Fix The Service Cannot Accept Control Messages At This Time Error

The service cannot accept control messages at this time is a network related error message that occurs when a service is already being used by another process. This usually occurs on your Windows 10 computer when a command takes too long to process. In this latest installment of our troubleshooting series we will show you how to fix this particular problem.

Fix The Service Cannot Accept Control Messages At This Time Error

Before performing any of the recommended troubleshooting steps listed below it’s best to restart your computer first. This action refreshes the operating system and remove any corrupt temporary data that could be causing the problem.

Restart the Credential Manager Service

The Credential Manager lets you view and delete your saved credentials for signing in to websites, connected applications, and networks. Restarting this service has been known to fix this particular problem.

  • Open the Run dialog box by pressing the Windows Key + R key on your keyboard. 
  • Type “services.msc” in the box without the quotation marks and click OK in order to open Services.
  • Find the Credential Manager Service, right-click on it and select Properties from the context menu which appears.
  • Make sure that the service is stopped. If the service is started, you should stop it  by clicking the Stop button in the middle of the window.
  • Make sure that the option under the Startup type section in the Credential Manager Service’s properties is set to Automatic before you exit confirming changes. Confirm any dialogue boxes which may appear when you set the startup type. 
  • Click on the Start button at the middle of the window before exiting.

If you get the error “Windows could not start the Background Intelligence Transfer Service on Local Computer. Error 1079: The account specified for this service differs from the account specified for other services running in the same process” then proceed with the following steps.

  • Open the Run dialog box by pressing the Windows Key + R key on your keyboard. 
  • Type “services.msc” in the box without the quotation marks and click OK in order to open Services.
  • Find the Credential Manager Service, right-click on it and select Properties from the context menu which appears.
  • Go to the log on tab.
  • Under the “Enter the object name to select” box, type in your account’s name, click on Check Names and wait for the name to become recognized.
  • Click OK when you are finished and type in the password in the Password box when you are prompted with it, if you have setup a password. 

Check if the service cannot accept control messages at this time error still occurs.

Terminate the IIS Worker Process

An Internet Information Servicesworker process is a windows process  which runs Web applications, and is responsible for handling requests sent to a Web Server for a specific application pool. Terminating this process will usually fix this particular problem.

  • Open the Task Manager by pressing the  Ctrl + Shift + Esc key combination.
  • Click on More details in order to expand the task manager and search for the IIS Worker Process entry displayed on the list in the Processes tab of Task Manager. You will find this under Background processes. You should try ending the  w3wp.exe entries. If you see multiple entries, right-click on them and choose the End task option from the context menu which appears.
  • Click Yes to the message which is going to be displayed: “WARNING: Terminating a process can cause undesired results including loss of data and system instability….” or any other dialog box, depending on the version of Windows you have installed.
  • Restart your computer 

Check if the service cannot accept control messages at this time error still occurs.

Perform a system restore

If the above troubleshooting steps fails to fix the problem then you should consider doing a system restore. Take note that this only works if you have previously setup the system restore feature.

  • Search for System Restore using the Search bar next to the Start menu and click on Create a restore point. Inside the System Properties window, click on System Restore.
  • Select the option called Choose a different restore point and click the Next button.
  • Select a particular restore point you saved before manually. You can also select any restore point available in the list and hit the Next button to initialize the restoration process. After the process is done, you will be reverted to the state your computer was in at that period in time.

Check if the service cannot accept control messages at this time error still occurs.

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