I recently had problems with the Automatic Updates on a Windows 2003 server (the problem described in this article also applies to Windows XP).
I was running WSUS in my domain, but the updates didn’t arrive. A quick investigation resulted in A LOT OF ERRORS in the event viewer. For a couple of days, the following error had returned every one or two minutes or so!
The Background Intelligent Transfer Service service terminated with service-specific error 2147942402 (0×80070002).
Event Type: Error
Event Source: Service Control Manager
Event Category: None
Event ID: 7024
Date: 3/31/2009
Time: 3:48:14 PM
User: N/A
Computer: computer name
Description:
The Background Intelligent Transfer Service service terminated with service-specific error 2147942402 (0×80070002).
In my case, I couldn’t get the Background Intelligent Transfer Service started again. The following error messages showed up every time:
Windows could not start the Background Intelligent Transfer Service on Local Computer. For more information, review the System Event Log. If this is a non-Microsoft service, contact the service vendor, and refer to service-specific error code -2147024893.
If you see the same error in your eventlog (event 7024), you should know that there are a lot of possible solutions. Now, I do not feel embarrassed to tell you that I checked almost every solution available on the internet and spent quite some time on this issue. So, because of all the effort I have put in this problem, I decided to sum up all the solutions for you I’ve tried. Hopefully it will help you solving this BITS error.
After each step, try to start the BITS service. If it doesn’t start successfully, just continue with the next step :)
Step 1:
Open services.msc and check that the following services are set to start Manual or Automatic:
Terminal Services
Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
System Event Notification
Windows Management Instrumentation Driver Extensions
COM+ Event System
DCOM Server Process Launcher
Also make sure that service Workstation is Running
Step 2:
Delete the Downloader folder. You can find the downloader folder in the following location:
“C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Network\Downloader”
The Application Data folder is hidden by default, so if you don’t see the Application Data folder, go to folder options and check the option Show Hidden Files and Folders
Step 3:
Delete all content of the SoftwareDistribution folder (do NOT delete the folder itself, only the content!). You can find the downloader folder in the following location:
“C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution”
Step 4:
Register 8 dll files that are directly connected to BITS. Some applications remove or corrupt the dll files which cause the BITS service to fail. To register the dll files easily, do the following:
- Open Notepad
- Copy and paste the following entries into the text document.
regsvr32 oleaut32.dll
regsvr32 jscript.dll
regsvr32 vbscript.dll
regsvr32 msxml.dll
regsvr32 softpub.dll
regsvr32 wintrust.dll
regsvr32 initpki.dll
regsvr32 cryptdlg.dll - Save this file as a batch file
- click on save as
- open the drop down box at the bottom to read save as file type: all files
- name of file: BITS_fix.bat (the .bat is creating a batch file)
- run the BITS_fix.bat (double-click)
Step 5:
Deregister and reregister the qmgr.dll and qmgrprxy.dll. To register these files, open a command prompt and type the following:
regsvr32 qmgr.dll [ENTER]
regsvr32 qmgrprxy.dll [ENTER]
I hope you had success. If not, feel free to post a comment. You’re not the only one who’s struggling with BITS :)
Oh, by the way, if you DID have success, feel free to post a comment too. I love “thank you”-messages :)
Thankss for valid information .. i like to read ur article
Thanks, it worked perfect
Thanks very much worked great for me
Thanks! I Love you! worked great!
I tried to update my windows 7 home basic
it shows error 80246008, through windows help it says start BITS services
But while start BITS services it shows error 1068 “the Dependency service or group failed to start”
What should i do???????
plz help me…….
I don’t know if anyone mentioned….
When I tried editing the registry to change %fystem to %system, it wouldn’t let me. I then went to Edit — Permissions and gave myself permission to change the value. Voila! It changed, and BITS is running. 2/3 of the updates have now installed, I have to resolve another issue I guess.
Thank you so much!!! I have been trying for several days to fix this computer without reprogramming. Most of the stuff the malware caused I got fixed but windows uupdate just would not work and I realized it boiled down to bits would not start. Working now. thank you again
My problem is that BITS wont stop downloading i dont know how many GB it has downloaded, its been like this nonstop downloading for weeks.. and is not so “downloading on the background” its slowing my internet conection and is driving me nuts, i manually stop the service but i cant find anywere whats the probrem with this thing, btw i have a brand new laptop dell inspiron…
I was facing this problem for more than a month.
Thanks a lot, it’s now fixed !
Xavier
i am facing this problem more than a month,
still dows not work !!!…
Automatic update service stuck in “starting” status, and when i am trying to start BITS service i get the error:
Error 267: The directory name is invalid.
Any ideas ?
Thanks
Step 1 worked for me!!!!!!!
My Error Was :-
Error 1068: The dependency service or group failed to start
You are a genius!!!!!
I tried everything, nothing made even the slightest change. All I needed to do was step 2. This was the first time I have heard of this change.
Thanks again!!!!
I tried to register the “qmgr.dll” but a dialog box appears saying that “the module” qmgr.dll “was loaded but the DllRegisterServer entry point was not found.
Make sure that “qmgr.dll” is a valid DLL or OCX file and try again … what should I do? thank you
I have tryd all these steps and when i run BITS_fix.bat all of them are successful except for msxml.dll and initpki.dll and errors say that they failed to load same thing with qmgr.dll please help I really need to get my computer updated and i can if BITS isn’t working please reply soon Thanks
You are THE MAN! Worked like a charm. Thanks a bunch Christian.
This is a fantastic guide. I actually printed this and hung it up for reference. Thank you.
10x a lot man ! Nice trick
Nothing worked for me. What eventually worked (Windows 7):
1. Go to the security dialog of \ProgramData\Microsoft (it is a system folder so it might be hidden by default)
2. Add the user SYSTEM, and give him all the available permissions (check all check boxes).
This worked for me – Windows 7 64 bit – thanks Roeeb!
Thank you for the post. Windows update worked after reboot my Win 2003 Server!
Voila, worked like a charm. The batch file and DLL reregistering did the trick. Much oblidged!
thank you. it worked well.
thanks. it worked :)
Thanks – this just saved me a lot of work-
This did not work for me. I have 25 updates in Win Update that I can’t download or install; the last update that was installed was in May of this year! It shows Error Code 80246008. I have tried several fixes and none worked for me. I am running Vista 32 bit. Any help you can give me would be so appreciated. I just cannot pay for a fix at this time.
Thanks. Berni
Tanxx a lot..! it was vry helpful….tanx again :)
Thank You a lot….
Worked for me.
If you are still having issues with BITS or windows update not starting after following these instructions, then use the “dependency walker” to idenfy the “missing dlls”. Find those and place them in the environment path. may need to regditer some of the missing dlls.
Tanks to Christian
Thank you, re-registering the DLLs and deregistering/re-registering qmgr.dll and qmgrprxy.dll fixed my BITS problem (and subsequently Windows Update problem.)
Thank you!
Can someone upload a clean version of the latest qmgr.dll from Windows 7 x86 SP1? Mine got deleted, and all of the ones I’ve been able to find are incompatible.
Just wanted to say thanks, this actually didn’t help at all, but it was worth a shot.
Since this site has high hits as a solution for this issue, I’ll post what I did as well.
In my case it was a misconfigured GPO that has BITS set to start Automatically but only read permissions on Interactive. So it would show as automatic, but not started. It wouldn’t throw an error, until I tried to start it. I disabled that particular GPO setting, then I’m able to start the service on the XP systems in question…
#5 worked for me – Thank you!!!!
THANK YOU.
Thanks, thanks and again thanks :)
step 5 is a life saver thank you
thank you very much, all your instruction really helped me..
thanks
Thank you. I have spent a lot of time trying to fix this error and your site was the only one that helped. I really appreciate it
thank you
Just had to add – this worked only after re-adding winhttp.dll to system32; chrome wouldn’t start and I spent hours following these directions> After finding that dll and reloading it, BITS will now work. Now if only I could get past the multitude of other issues created by a botched SP2 install.
Thank you a lot for your issue. The step 5 solves the problem.
Thank you. The step 5 solve the problem.
Thank you Thank you Thank you been working on this proglem for a week now you help me a lot Thank you again Rick
THANK THE END OF THE PROCEDURE MESSAGE WAS …….SUCCESSFUL.
It worked! Thanks mate, very much appreciated.
Great post. I ran into this issue during this weeks patch of Microsoft.
After going through these steps all worked out just fine!!
Great job, many thanks.
Thanks a lot!
now it’s ok with automatic updates, thank you again
Thank you very much. I was facing a lot of problem due to BITS enabling and I got solution with the help of your goodself. Thanks once again.
woooohooooo, step 5) workedddd THANKS
This little 5 step “BITS” over overhaul reregister posted by christian did it for me. Thanks. I was able to get the BIT service to manually start up from services.msc after error 2 path and file not found error on xp x64 machine.
I solved the problem was solved on two 2003 servers in Italian.
For the first one I followed all the steps above and then restarted.
In order to complete step 2 I had to stop the Automatic updates(?) service.
Some usefult translation found in Italian installed servers are below:
The troubled service spells:
Servizio trasferimento intelligente in background
Step 1
The services are named:
Servizi terminal
RPC (Remote Procedure Call)
Notifica eventi di sistema
Estensioni driver di Strumentazione gestione Windows
Sistema di eventi COM+
Utilità di avvio processi server DCOM
Step 2
The folder is named:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Dati applicazioni\Microsoft\Network\Downloader
I had to stop the following service:
Aggiornamenti automatici
For the second server I just restarted and the updates began to be applied again …
Thanks.
I had to restart the WMI services as well, but yes, this fixed it, thank you.
Thank you, worked a treat!
I have been plagued with a BITS and DCOM errors.
Step 5 sorted them.
A BIG THANK YOU!
Thank you so much. Step five solved my problem. I have been working on this computer for most of the evening and could not get the BITS started. I am now installing badly needed updates to my clients machine!
Brilliant, Step 5 done the job.
Thanks
Well done, thanks it works for me
Thanks !!!
Step no 5 did the trick !!!
Thank You !
Thank you so much, I search forever how to get BITS working, it fixed a lot of issues for me!!!!
I don’t know for sure which step did it, or if it was the whole process, but I have BITS running again!! :-)
Thank you thank you thank you!
Thanks so much! You had me at Step 2! I was banging my head against the wall on this one! Thanks again!
Many, many thanks! It worked.
Try the following program someone had already made a program to fix this BITs issuse
http://download.cnet.com/Dial-a-fix/3000-18512_4-84157.htmlhttp://download.cnet.com/Dial-a-fix/3000-18512_4-84157.html
Hi Jeff,
in most cases, re-registering the qmgr.dll and qmgrprxy.dll should do the trick. Try to search on your C-drive for these files. Make sure the files are in C:\Windows\System32. Then open a command prompt, navigate to C:\Windows\System32 and once again type:
regsvr32 qmgr.dll [ENTER]
regsvr32 qmgrprxy.dll [ENTER]
That should really do the trick, I guess.
If you can’t find qmgr.dll, you could try to download them from, for example:
http://www.dlldump.com/download-dll-files_new.php/dllfiles/Q/qmgr.dll/6.6.2600.2180/download.html
Good luck!
Thanks for the help, but I was unable to delete everything in SoftwareDistribution folder because certain files were in use by other programs. I ran the batch file – but msxml.dll and initpki.dll would not load. Also, I had an error registering qmgr.dll. I could not complete step 1, because the file names must be located someplace else in Vista. Can you please offer up some advice?
Thanks
This worked for me, THANKSSSSSSS
Also,
I thought it might be useful to post the event error msg.
Event Type: Error
Event Source: Service Control Manager
Event Category: None
Event ID: 7023
Date: 7/11/2010
Time: 3:04:37 AM
User: N/A
Computer: CAROL
Description:
The Background Intelligent Transfer Service service terminated with the following error:
The system cannot find the file specified.
For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
What ever you do DON”T GO TO go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp AKA useless waste of your time!
Thank you very much. Why doesn’t Microsoft know this? After wasting an hour searching their site, I gave up and went to the community at large. You really know your stuff!
Laura
Thanks for the tips on this post. I tried every one of them and none of them resolved the issue I’m seeing.
My issue is that when I try to start BITS via services.msc I get an alert saying
“Could not start the Background Intelligent Transfer Service service on Local Computer.
Error 2: The system cannot find the file specified.”
When I try to switch the startup type from Automatic to manual, it just says “Access is denied”.
Any suggestions?
Chris
“Deregister and reregister the qmgr.dll and qmgrprxy.dll. ”
Worked for me on a Windows XP machine, thankyou.
Many Thanks, Step 5 fixed my BITS issue!! Thank you!!!
Anthon
Holy Cow, Step 5 fixed my BITS issue!! Thank you!!!
Thank you.
THANK YOU, step 5 saved my day, and more!
After checking step 1, based on the comments I tried step 5 next – still wouldn’t start. Then I did step 4, and presto BITS started! Thanks so much!
I love you, MAN!
I too would like to thank you, and it was step 5 as well for me that worked.
Bits works fine now
Thanks!
Thank you! It was step 5 that fixed it for me.
WoW, Your the man… I spent all afternoon, trying this trying that. You hit right on the head. Thanks…
Nice one! I had gone through deleting “All users” subfolders to make it lean as the server was going to server as a TS Desktop box.
The issue was that i had deleted the “C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft” folder.
Recreating the folder allowed me to start the BITS service again.
Thanks!
This service called bits is eating my bandwidth!! My windows auto update is set to off but something using it. And i have to shut it down everytime my comp starts.
It connecting various strange server llet.net etc i forgot..
In my case error code was -2147024894 and after whole those steps BITS refused to start,
but then I’ve restarted wmi service and BITS service started successfully.
Thanks man!
It seems that the post has been dead for a while, I just wanted to say thanks so much. I have been struggling with BITS for the last week or so, on and off, until I saw your post. I was also getting the Error Code 2. I went straight to step 5 and voilà!
Thanks so much again!
Tried all of these but still didn’t work, however came accross this link which fixed it. To do with malware.
I tried everything step-by-step and was successful with each one. Unfortunately, none of them worked for me.
My own research also led me to a Microsoft hotfix that was also “supposed” to work to resolve this specific problem; no luck there either :(
Knowing how long it takes to work through situations such as this, I still feel that a sincere THANK YOU is very much in order.
I have tried all of the above but don’t seem to be able to fix the problem.
When i attempted to register the 8 dll files, i saved them as directed and when i try to run it i am told it doesn’t exist.
When i tried to register both these files; qmgr.dll and qmgrprxy.dll, the 2nd one is successful but the 1st one says ‘the entry point DllRegisterServer was not found’.
Please help! Thanks
Worked like a charm!!
This is 100% certified so thank you for this! Registering the DLLs again made it work. For some reason I was also missing that whole Microsoft folder structuring user Application Data. Still, had to do all the DLL registrations for it to work.
Thank you so much!!!!! You’re awesome!!!
Thanks for the article, I had no luck, so continue the search for the elusive answer to my BITS Issue.
Running Windows XP Pro SP3, I get the error number -2147013893 when I try and start the BITS Service in Windows
and then if I try and start it in Dos I get ‘A service specfic error :2147953403
If anyone has any other tips, I would be be most appreciative.
Kev
Every step was a success. Thanks so much. I was fortunate that this was the third different attempt at fixing the same problem.
KUDOS ! !
MarkR
Hey! Thank you so much. I have been messing with this for 2 weeks after someone used my computer on my day off and got some virus which changed my registry to the %fystemroot% setting, I found out how to change that and it did not fix the problem. After that I have been reading and reading and not getting any answers. Until I read your article. Everything is back to normal and good to go. I really appreciate it!
No luck but thank you for eliminating the first 5 steps for me. I think google should have a page strictly dedicated to me so that when I do a search it displays, “Nope. Just you.” The story of my life as an I.T. guy. Anyway… Thank you for this site. I love it!
Had the Conficker virus hitting 2 of our LAN Servers, Win2K3 SP2 x64.
Step 5 was the one that worked for our case.
I had the servers cleaned up with McAfee Stinger and the MS Malicious Software Removal tool, as well as scanned them with more online tools – no threats were found, but BITS wouldn’t start.
The Regitry for the BITS Service was pointing to C:\Windows\system32\qmgr.dll.target
I truncated the name to qmgr.dll.
Reinstalled Windows Update Agent3.0 for x64.
Nothing – service still wouldn’t start.
Finally – Registered the 2 dlls as pert Step 5 – now the BITS Service is able to start.
Many Thanks! Took me a while to find this site on the web.
Keywords: 0×80246008, Fix Background Intelligent Transfer Service
Outstanding! Worked as promised!!
Nick,
you may have a problem with your system environment variables. To avoid this problem, you could try to enter the full path to the dll file:
regsvr32 C:\windows\system32\initpki.dll
Good luck with it!
Su B,
Great to hear my post helped you solving the problem!
Christian
wish someone could help with the above problem, but it worked for me, and of course, many many thanks :-)
regsvr32 initpki.dll
and
regsvr32 msxml.dll
both give me an error.
The module “initpki.dll” failed to load.
Make sure the binary is stored at the specified path or
debug it to check for problems with the binary or
dependent .DLL files.
The specified procedure could not be loaded.
In the Windows\system32 directory both dll files exist
Any ideas?
Thanks,
Nick
Not only did BITS run, but i got XP SP3 to load and install properly…you are the best in my book!!!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you….I’d tried everything to get BITS started and you nailed it! THANK YOU!!!!!
None of these options worked for me… It may be that I’m using Vista and a lot of files and folders have different names and are in different places. Vista is a handful… If you are not a serious computer person, I recommend sticking with XP. Also, if you switch to Vista, you cannot switch back to XP. I found that out the hard way…
Anybody have any advice for me? How do i open the “run” command? It’s not in the start menu… I also do not have a folder listed as “Documents and Settings” or an “All Users” file………
Step 5 worked for me too. THANKS A TON
thanks a million, it worked for me!
I tried everything you suggest and still not able to perform a MS Windows update.
i still don’t beleive it, but after a week of trying to resolve why the bits wouldn’t start i tried this and it worked !
Hi russel,
Good to hear my site/article helped you out! It motivates me to keep this site up to date and no-nonsense. :)
If you love “Thank You”..Then I send you 10 terabytes of “Thank you”
Thanks a lot – step 5 solved my problem.
I was a struggle to get this far – Thanks
could not install .net framework 3.0 without BITS.
could not install acad 2009 without .net framework 3.0
You have saved me! Thank you x1000!
BET wouldn’t come on for me after following all steps. One problem I found was this file kept me from deleting “all” content from the SoftwareDistribution folder:
C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\Download\dd9ab5193501484cf5e6884fa1d22f9e\ndis.sys
Thanks for the excellent page though.
thanks guys it worked out for me!
Step 5 says to open a command prompt. How do I do that? Sorry, but I am not technically oriented.
Cynthia,
you open a command prompt by clicking Start – Run, and then type ” cmd ” and press ENTER. Then a cmd window will show up (black window)
Thanks, this finally fixed it!
help none of those work in step2 i got no network file and in step 5 i get the error that the file is found but the starting point not .
THANK YOU
nothing else would work, i spent agessss trying to fix it =[
you’re cool (Y)
Thanks man. Yours was the only website with good advice. I use XPx64 and this has worked.
Step 5 worked for me!!!!
And just fyi, I was getting error code 2 – could not find file specified.
Thanks a ton!!!