The genuine runSW.exe file is a software component of Realtek Wireless LAN Utility by Realtek. Realtek Wireless LAN Utility is a configuration and compatibility toolkit that facilitates communication between Realtek Wireless LAN cards and the operating system. RunSW.exe runs a process that forces a USB3.0 or 2.0 connection. It may necessary while running a USB Wi-Fi adapter. This is not an essential Windows process and can be disabled if known to create problems.
Realtek Wireless LAN Utility is a free program offered by Realtek that downloads drivers that enable the operating system to work with installed hardware network interface controllers responsible for connecting the computer to the Internet or a local area network. This program supports the Microsoft Windows platform.
Realtek is a Taiwanese fabless semiconductor company founded in 1987. Realtek employs over 2,000 people, most of which work in research and development. The company manufactures and sells a wide variety of products based on Integrated Circuitry throughout the world. Its products broadly cover communications networks, computer peripherals and multimedia. Realtek is currently headquartered in Hsinchu Science Park, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
RunSw stands for RunSwitch
The .exe extension on a filename indicates an executable file. Executable files may, in some cases, harm your computer. Therefore, please read below to decide for yourself whether the runSW.exe on your computer is a Trojan that you should remove, or whether it is a file belonging to the Windows operating system or to a trusted application.
Description: RunSW.exe is not essential for Windows and will often cause problems. RunSW.exe is located in the C:\Windows folder.
Known file sizes on Windows 10/11/7 are 36,864 bytes (33% of all occurrences), 44,760 bytes and 6 more variants.
The process is a service (RunSwUSB) running invisible in the background.
RunSW.exe is a file with no information about its developer. The runSW.exe file is not a Windows system file. The program has no visible window. The file is digitally signed.
RunSW.exe is able to monitor applications.
Therefore the technical security rating is 41% dangerous; but you should also compare this rating with the user reviews.
Important: Some malware camouflages itself as runSW.exe. Therefore, you should check the runSW.exe process on your PC to see if it is a threat. We recommend Security Task Manager for verifying your computer's security. This was one of the Top Download Picks of The Washington Post and PC World.
Score
User Comments
I recently built my own computer: Intel I7, 16 GB RAM, Geforce GTX 770, Windows 7 with 256 SSD (not really worth the extra $) For a while now, my ram has been filling up to like 12-14GB. I assumed it was the programs I was running, so I closed the taxers and it only dropped by 2-3.5 GB. I checked "Show processes from all users" in Task Manager and saw runsw being the fourth biggest consumer at about 1GB, so I decided to stop the service and disable it. As soon as I did that, my RAM usage dropped from 12GB to 4GB. This program seems to be licensed to realtek and I can only assume it has something to do with nonessential audio things; either way, it uses a lot of unnecessary RAM and can be disabled without trouble as far as I can tell.
RunSWUSB leaks virtual memory and will crash a system JLowe
I came across this remark "You should keep RunSwUSB if you need to use this software to Switch USB2.0/USB3.0 for WinXP SP2+ ~ Win8" And that made sense. I installed a USB WiFi adapter with USB3 connector. The device details page in device manager has a field for this force USB2 or USB3 and Auto. Eric-Jan H te A
It works in the background and consume memory and shutdown process goes very slowly. I was disabled that service in comp. management. John Smith, Belgrade
Found the "memory leak" in my system. Runsw.exe was using 360,000 threads. Found it by turning on the threads column, then located the service by the same name. Stop the service, disable it, done. Committed memory immediately dropped from 90% back down to about 10%. Bret
It runs as a service. RunSWUSB Curtis Maurand
causes massive memory leaks on systems 9+gb idle on a 16gb system with nothing open. Had to nail it down with process explorer John Cena
its eating up my CPU Oscar
Well I only have 8Gb of RAM and the process only take 500Mb...so I'm ok Dartiransi Dova
Bundled with some wifi USB adapters. Appears to be useless as adapter works fine without it. Prone to memory leaks, eventually consuming all the available memory on the system. Searinox
Leaks memory, ate up ~24GB of my RAM at one point FU "Karl Hsu"
On my Win7-pro(64bit) system it leaked lots of memory (which showed as unusable "modified" memory in resource manager). I nailed it using Process Explorer (after surfing tech forums for hints) enabling the "handle count" column. It was using more than 300K handles. After killing it the situation returned to normal. Lor
I've been trying to find the cause for instablity issues with my system running Windows 10 for months, very frequently the system would hang/freeze at startup where a hardreboot was almost always needed, when shutting down, this service would increase greatly the wait time plus seeing the windows prompt "Cant shutdown because app is running" pointing to this proccess. Since my usb wifi adapter uses a realtek board I assumed it was fine and this service wouldn't be the culprit, after removing it, I have no issues with using the adapter and the hangs/freezes have been completely gone. Jonh
If you don't need it (depending on hardware), it's fine to disable or delete. If you do and related software is disabled, you cold fry your usb wifi adapter or damage your computer. Bob
Leaks virtual memory (over 300k handles in my case), consuming dozens (!) of GB of virtual memory which eventually overflows the swap file and causes system crashes. Vladimir
Memory leaks ongoing as of March 2023. For me, I would go to Task Manager Performance Memory and then see my "Committed" Memory was 90%+. Under Task Manager Details and under the column Handles (right click and choose "select columns" if you don't see it) it would have 10,000+ Handles, and gaining one per second. Unfortunately, disabling it causes my bluetooth audio to drop for half a second at random intervals every 10-20 minutes, so that's infuriating. I set up a service to restart the RunSwUSB service once a day. David
can cause problems with some realtek wifi dongles, it forces randomly change to usb 2.0 and ur dongle will drop connection, disable it abeks
In C: Windows check for runSW.log If you have several million lines of log that include "Cannot create a file when that file exists" Then you likely have a version that was patched to be self-replicating ransomware. Check the VERSION in "Properties". If your version has last 4 digits that are 2019 you definitely have a patched version that is dangerous. The patched versions often come loaded onto think drives and USB dongle. The dongle is actually a complete Linux quad or octa core hacker tool. Ninth1der
Show all user comments
Summary: Average user rating of runSW.exe:
based on 19 votes with 18 user comments.
One user thinks runSW.exe is essential for Windows or an installed application.
4 users think it's probably harmless.
2 users think it's neither essential nor dangerous.
12 users suspect danger.
Best practices for resolving runSW issues
A clean and tidy computer is the key requirement for avoiding problems with runSW. This means running a scan for malware, cleaning your hard drive using 1cleanmgr and 2sfc /scannow, 3uninstalling programs that you no longer need, checking for Autostart programs (using 4msconfig) and enabling Windows' 5Automatic Update. Always remember to perform periodic backups, or at least to set restore points.
Should you experience an actual problem, try to recall the last thing you did, or the last thing you installed before the problem appeared for the first time. Use the 6resmon command to identify the processes that are causing your problem. Even for serious problems, rather than reinstalling Windows, you are better off repairing of your installation or executing the 7DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth command. This allows you to repair the operating system without losing data.
To get your computer running as fast as it did on day one, you can 8reset your PC. Your personal files will remain intact, but any programs you installed will need to be reinstalled.
To help you analyze the runSW.exe process on your computer, the following programs have proven to be helpful: ASecurity Task Manager displays all running Windows tasks, including embedded hidden processes, such as keyboard and browser monitoring or Autostart entries. A unique security risk rating indicates the likelihood of the process being potential spyware, malware or a Trojan. A good Bantivirus software detects and removes sleeping spyware, adware, Trojans, keyloggers, malware and trackers from your hard drive.
Score
User Comments
JLowe
Eric-Jan H te A
John Smith, Belgrade
Bret
Curtis Maurand
John Cena
Oscar
Dartiransi Dova
Searinox
Lor
Jonh
Bob
Vladimir
David
abeks
Ninth1der
Summary: Average user rating of runSW.exe: based on 19 votes with 18 user comments. One user thinks runSW.exe is essential for Windows or an installed application. 4 users think it's probably harmless. 2 users think it's neither essential nor dangerous. 12 users suspect danger.