“Something called br_funcs.exe is using anywhere from 50% to 90% of my CPU, which is causing my CPU to run at 100% and my computer to be slow. What is br_funcs.exe and can I turn off br_funcs.exe?”
If you are having a problem with br_funcs.exe using all available CPU cycles, I’m going to guess you are using a Lenovo computer. br_funcs.exe is the process used by Lenovo ThinkVantage Tools Enhanced Backup and Restore. By default, every Lenovo computer running ThinkVantage Tools is designed to run this backup automatically. When the backup runs it typically uses all available CPU cycles, which translates to your computer running at 100% CPU usage and getting incredibly slow. Lenovo needs to do some work to make this a usable backup solution, because it seems to suffer to fundamental flaws.
From what I can tell, the ThinkVantage software is automatically configured to make a Monthly backup image of your computer. Lenovo support indicates that having br_funcs.exe use 80% of CPU is normal. I disagree. What that means is Lenovo did a lousy job of creating a backup application. Backups are great, but not when they make your computer completely unusable. I would recommend trying some other backup software instead.
You can turn off br_funcs.exe through the ThinkVantage Tools interface located in Start > All Programs > Lenovo ThinkVantage Tools. When you open the application, you should see a menu with several options like the one below. Click on Enhanced Backup and Restore to get started in turning off br_funcs.exe.
If you are turning the software off while br_funcs.exe is still active, you will see a screen like this after clicking on Enhanced Backup and Restore. Simply hit cancel to discontinue the backup in progress and then agree to cancel it when warned.
After you cancel the backup, you can configure the software to stop future CPU crushing backup operations. Click the arrow next to Change schedule, name a backup, delete backups.
Set the backup frequency to Never to prevent br_funcs.exe from taking over your CPU in the future and click the Save Changes button.
After saving your change to the backup frequency, your computer will never run br_funcs.exe again unless you change the backup and restore settings in the future. From here out br_funcs.exe won’t use your CPU.
