Fix: uTorrent not Responding

uTorrent is one of the most used torrent clients in the global market with its reach pertaining up to thousands of customers. It has very competitive rivals but it sustained its position on the internet while also offering the application on different platforms such as Android, Mac, Windows etc.

One specific issue which is very common with the uTorrent client is it getting into a non-responsive state. This is a very common scenario and occurs to almost every user now and then. In this article, we will go through the causes of why the application misbehaves and later go through the solutions which you can use to solve it. This not responsive issue is often accompanied by the error message “It seems like uTorrent is already running, but not responding”. 

What causes uTorrent to go into an Unresponsive state?

There are several different reasons why uTorrent might get into an unresponsive state ranging from permission issues to internal bugs in the application. After going through various user reports and replicating the conditions in our test PCs, we gathered several causes why this behavior occurs. Here are some of them:

Solution 1: Running as Administrator

As you all might already know, uTorrent has huge network traffic over your computer and people usually use the client to download gigabytes of data. When an application is transferring this much data, it is sometimes blocked or is choked down the permissions drain. Administrative privileges are a must for these kinds of applications because if they do not get an elevated status, they will not perform as expected. In this solution, we will enable an option which will permanently get uTorrent to run as an administrator until you turn the option off again.

1. Locate the uTorrent client, right-click it and select Properties.
2. Once in the properties window, navigate to the compatibility tab and select Run this program as an administrator.

3. Press Apply to save changes and exit. Restart your computer and launch uTorrent again. Check if the issue is resolved.

Solution 2: Disabling Proxy Servers

Proxy servers are used in some networks (most organizations or public places) where they are used to provide faster internet by caching elements which are accessed frequently. This mechanism is used throughout the world but to this date, it is known to conflict with network applications (including uTorrent). If you are using uTorrent in an organization where proxy servers are mandatory, it is recommended that you change the network and try again. Here is the method to disable the proxy server in your computer.

1. Press Windows + R, type “inetcpl.cpl” in the dialogue box and press Enter.
2. Now Internet Properties will be opened. Click on the tab Connections and then LAN settings.

3. Now if you are using a proxy server, the field will be checked with the details inside. Uncheck any proxy servers if enabled. Now restart the application and check if the issue is resolved.

Solution 3: Deleting AppData

Like all other applications, uTorrent also creates temporary user data for use in its running processes. These user configuration files can get corrupt easily and feed bad data to the application whenever it runs. Think of these user configurations as the main data sources which the application loads up before it launches on your computer. If the very data sources are corrupt, uTorrent will load bad data and cause issues like the one under discussion. In this solution, we will navigate to the application configurations folder and delete uTorrent’s data from there.

1. Press Windows + R, type “%AppData%\utorrent” in the dialogue box and press Enter.
2. Now delete all the contents of the folder present. After you have deleted the files, restart your computer and launch uTorrent again.

The client will take a while as it will be rebuilding all the configuration files which we deleted. Be patient and check if the issue is resolved.

Solution 4: Granting Access in Firewall

Firewalls are a shield between your computer and the internet. All of your traffic passes through Firewall and if Firewall has restricted access of an application, the application will not be able to communicate over the internet. Usually, uTorrent has the permissions in the Firewall but there are several cases where permissions in public and private network are different. In this solution, we will open your Firewall settings and see if uTorrent has complete access.

1. Press Windows + S, type “firewall” in the dialogue box and open the Settings application.

2. Once the Firewall settings are launched, click on the option Allow an app through firewall.

3. Now click on the option of Change Settings and locate uTorrent from the list of entries. Make sure that you check both the options of private and public.

4. Save changes and exit. Restart your computer and launch uTorrent again. Check if the issue is resolved.

Solution 5: Deleting Downloading Files

Another workaround which worked for several users was deleting the currently downloading files. Here you have to navigate to the download directory where uTorrent is downloading the files and delete all the files.

Later on, when you launch uTorrent again, it will notice that the files it was downloading are missing and it will either attempt to show an error or try to download the files all over again. This solution solves the issue of not responding if the downloading files were corrupt or were causing the issue.

Solution 6: Creating a new User Account

User profiles are known to get corrupt and applications often run into errors and not responding situations like the one under discussion. Here what you can do is create a new user account and see if uTorrent works properly in it. If it does, it means that your user account was corrupt and you can continue to transfer all your data to the new account and delete the older one.

Note: It is wise to back up your entire data files to an accessible location before proceeding.

1. Open an administrator account. Type Settings in the start menu dialogue box and click on Accounts.

2. Now click “Family and other users” options present at the left side of the window.
3. Once inside select the menu, select “Add someone else to this PC”.

4. Now Windows will guide you through its wizard on how to create a new account. When the new window comes forth, click “I don’t have this person’s sign-in information”.

5. Now select the option “Add a user without Microsoft”. Windows will now prompt you to make a new Microsoft account and display a window like this.

6. Enter all the details and chose an easy password which you can remember.
7. Check thoroughly if this new local account is working properly and has all the functionalities which you require.
8. Your local account is now created. Log into the account and launch an instance of uTorrent. Check if it works properly there.

If the client works as expected, you can move on and migrate all your data.

Solution 7: Reinstalling/Installing Older Version

If you are using a beta client of uTorrent, chances are that you will be getting the not responding error message. Beta versions are meant for testing purposes and whenever the application goes into a not responding state, an error report is sent to the developers who use the information to improve their products. You can uninstall the current version of uTorrent and install an older stable version in your computer.

Furthermore, you can also simply try reinstalling the latest version without getting into the hassle of obtaining an older version on the internet. If the current version doesn’t work, you can try older versions and see if this does the trick for you.

1. Press Windows + R, type “appwiz.cpl” in the dialogue box and press Enter.
2. Once in the application manager, search for the entry of uTorrent, right-click on it and select Uninstall.

3. After uninstalling the application, restart your computer and either download the latest version from the official uTorrent website or navigate to third-party websites and install an older version.

Solution 8: Uninstalling Windows Update KB4338818

Like mentioned at the start, there was a Windows Update (KB4338818) which was known to be problematic and caused issues with the uTorrent client. The only solution is to uninstall the installed update and revert to the previous version. Later on, when the uTorrent developers launch an official fix for the client misbehaving with this specific update, you can continue and update your Windows again.

Note: Make sure that you backup your data and information before proceeding.

1. Press Windows + I to launch the Settings application. Now select Updates and security from the list of sub-headings.
2. Now click Update history from the list of options.

3. Now click on Uninstall updates present at the top of the screen.

4. Navigate down to Microsoft Windows. Here all the updates will be listed down. Right-click on the update and select Uninstall.

5. Now Windows will attempt at uninstalling the update. A few restarts will occur. After the uninstalling process is complete, launch uTorrent and check if this solved the issue. If not, reinstall uTorrent and try again.

Solution 9: Using BitTorrent

BitTorrent and uTorrent belong to the same family and almost have the same features. If you are constantly experiencing issues with uTorrent, you can go ahead and ditch the uTorrent client and use BitTorrent. According to our survey, we noticed that BitTorrent is a lot more stable and didn’t face unstable issues which uTorrent does. You can launch the same magnets and torrent files using BitTorrent as well.

1. Open the application manager and uninstall uTorrent from your computer as we did in Solution 6.
2. After uninstalling uTorrent, restart your computer and navigate to the official BitTorrent website.

3. Now download the torrent client to an accessible location and install it on your computer. Restart your computer before proceeding.

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