Windows Update / SvcHost.exe 100% Cpu in task manager

Anonymous

This problem I know is not new to too many of us. Yet - this is November 2013 and I would like to know how this happened AND what to do to fix it!

I have built many computers since 1997. I never had this problem arise until this reinstall. Have reinstalled XP to XPSP3 several times.

Let us not waste time questioning my knowledge.

Same: components, Motherboard, memory, NOTHING HAS CHANGED. The only thing that is different IS - when I have completed the Windows XP install to Windows XPSP3 - tested functionality - fast as **** - reviewed 'EVENT VIEWER' - no issues, constantly checking the processor usage - low. My next step to activate Windows update to get the updates to make my system secure. Sure enough the CPU spikes to 100% - due to a service host CPU demand! I have to say - IF the meter would have a parameter to 200% - I do not doubt it would go higher than 100%.

Even though I do not doubt the correctness of my process to install the OS (again I have done many times throughout the years) I decided since I have not loaded anything else - I would format the drive (Nov 19) and start all over again.

I sit here now with a computer box with verified functioning components, With a properly installed OS, Motherboard drivers installed - nothing else done and I can not get windows updates.

Note: the first attempt install (Nov 17) - I tried the advice on the Microsoft sites, the fix it routine, the recommended installing of a version of net framework to no avail. There is also other advice to perform a routine (don't ask - I do not desire to dig up that data) in 'safe mode' that also failed to remedy this. Frankly I rarely use advice from even the recognized experts out there but I decided whether it worked or not - as I desired a fresh install one last time to have a properly functioning computer that I built myself and gift it. I'm getting old - at a time of my life when one begins to reduce their material possessions.

How is it possible that someone can do something so many times with certainty to have this issue and to read so many are dumbfounded with this?!

And spare me the absurdity of checking for malware, virus, bad drivers. This computer has not had any exposure to have these issues!

One can safely assume it is not an issue with hardware - even working correctly - as many with this same issue described components that are widely different.

My deduction is: Something is amiss at Microsoft update center and or Windows update I have tried both! I believe (leaving out the suggestions by some of shenanigans) too much is trying to get through - after all the updates number about 120 give or take a few.

Anyway - If there is any assistance 'out there' to provide an answer to a Microsoft customer that bought Windows3.1; Windows95; Windows98; Windows Millennia; Windows Xp. Windows Vista on my Wife's computer. Windows 7 on my recent build just for music enjoyment - I would like the courtesy of receiving a solution to this issue.

It seems very simple to me for someone at Microsoft to round up the most important of Security updates - place them on a disk (compressed - many of us have WinZip and large hard drives) and provide them to us with ONLY A CHARGE FOR POSTAGE - OK, OK add a dollar or two. Leave out the fixes for the fixes. You should know what we need. Buying new hardware or OS systems is out of the question WHY? Because either we can not afford it and most of all - WE OUT HERE ARE STANDING BY a Microsoft product that WE believe in!

Try to do it in time for Christmas - it will do a lot for Microsoft's image .

Have a Good Thanksgiving to all!

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Anonymous

This problem I know is not new to too many of us. Yet - this is November 2013 and I would like to know how this happened AND what to do to fix it! I have built many computers since 1997. I never had this problem arise until this reinstall. Have reinstalled XP to XPSP3 several times. Let us not waste time questioning my knowledge. Same: components, Motherboard, memory, NOTHING HAS CHANGED. The only thing that is different IS - when I have completed the Windows XP install to Windows XPSP3 - tested functionality - fast as **** - reviewed 'EVENT VIEWER' - no issues, constantly checking the processor usage - low. My next step to activate Windows update to get the updates to make my system secure. Sure enough the CPU spikes to 100% - due to a service host CPU demand! I have to say - IF the meter would have a parameter to 200% - I do not doubt it would go higher than 100%. Even though I do not doubt the correctness of my process to install the OS (again I have done many times throughout the years) I decided since I have not loaded anything else - I would format the drive (Nov 19) and start all over again. I sit here now with a computer box with verified functioning components, With a properly installed OS, Motherboard drivers installed - nothing else done and I can not get windows updates. Note: the first attempt install (Nov 17) - I tried the advice on the Microsoft sites, the fix it routine, the recommended installing of a version of net framework to no avail. There is also other advice to perform a routine (don't ask - I do not desire to dig up that data) in 'safe mode' that also failed to remedy this. Frankly I rarely use advice from even the recognized experts out there but I decided whether it worked or not - as I desired a fresh install one last time to have a properly functioning computer that I built myself and gift it. I'm getting old - at a time of my life when one begins to reduce their material possessions. How is it possible that someone can do something so many times with certainty to have this issue and to read so many are dumbfounded with this?! And spare me the absurdity of checking for malware, virus, bad drivers. This computer has not had any exposure to have these issues! One can safely assume it is not an issue with hardware - even working correctly

as many with this same issue described components that are widely different. My deduction is: Something is amiss at Microsoft update center and or Windows update I have tried both! I believe (leaving out the suggestions by some of shenanigans) too much is trying to get through - after all the updates number about 120 give or take a few. Anyway - If there is any assistance 'out there' to provide an answer to a Microsoft customer that bought Windows3.1; Windows95; Windows98; Windows Millennia; Windows Xp. Windows Vista on my Wife's computer. Windows 7 on my recent build just for music enjoyment - I would like the courtesy of receiving a solution to this issue. It seems very simple to me for someone at Microsoft to round up the most important of Security updates - place them on a disk (compressed - many of us have WinZip and large hard drives) and provide them to us with ONLY A CHARGE FOR POSTAGE - OK, OK add a dollar or two. Leave out the fixes for the fixes. You should know what we need. Buying new hardware or OS systems is out of the question WHY? Because either we can not afford it and most of all - WE OUT HERE ARE STANDING BY a Microsoft product that WE believe in! Try to do it in time for Christmas - it will do a lot for Microsoft's image . Have a Good Thanksgiving to all!

Hi Joseph,

Please do the following.

Go to Start | Settings | Control Panel and double click Automatic Updates.

Checkmark the bottom option to disable automatic updates.

Click Apply/OK and then reboot.

Does svchost still consume 100% CPU cycles?

If it does, do the following.

Go to Start, Run, copy/paste this command and click OK: services.msc

In the list of Services, can you see Background Intelligent Transfer Service ?

Here's a pix of what it looks like.

If it's not listed, please proceed as follows to register the BITS service.

Open the Windows Search tool, copy/paste the following and then click Search: qmgr.dll

Search should show that file in the following locations:

C:\WINDOWS\system32

C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386

C:\WINDOWS\system32\bits

It may only be present in C:\WINDOWS\system32, but provided you can see it, do the following to register the service.

Go to Start, Run and copy/paste: regsvr32 qmgr.dll and click OK

Do the same with this file: regsvr32 qmgrprxy.dll

Reboot the system and then copy/paste this command into the Run field:

%windir%\System32\rundll32.exe setupapi,InstallHinfSection DefaultInstall 132 %windir%\inf\qmgr.inf

If you're prompted to insert the Windows installation CD, ignore that and in the dialog box at the bottom, change the path to C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386

If you could only see qmgr.dll in C:\WINDOWS\system32 change the path to that instead.

Restart the PC again and then go to Services and you should be able to see BITS in the list.

Double click it and then on the General tab, click the Start button to try and start the service manually. This is just a test to ensure that it's working correctly.

If you get Error 2: cannot find the file specified, go to Start, then Run again and copy/paste the following command and then click OK:

Reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\BITS\Parameters /v ServiceDll /t REG_EXPAND_SZ /d %windir%\System32\qmgr.dll

Reboot again and then try once more to start BITS. It should work properly now, but in the unlikely event that it fails again, run the following command and then hit Enter:

Reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\BackupRestore\FilesNotToBackup

Reboot once more and then do the following.

Go to this link and install the IE8 cumulative December update:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=41404

If you use IE7, use this link instead:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=41442

Finally, go to the Windows Update site and you should be able to download normally.

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159 additional answers

Anonymous

2013-11-20T16:11:56+00:00

Xircal - Thanks for your reply. I did find this link on another post, and it is indeed the update to Explorer 8, which includes some security updates. All I can say is that I put both processes back on Automatic and even put the Automatic Updates to on. At this point [which is less than 15 minutes later!], the CPU problem seems to have completely disappeared. Link follows:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=41074

I hope that Joseph is following these posts - I think this should help. The only thing that I can think of is that I uninstalled Explorer a long time ago, and as this is a cumulative fix for IE8, it might not have wanted to automatically download it?

I recently went through clean installs of 7 Pro on two other machines in the house - one on a laptop with Vista Home Premium [which cannot be upgraded to 7 Pro....go figure!], and a desktop running XP Pro. That in itself was a nightmare - even trying to configure the Home Network....the desktop gave me a password and then told me it was incorrect when I tried to use it on the same machine with the same user! All this to get Office 2013 to work - because that will only work on 7 or above [this is for my wife's benefit who for whatever reason will not use OO!] - then a problem with trying to download Office, which took 4 download attempts on the first machine and only worked when I used Explorer as the browser!! Then finding out that Movie Maker is not just included anymore - you have to download it from Live Essentials, and then that download wouldn't work unless I didn't uncheck all of the other stuff AND used Explorer to download. Then with the "stable" machine developing the CPU issue.......I felt like I was dealing with HAL. [Although Joseph is probably the only other person on this post old enough to catch the reference! :-)]

Thanks again!
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Anonymous

2013-11-20T15:51:35+00:00

Xircal -

OK - I'm having the same problem and it is quite recent. I have seen other posters concluding that it is a virus, but I've always been very careful, and always run virus software - so I'm not buying the virus solution.

Prior to your post, I had also downloaded Process Explorer from the Microsoft site, and had determined that it was the automatic update service that was eating up the CPU cycles. Process server allowed me to shut just that service off inside of the particular svchost that it was running under. So - BITS is running fine, and I have disabled wsaus - and shut off automatic updates - and set Process Explorer to open at my log on....just in case.

Everything is fine until I try to manually update from the Microsoft site. Then, not only does the CPU usage go to 100% - everything gets reset! Automatic Update is still set to "off" in that window, however, under services, wsaus is back on manual - and on start up and log on, Process Explorer has disappeared from the desktop. IF I have the patience to wait, and can search for the icon, start it up, stop msasu....and we're back to square one! Since Process Explorer is actually a Microsoft product [now anyway], I'm not sure why the Update cycle proceeds to disable it and reset settings?!!!?

BTW - I'm not a big believer in MS Operating Systems, as they have always been buggy - and have plenty of bugs in 7 Pro on the other 2 machines - but XP Pro has always been pretty stable. I really don't understand this issue and wonder [maybe I'm paranoid] if this is intentional and a "push" toward moving to another OS before the "official" support stops next year. Although I have heard that MS is moving to an XP like architecture for the next OS!

Hi Steve,

I concur with you on the virus hypothesis. Although a virus is capable of unregistering dll files whereby qmgr.dll file (BITS) which handles file downloads in the background disappears from Services I don't see any evidence of virus activity to support that theory.

However, how qmgr.dll came to be unregistered is a mystery. In order for that to happen, this command needs to be run regsvr32 /u qmgr.dll

Other theories put foward including suggestions by Microsoft are that the file became corrupted. But on so many systems worldwide and all at the same time? You have to have a pretty wild imagination to swallow that one I think.

And then there's the October IE cumulative patch named KB2879017 which is being flaunted as the culprit and which supposedly has been fixed in the November IE patch by KB2888505, but if that is indeed the case, then I'm a bit surprised nobody has explained how the former could unregister BITS.

As for the "intentional push", that thought occurred to me too and I wouldn't put it past Microsoft to attempt to beguile everyone especially corporate users by deliberately introducing issues which didn't exist before in the expectation that more users are going to switch to Windows 8 before April 2014 arrives.

I find Windows 7 acceptable, but 8 is just plain ugly. I don't like all those tiles. Designs like that are fine on a smartphone, but on a PC or even a laptop? No thank you.
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Anonymous

2013-11-20T14:06:50+00:00

Xircal -

OK - I'm having the same problem and it is quite recent. I have seen other posters concluding that it is a virus, but I've always been very careful, and always run virus software - so I'm not buying the virus solution.

Prior to your post, I had also downloaded Process Explorer from the Microsoft site, and had determined that it was the automatic update service that was eating up the CPU cycles. Process server allowed me to shut just that service off inside of the particular svchost that it was running under. So - BITS is running fine, and I have disabled wsaus - and shut off automatic updates - and set Process Explorer to open at my log on....just in case.

Everything is fine until I try to manually update from the Microsoft site. Then, not only does the CPU usage go to 100% - everything gets reset! Automatic Update is still set to "off" in that window, however, under services, wsaus is back on manual - and on start up and log on, Process Explorer has disappeared from the desktop. IF I have the patience to wait, and can search for the icon, start it up, stop msasu....and we're back to square one! Since Process Explorer is actually a Microsoft product [now anyway], I'm not sure why the Update cycle proceeds to disable it and reset settings?!!!?

BTW - I'm not a big believer in MS Operating Systems, as they have always been buggy - and have plenty of bugs in 7 Pro on the other 2 machines - but XP Pro has always been pretty stable. I really don't understand this issue and wonder [maybe I'm paranoid] if this is intentional and a "push" toward moving to another OS before the "official" support stops next year. Although I have heard that MS is moving to an XP like architecture for the next OS!
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