Sometimes as an IT Support administrator you may need to kill a service which is stuck at stopping in order to avoid having to reboot a server in the middle of the day. Show
Here’s what you need to do: Step 1. Find out the Service NameTo do this, go in to services and double click on the service which has stuck. Make a note of the “Service Name”. Step 2. Find out the PID of the serviceOpen an elevated command prompt and type in:
(where servicename is the name of the service you obtained from Step 1.) Make note of the PID Step 3. Kill the PIDFrom the same command prompt type in:
Where [PID] is the service number. If it is successful you should receive the following message: SUCCESS: The process with PID XXXX has been terminated. Be careful of what you are killing though. If you kill a critical windows service you may end up forcing the machine to reboot on it own. Note: By forcing a service to stop you can also use these instructions to Kill a Windows Service which is stuck at starting as well. This will allow you to restart the service. Click to rate this post! [Total: 453 Average: 4.9] This problem appears when users are unable to stop the Windows Update Service using the Services tool or Command Prompt. The reasons for trying to stop the service are numerous and many problems regarding Windows Update can be resolved simply by stopping the service and starting it once again. This article will feature some modules which may cause this problem to occur as well as some workarounds which can be used to stop the service forcefully. Make sure you follow the instructions carefully and the problem should be resolved in no time. What Causes the Windows Update Service to prevent being Stopped?The causes of this problem are often unknown and this problem often needs to be circumvented rather than resolved. Nonetheless, when Windows Update service stops misbehaving, new updates are installed and they often resolve the problem. However, here are some common causes:
Solution 1: Stopping wuauserv ProcessCommand Prompt with administrative permissions can be used to circumvent this problem. The command you will use will end the process recognized by its PID and it should be stopped. Note that you will need to use the Services tool to restart the process once you stop it if you wish to use the Windows Update functionality in the future.
taskkill /f /pid [PID]
Solution 2: Clearing the Contents of Update FolderIf you want to stop the Windows Update Service because you are either resetting Windows Update components or if you are simply trying to solve a problem regarding the automatic updates, you can follow this set of commands along with deleting the contents of a folder. The method is similar to Solution 1 but the command is different.
net stop wuauserv net stop bits
C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution
net start wuauserv net start bits Solution 3: Perform a Repair InstallationThis method might seem desperate as it includes creating a bootable Windows 10 media and actually performing a repair installation but it can help you since you won’t lose any of your personal files. This has helped plenty of users deal with the problem and you should check it out as a last resort, especially if you are trying to get Windows Update to work as this will also install the latest version of Windows.
Now that you probably have your recovery media, we can start actually solving the booting issue by starting the recovery drive which you should boot from.
Kevin is a dynamic and self-motivated information technology professional, with a Thorough knowledge of all facets pertaining to network infrastructure design, implementation and administration. Superior record of delivering simultaneous large-scale mission critical projects on time and under budget. How do you stop a service that won't stop?Click the Start menu.. Click Run or in the search bar type services.msc.. Press Enter.. Look for the service and check the Properties and identify its service name.. Once found, open a command prompt. Type sc queryex [servicename].. Press Enter.. Identify the PID.. In the same command prompt type taskkill /pid [pid number] /f.. How do I force Windows Update service to stop?How do I force Windows Update Service to stop?. Press Win + R to open the Run command. Next, type services. msc and press Enter to open Services.. From the Services list, find the Windows Update service and open it.. Under the General tab, change Startup type to Disabled. Click Apply > OK.. Restart you PC.. How do I stop a Windows service?Use a command prompt. To start a service, type: net start ServiceName.. To stop a service, type: net stop ServiceName.. To pause a service, type: net pause ServiceName.. To resume a service, type: net continue ServiceName.. |