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
    2012-08-10T12:27:01+00:00

    Hi ADAMM

        Did you try the ping command from the Command prompt ? If it can ping to google.com so your internet connection is fine. 

    About  the HP Porbook 6450b, is it a new  cleaned installed machine ?

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-04-02T08:05:33+00:00

    I have the same problem as everyone else on google. "Failed to Connect to a windows service"

    Slow start up speed and no windows Aero.

    I have tried :

    Netsh winsock reset - Nope

    Uninstall Bing and a few other programs - Nope

    Uninstall the latest update I had before it started - Yes BUT after another restart to test it came back

    Also in event Viewer I have errors that come up like some of you saying the Windows Audio service hung on startup.

    I have an Asus Mobo with RealtekHD audio drivers installed. I uninstalled it and so far so good. No slow start up No error in windows and my Aero is working like normal.

    I will test this more and also try to reinstall to see if I can replicate the Problem.

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-04-05T16:22:55+00:00

    Hi, I have recently come up with the same issue. After some extensive diagnosis I have traced the issue to my graphics driver, I have crossfired 7850 cards and have been using the 13.1 drivers from the AMD site, these drivers worked wonders until this issue with the failed connection to service.

    The problem lies with an issue when changing a value within the registry which I traced using the event viewer.

    The fix I found was updating my display drivers through the Device Manager, this installs an updated 13.2 driver that although fixes the service issue runs like a tortoise with a broken leg. I have put alot of money into my rig and to have to run inferior drivers is driving me mad.

    I have reset the windows sockets out of interest and it did not fix the problem and I didn't expect it to. If there is a fix for this that would be great as I really want to go back to the 13.1 drivers.

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-05-21T05:09:43+00:00

    I have tried a number of things

    1. reset winsock:didn't work
    2. delete c:\windows\system32\winevt\Logs: did nothing
    3. uninstalling/windows restore/ different graphics drivers/ etc..... DIDN'T WORK!

    If someone has a solution I am all ears because I hate having to start aero manually every time I turn the computer on!!!

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