"Task host is stopping background tasks" since 8/23 on restart

(Running 21H2, build 19044.1949 on an HP laptop)

I've seen this posted widely in the past couple weeks, and it started affecting me about a week ago. I'll say 8/23 but not sure of the exact date. When I restart the laptop at the end of the day, I'll get the "task host is stopping background tasks" message. Basically I pick shut down anyway and all's fine. But I'd like it fixed.

Windows program called Task Host Window prevents shutdown : WindowsHelp and the referenced-within-that Windows program called Task Host Window prevents shutdown : WindowsHelp outline the common steps recommended to stop this from happening that I've tried.

Making the troubleshooting worse is the fact that for an hour (guessing - maybe longer) after restarting the computer, I can restart it or shut it down without the task host interference problems. It's only after some unknown number of several hours that the problem kicks in.

FWIW, KB5015730 first installed on my computer 8/11, although I am certain the task host problems did not begin until more than a week later.

jumanji said:

Last time I had this problem, I ran "Windows Update Trouble shooting" as outlined in this article and that resolved the problem.
Try it. How To Fix "Task Host Is Stopping Background Tasks" In Windows.

Again two days back, most probaby after updating Windows, I had the same problem. As you said I hit "close anyway" to shut down. The problem did not reappear afterwards.

Thanks. Except for the registry edit to change the services timeout - which seems like it could introduce more collateral unintended consequences - I did everything else listed in the article. My guess is that soon enough a Windows update will fix this, but for now I'll just suffer with forcing the restart.

jumanji said:

@asus2016

"I did this "Go to Settings -> Update & Security -> Troubleshooting -> Additional Troubleshooting.There go for the "Windows Update". Execute Troubleshooting there. You'll see it recognizes the problem and restarts the BITS service,"

This is exactly what happened in my case. It recognised the problem in BITS Service and fixed it." - one user in Mirosoft Community

Windows+R to open the "Run", type services.msc>Enter. Locate Background Intelligence Transfer Service and right click on it. In the popup menu if Restart is not greyed out, click on it to start the service, Close the services window and reboot your PC.. Check whether the problem is resolved. (Normally, Start will be in bold, Restart will be greyed out signifying the the service has started as in the following screenshot.)

I followed this instruction and we'll see how it goes. I was confused by "In the popup menu if Restart is not greyed out, click on it to start the service, Close the services window and reboot your PC.. Check whether the problem is resolved. (Normally, Start will be in bold, Restart will be greyed out signifying the the service has started as in the following screenshot.)" Restart WAS greyed out. So I started the service - I believe it was listed as manual - then restarted the service, then rebooted. We'll see what happens.

If nothing else I got a useful data point - the reboot was about three hours after the last restart, and it restarted cleanly without the task host message. So either something I did earlier fixed the problem, or I now know the computer develops this problem after 3+ hours of use.

- - - Updated - - -

An update - yesterday when I restarted my computer 5+ hours after the last restart, and after following the advice to restart the BITS service, the computer successfully restarted without the task host message.

I'm also getting this error since last month. I usually schedule my PC to power off and with this issue it's impossible, it never shuts down. I have cleaned, checked and restarted everything on Windows system and Windows update, and the error persists. When it happens, the taskhostw.exe is duplicated and one of them is consuming more than 1GB of RAM, and always pointing to a system task. I can stop the taskhostw.exe, or the task, but the problem persists on next boot. I don't know if it takes 10 minutes or two hours but at some point, some task seems to get stuck (it is always a different task).

Also, I don't have KB5015730 installed and if I try to install it manually, I got an error saying that it is not applicable to my system.

Any fix or workaround? Is it a known bug? I'm going crazy with this.

eXtremeDevil said:

I'm also getting this error since last month. I usually schedule my PC to power off and with this issue it's impossible, it never shuts down. I have cleaned, checked and restarted everything on Windows system and Windows update, and the error persists. When it happens, the taskhostw.exe is duplicated and one of them is consuming more than 1GB of RAM, and always pointing to a system task. I can stop the taskhostw.exe, or the task, but the problem persists on next boot. I don't know if it takes 10 minutes or two hours but at some point, some task seems to get stuck (it is always a different task).

Also, I don't have KB5015730 installed and if I try to install it manually, I got an error saying that it is not applicable to my system.

Any fix or workaround? Is it a known bug? I'm going crazy with this.

Since I followed the guidance in "Task host is stopping background tasks" since 8/23 on restart I have not had this problem.

asus2016 said:

Since I followed the guidance in "Task host is stopping background tasks" since 8/23 on restart I have not had this problem.

I'm afraid I already ran the troubleshooter and restarted the BITS services with no luck

No, that won't help - that's the wrong one. You need this registry change: Auto End Tasks
Turn On AutoEndTasks at Restart, Shut down, or Sign out of Windows 10

Note: This will not fix the problem, but it will allow Windows to shutdown and restart without having to click again.

equoox said:

Searching for a Fix I have discovered this which seems more straightforward than some of the others, but before trying it wonder if it is safe to do so
[FIX] Task Host Window Is Preventing Shut Down In Windows 10

Any advice in simple steps would be appreciated.