until Windows ends the scanning and fixing.
4. Once done, restart your PC and install the update again.

After performing both of these scans, restart your PC and check whether CPU and Disk resources are used the same way. If this does not work, get down to the other steps listed below.

3. Change Feedback and Diagnostics to Basic

The next portion of steps will be dedicated to tweaking or disabling settings related to Microsoft Compatibility Telemetry. To open the list, let’s start with changing how much diagnostic data is sent to Microsoft servers. Sometimes your settings may be set to sending broader logs of data including apps and features, enhanced error reporting, and other things that may cause higher resource consumption. Therefore, changing this option to a basic plan of data collection may alleviate your system. This might not help you resolve the issue completely, yet it will buy you some extra performance.

1. Open Settings as we did in the very first step. Then choose Privacy and navigate to Feedback & diagnostics on the left pane.
2. Make sure to have Required diagnostic data selected. If not, simply click on it to make it enabled.

This is it. You can now close the Windows and enjoy the result. If nothing has changed to may you forget about the problem, move on to disabling the CompatTelRunner.exe service completely.

4. Disable Microsoft Compatibility Telemetry from running completely

Once all the above steps have been tested, you are now able to go nuclear and disable the problematic service itself. There are three ways to do it – via Task Manager, Group Policy Editor, or Registry Editor. You can choose either of them down below. If you are unsure whether the Telemetry service has been turned off, perform all three solutions.

Using Task Manager

1. Press Windows + R combination to open run prompt, then paste taskschd.msc and click OK.
2. Navigate to Library > Microsoft > Windows > Application Experience.
3. Once done, you will see a list of tasks displayed in the right pane.
4. Find and right-click on Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser. Choose Disable and reboot your system.

Using Group Policy Editor

1. Press Windows + R simultaneously as we did above and copy-paste gpedit.msc to open the Editor.
2. Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Data Collection and Preview Builds.
3. Among the list on the right pane right-click on Allow Telemetry and choose Edit.
4. Select Disabled, click Apply, and OK to save changes.
5. Restart your PC and see if this resolved the issue.

Using Registry Editor

1. Press Windows + R again, but insert regedit this time around.
2. Click Yes if prompted by User Account Control.
3. Once you end up in Registry Editor, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DataCollection.
4. Then right-click on DataCollection, select New with a cursor and choose DWORD (32-bit value) afterwards.
5. Name it as AllowTelemetry, then right-click on it and choose Modify.
6. You will see a new window opened. Make sure to change value from 1 to 0 under Value Data box.
7. Click OK and restart your computer.

No matter what option has been chosen by you, CompatTelRunner.exe should now be disabled and no longer pressure your system in terms of high resource demands.

5. Disable Connected User Experiences and Telemetry Service

The penultimate step on our list is a mixture of both disabling Connected Users Experiences and Telemetry Service at the same time. In fact, this is the name of one service meant to execute exactly the same purpose – sending usage data to Microsoft servers. Since Connected User Experiences and Telemetry service is launched each time your system starts up, we are going to change this value in Services settings. In case previous steps failed to resolve the issue, you can try this one as well.

1. Open run diaolog by pressing Windows + R combination as we did above. Copy and paste this command services.msc.
2. Scroll down the list of all services until you find a service named Connected User Experiences and Telemetry.
3. Right-click on it and choose Properties.
4. In General tab, click on the Stop button. Then, make sure its Startup type is changed from Automatic to Disabled.
5. Once done, click Apply and OK to save the assigned changes.

6. Remove CompatTelRunnner.exe completely

Although deleting the Telemetry service is useless in most cases, we are still going to show you for educational purposes. Of course, this should help you avoid extremely high CPU usage, but only for a limited period of time. Windows has a list of basic services that should be installed on each operating system. If there is something missing, Windows is more likely to spot it and download the missing detail after some time of absence. Therefore, the High CPU and Disk Usage will be temporarily solved, yet come back as soon as Windows returns the problematic service (unless the Telemetry service ends up surprisingly fixed). Whatever the case, it is usually pointless to delete CompatTelRunnder.exe from your system, but here are the steps to do it:

At first, it is important to acquire Administrator rights as you will not be allowed to delete CompatTelRunnder.exe otherwise. Also, if you have two accounts set up on your PC, make sure to log into one that has Administrator Privileges. As soon as you are ready, follow the steps below:

1. Type CompatTelRunner into the search box next to Start Menu.
2. Right-click on it and choose Open File Location. You can also find this file by going to C:\Windows\System32.
3. After locating the CompatTelRunner file, right-click on it again and choose Properties.
4. You will see a new window straight away. Navigate to Security tab and click on the Advanced button.
5. Next to Owner above, click Change and Advanced again.
6. After that, choose Find now and select the name of the currently logged-in account. Do not forget to click OK afterwards.
7. Make sure to click OK to previously-opened windows. Specifically, tap Apply and OK in the Advanced Security Settings tab.

This set of instructions has helped us change the file owner. Next, we should grant the necessary permissions to remove the file:

1. Close all the windows and right-click on CompatTelRunner again. Choose Properties > Security tab and Advanced just like we did before.
2. Then, select the user from the list and choose Edit right below.
3. Finally, you are able to tweak what permission should be given. Make sure to have Allow and Full control selected to do whatever you want with the file. Apply the changes and close the tab to finally be able to delete CompatTelRunner.exe.

Summary

High CPU usage can be caused by some other Windows services. SysMain has been another such service leading to high resource consumption. For unknown reasons, but these problems tend to arise for regular users. We hope you are no longer dealing with unbearable temperatures and downgraded performance due to exhaustingly high consumption of resources. In case you end up dealing with other problems someday in the future, do not hesitate to use other articles published on our blog daily as new issues pop in.