This user wasn't added to this PC. Code: 0xd0000225

That security package list looks alright, now.  Since the registry keys weren't sticking before and they are now, that's at least one thing out of the way.  It absolutely wouldn't work without that, so you apparently have multiple problems. Layers of the onion. Lucky you. ;)

There are the old standbys of logging off and logging back on, and/or rebooting to see if things get loaded better now that they're fixed. (Maybe your registry change didn't trigger a notification to the component, or something ... ?  I'm not an expert on that.)

Something else it could be is a lockout period on the server side. Like, if Live thinks your account is being hammered to guess the password, they could make it unavailable to add your Microsoft Account to a new machine for awhile.  It could even be trying over and over and failing could have triggered the alarms on the Live service.  To be honest, that's a total guess.  But, if that's the case, then waiting might help; there was another guy earlier on this thread that had things fixed by "magic" after a while, so I bet that was his problem. 

BTW: Are you still getting the same error, or a different one?

Yeah, I would bet it's the AV removing those entries. These are security package entries, so something unexpected here would be a serious threat.  Thing is, an up to date AV program really should know these are legit, since they've been around for a couple versions, now, I think. 

Something to test/try: Uninstall your AV package and try again. If it works, you know that was the problem. You can always install an AV package again after that, maybe even the same one from your recovery partition (say, if we're wrong). OTOH, if that's the fix, then you could try a different AV program. If you don't want to buy something, Microsoft Security Essentials is free ... http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/security-essentials-download. YMMV, but it should at least not remove MS security packages.

Wow. Thanks for the super quick reply. I am running Webroot Secure Anywhere. I uninstalled it and I am still facing the same issue.

Just to make sure I am not an idiot. I am to type those enteries in the list.

My current list reads:

kerberos

livessp

msv1_0

pku2u

schannel

wdigest

Is this correct? If it is, and because it is still not working, do you have any other ideas.

Many thanks for the assistance.

Yeah, I would bet it's the AV removing those entries. These are security package entries, so something unexpected here would be a serious threat.  Thing is, an up to date AV program really should know these are legit, since they've been around for a couple versions, now, I think. 

Something to test/try: Uninstall your AV package and try again. If it works, you know that was the problem. You can always install an AV package again after that, maybe even the same one from your recovery partition (say, if we're wrong). OTOH, if that's the fix, then you could try a different AV program. If you don't want to buy something, Microsoft Security Essentials is free ... http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/security-essentials-download. YMMV, but it should at least not remove MS security packages.

So, found the root cause of my particular problem. For some reason, the Security Packages that Microsoft Accounts use were not registered on my brand new (okay, refurbished) Lenovo laptop.  For the record, that's really, really unexpected, and I bet a re-install from shiny media, or a reset on a machine whose reference image is good, would fix this.  Oh, well, that's not an option for everyone.

 

Still, I've experienced this on two separate Lenovo laptops within a month, so there's probably something in common there.  Maybe the Windows image Lenovo customized got corrupted, maybe it's the AV trial s/w that comes with it is removing the regkeys, who knows?

 

Anyway, I just added "pku2u" and "livessp" to the Security Packages REG_MULTI_SZ key under regkey HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa. 

 

Immediately, I was able to add Microsoft Accounts. :)

(If you already have pku2u and livessp in the list of Security Packages, of course, then this isn't your problem, and just move on. ;)

 

CAUTION: Don't remove *anything* from the existing list in this key, and type very, very carefully.  If you really blow it when you edit this key, you can probably brick your PC, since the Local Security Authority (LSA) is core to the system.  There's a reason Microsoft tells you not to monkey with the registry.  You've been warned. ;)

 

Would be great if Microsoft could provide a Fix-It script that could safely fix this and eliminate the human factor of typing in regedit...

 

In the meantime, if you are comfortable with regedit, this might be something to check if you hit this problem. 

Derek. Thank you for being one of the only ones on here suggesting a solution. I too have a Lenovo with this problem. I looked under the registry where you mentioned and added the words you did (as they were not there before. Obviously, I am not much of a programmer at all.

I have a few issues being that I still have the problem after editing the registry. I got a popup box about the registry removing "invalid strings" and I am sill having the problem. Could this be related to an antivirus deleting certain reg keys?

Thanks!

-mc