Failed to Connect to a Windows Service message

Anonymous
2009-11-05T12:57:08+00:00

I upgraded my Notebook to Windows 7 yesterday. It was fine for a little while, but now I am getting the message:

Failed to connect to a Windows service - Windows could not connect to the System Event Notification Service service (sic). Now Windows is slow to startup, slow to shut down, and the graphics have been "dumbed down" (no Aero graphics). Anyone have any ideas as to what I can do to get back to normal ?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures

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Anonymous
2009-11-05T21:54:44+00:00

Hi Prufrockster,

Welcome to Microsoft Windows 7 Answers Forum!

You can try  resetting the winsock.

To repair and reset the winsock in Windows 7.

  1. Click on Start button.
  2. Type Cmd in the Start Search text box.
  3. Right click on cmd.exe  and Run Command Prompt as an Administrator. Allow elevation request.
  4. Type netsh winsock reset in the Command Prompt shell, and then press the Enter key.

    Restart the computer.

The similar issue was discussed on the below mentioned Microsoft websites also.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itproinstall/thread/baa536f6-ca78-494b-8416-c1eef18c68a9

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/windowscompatibility/thread/983e0736-57ef-4c6a-bb10-cfb2712dde24/

For advanced troubleshooting you can check in Safe Mode and perform a Clean Boot Troubleshooting.

Please check whether you face the same issue while working in the safe mode. 

  1. Restart your computer.
  2. When the computer starts you will see your computer's hardware being listed. When you see this information start to gently tap the F8 key on your keyboard repeatedly until you are presented with the Windows 7 Advanced Boot Options screen.
  3. Using the arrow keys, select the Safe Mode option you want.
  4. Then press the enter key on your keyboard to boot into Windows 7 Safe Mode.
  5. When Windows starts you will be at a typical logon screen. Logon to your computer and Windows 7 will enter Safe mode.
  6. Do whatever tasks you require, and when you are done, reboot to go back into normal mode.

Clean Boot Troubleshooting. 

  1. Click Start, type msconfig in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.

   User Account Control permission.

   If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the

   password, Or click Continue.

  1. On the General tab, click Selective Startup.
  2. Under Selective Startup, click to clear the Load Startup items check box.
  3. Click the Services tab, click to select the Hide All Microsoft Services check box, and then click Disable All.
  4. Click OK.
  5. When you are prompted, click Restart.
  6. After the computer starts, check whether the problem is resolved.

If the issue is resolved check which third party is causing the problem, referring the link given below:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

Also you need to uninstall and reinstall the problem software on your computer.

Reset the computer to start as usual

After you have finished troubleshooting, follow these steps to reset the computer to start as usual:

Click Start, type msconfig.exe in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.

If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type your password, or click Continue. On the General tab, click the Normal Startup option, and then click OK.

When you are prompted to restart the computer, click Restart.

Hope it helps.   

Thanks and Regards:

**Shekhar S - Microsoft Support.**Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum.

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-03-06T05:30:32+00:00

    Hi John

    Yeap, The sound driver could be a problem for your machine because the windows update may affact  some drivers  that we never know until the problem occur.  I'm sure the clean install will solve the problem.

    Somkiat R.

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-03-05T12:08:10+00:00

    Hi Somkiat Ive just ordered a new I7 custom built pc when its delivered (2weeks) I can clean install and see if that does the fix.I have a suspicion about the motherboard and the sound driver as the board is not suported under windows 7 the sound driver im using is vista 64bit, even so I have used this driver for over 1 year.

    John............

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-03-05T07:35:43+00:00

    Hi John,

                     Please do it again that I told you.  That will fix the problem for temporarily. Well, the next step is to look into your machine.  Can you tell me the list of softwares  & drivers  currently installed in your machine. ? .

    Somkiat R.

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  4. Anonymous
    2012-03-01T18:12:17+00:00

    Well I got the start up fault again today " failed to connect to windows services " any ideas anyone may be a clean install is looming.

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