Background Intelligent Transfer Service is missing in XP

Wow.  I had the exact same problem and couldn't find a solution - until now.  I followed your detailed solution exactly and I can update again. THANK YOU!!!!!!!

You're welcome TeeJay

Hi Xircal

Yes, this is helpful and I will try the fix.

Thanks for the .NET link, always good to have a new resource but in this case I am afraid it is beyond my knowledge and ability! I just want to know if it is theoretically possible to completely remove .NET and not get updates for it automatically installing, as it had seemed to me that the default was NOT to have .NET, as I had a free music program, Anvil Studio, that suddenly asked me to either install or update .NET, and I can't remember having anything to do with .NET up to that time. I cannot find any info about that aspect in the wikipedia articel.

Obviously if you think that messing with .NET will bring back the update problems described on this thread, then I will leave things as they are. I have seen on related threads people writing about re-installing .NET

Edit:

To qualify the above, the wikipedia .NET article links to the .NET version history, which seems to imply that .NET was not a default with XP, but any advice on whether to try uninstalling it would be helpful, as I get lost with all the different service packs and versions, which ones I need, don't need, etc.,although I assume there is specialist information about this elsewhere.

Hi Xircal

Yes, this is helpful and I will try the fix.

Thanks for the .NET link, always good to have a new resource but in this case I am afraid it is beyond my knowledge and ability! I just want to know if it is theoretically possible to completely remove .NET and not get updates for it automatically installing, as it had seemed to me that the default was NOT to have .NET, as I had a free music program, Anvil Studio, that suddenly asked me to either install or update .NET, and I can't remember having anything to do with .NET up to that time. I cannot find any info about that aspect in the wikipedia articel.

Obviously if you think that messing with .NET will bring back the update problems described on this thread, then I will leave things as they are. I have seen on related threads people writing about re-installing .NET

Edit:

To qualify the above, the wikipedia .NET article links to the .NET version history, which seems to imply that .NET was not a default with XP, but any advice on whether to try uninstalling it would be helpful, as I get lost with all the different service packs and versions, which ones I need, don't need, etc.,although I assume there is specialist information about this elsewhere.

Hi ben,

It's a matter of debate as to which .NET Framework version you need to have installed these days. But at least you won't have to install version 4.5.1 since it's not supported on Windows XP according to this blog:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/wsus/archive/2013/11/22/microsoft-net-framework-4-5-1-coming-to-wsus.aspx

Can you do without it at all? Well, that depends on which applications you have installed and whether the developer used .NET to build them with.

In that respect, .NET is essentially a framework rather like DirectX is. The latter is used by game developers to build PC games.

It's rather like a trellis frame used in a garden if the analogy makes it easier for you to understand. The framework allows you to intertwine plants around it to create whatever design you're aiming at. Without it, you'd have to secure plants in some other way to make them grow in the direction you want.

.NET forms the basis of the framework to design applications for Windows operating systems without having to write code for every single piece of the application. This is a very simplified view of course and it's much more complicated then that, but that's the gist of it.

Theoretically, if you have the latest version of .NET installed, you don't need the previous version since the later versions contain the previous code. But I can't guarantee that a given application built with an earlier version of .NET will continue to work properly if you uninstall the framework it was developed with.

If you uninstall it completely, then certain applications built with it won't work anymore. That includes web pages developed with ASP.NET

Hi Xircal,

I had this same problem, missing BITS and svchost eating up all the CPU cycles everytime the computer booted and WinUpdate hanging checking for updates.  WinXP Pro machine of mother-in-law...

I tried many things, until I found your excellent advice.  I reinstalled BITS using the registry fix, which worked to bring BITS service back and it was started, but still no WinUpdate - would still hang.  Then I installed the fix for IE 8 as you suggested.  Rebooted and then WinUpdate worked!  Rebooted again and svchost chugged for a while, but calmed down.  Looking at the Windowsupdate.log showed a bunch of activity upon that reboot, but then it must have finished.  After a couple of more reboots to be sure, no runaway svchost anymore! 

Thanks much for your assistance.  I'd about given up hope.

Now the 64 million dollar question is how did this problem come about?  Was it due to a bug in the last Windows update?  Or was it a nasty result of a virus?  Or do we have any idea?

Thanks much!

Doug