Scheduled Automatic Maintenance was Delayed in Windows 8

[mbic]

I have a laptop and desktop PC both running Windows 8 which is fully up to date. I have a message from the Action Centre saying to Run Maintenance. When I do this the maintenance runs for about 15 mins and stops with the message; Maintenance was Delayed.

This is now happening on both the PC and the laptop. The laptop was the first to show the problem, now the desktop has gone the same way. There has been no change to software other than Windows Updates.

I

[nikhil0082]

This is because of the Regular Maintenance Activity, that occurs in Windows Operating Systems.
To eliminate this error, you will have to start the Maintenance Activity Manually.
You can do it by following these steps:
1) Go to Start Menu and in Type 'Schedule Tasks'
[IMG][/IMG]

2) After Task Scheduler opens, on the left hand side bar, Navigate to:
Task Scheduler--> Microsoft-->Windows-->Task Scheduler.

3) Right Click on Regular Maintenance and Select Properties.
[IMG][/IMG]

4) In the Properties Window, navigate to the Settings Tab and check on the Allow Tasks to be Run on Demand Option.
[IMG][/IMG]
Click On OK.

5) Again Right Click against Regular Maintenance and select Run.
You will see the following message in the Action Center
[IMG][/IMG]

Wait for Windows Maintenance to Complete the Activity and your issue will be solved.

Hope this works. Good Day

[mbic]

I don have maintenance in the box, this applies to both PC's. Can I send an image of the screen to you?

[HappyAndyK]

Automatic Maintenance in Windows 8 will run daily and will combine all the background maintenance activity. In Windows 8, this maintenance activity, is designed to run in the background, in a prioritized fashion, during idle-time, with limited user interaction and minimal impact to performance and energy efficiency.

1] Maybe some third party applications or startup items are causing the issue. Perform a Clean Boot and see if you can run it manually. If so, then something is interfering with it. Since both your systems are facing this issue, was there something you did, common, to both your computers? Maybe some Update caused this issue!

2] See if any Drivers need to be updated.

3] Open Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Troubleshooting\Change setting. Check if Allow troubleshooting to begin immediately when started check box is ticked. It should be.

4] Run the System Maintenance troubleshooter. Open Run, type the following and hit Enter:

%systemroot%\system32\msdt.exe -id MaintenanceDiagnostic

If any problems are detected, let it fix it.

5] Check your Task Scheduler settings. Open the Task scheduler. Ensure that Ideal maintenance, Regular Maintenance, are set at Enabled.

If nothing else, see if a System Restore to a prior 'good' point, is an option you can consider.

[HappyAndyK]

I don have maintenance in the box, this applies to both PC's. Can I send an image of the screen to you?

You could also post the image URL without the http/www here and we will edit it.

[mbic]

I suspect it's a Windows update that has caused this. Have done everything that has been suggested with the exception of a restoration.
Windows updates have caused problems before, and I think this is no exception. I have known updates come in and various problems have been fixed, even though Microsoft deny that there is a problem! What is done in the Automatic Maintenance routine?

[mbic]

I forgot to ask; would upgrading to Windows 8.1 do the trick?

[jaylach]

Can't say that it would fix your issue but yes, upgrade to 8.1. If I'm not mistaken you will fail to get several types of updates until you do the upgrade.