Windows 8, group policy client service failed sign in

Anonymous
2012-12-25T13:27:15+00:00

Hello,

I'm running Windows 8 Professional, and in the last couple of days have experienced random errors trying to login.

Firstly, when I log in as a standard user, I get the message "Group policy client service failed sign in", and cannot login.  If I try to log in as Administrator I can log in but Windows recreates the profile from scratch and when I get to the start menu I have no apps displayed, and cannot find any programs via search.  This problem has happened twice now, and it seems to temporarily fix itself after rebooting, however this morning it took 4 reboots to fix.

I also get the error "Windows couldn't connect to the system event notification service", and again this seems to fix itself after a few reboots.

I have scanned my SDD on which the OS installed and there are no reported errors.

I am worried that on the next reboot the problem will revert and will not be fixable.  Please can you tell me how to fix this.

Kind regards,

Matthew

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

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Anonymous
2013-02-25T18:52:57+00:00

OK, guys, I already posted solution in other threads and it is for Windows 7. But, It looks like it is exactly the same issue, and a very wide-spread one - caused by crash during reboot initiated by Windows Update.  I am re-posting here.  If someone can test on Windows 8 would be great.  If you need my help let me know - I am actually very interested in testing it on Windows 8.

I had this issue on my laptop since November, and it really bugged me.  I sifted through the event log and found the pattern of events that preceded the issue, and, probably, caused it.

In short, the pattern is as follows: Windows updates run automatically as scheduled, and when reboot is initiated after the updates are finished, the computer crashes (probably during reboot sequence).  When it boots up, it reports that the last shutdown was unexpected, and the issue begins to occur.

I spent 2 days trying to dig out a solution from the Internet, to no avail, until I came across this page.  It doesn't say anything about this particular problem, but it gives more information about SVCHOST process that starts many services, including Group Policy Client.  It looks like during reboot a vital registry settings were lost during crash and Group Policy Client "doesn't know" how to start.  Let me explain:

There are two places to look in the registry:

  1. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services this path should contain gpsvc key (a folder), which is responsible for service parameters and configuration.  I found that the key was intact, so, you do not touch anything here - just check that the key exists.
  2. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SVCHOST This is the most important path you should look into, as it must contain the keys and values referred in the key #1.  Below are descriptions what must be present there.
  • There must be Multi-String value called GPSvcGroup. My laptop was missing it.  So, you should create multi-string value named GPSvcGroup and assign it value GPSvc.
  • Next, you must create a key (a folder) and name it GPSvcGroup - this key normally should be there, but, again, it was missin on my laptop.
  • Then open newly-created GPSvcGroup folder and create 2 DWORD values:
  1. First called AuthenticationCapabilities and you must give it a value of 0x00003020 (or 12320 in decimal)
  2. Second is called CoInitializeSecurityParam and it must have value of 1.

Once you complete all steps above, reboot the computer and the problem will be fixed.

Here is the link to the video walkthrough if you have any troubles understanding what has to be done:http://youtu.be/4m5KEmckWK4

http://youtu.be/4m5KEmckWK4

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-12-11T18:35:18+00:00

    Had to come back with my resolution to the above "Group Policy Client Service Failed in Sign-in" problem.

    I have Windows 10.

    I spent 2 days on the resolution chasing all these fixes from everybody going to the HKEY_LOCK_MACHINE and all, but none of their solutions worked for me.

    Here's what I did.

    1. Went to Control Panel.
    2. Clicked Event Viewer.
    3. Scrolled to the day where my problem started.
    4. Found "Critical" under Level heading, "Kernel-Power" under the Source heading, "41" under the Event ID heading. 

    Looking at the description under the "General" tab it states:

    The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.

    I remember pressing the Power off button for a long time while I was shutting down because the shutting down was taking too long. I thought the PC was in a loop or something. Apparently that is what caused the Critical error.

    I tried restoring from the day earlier but that gave me this response:

    System Restore did not complete successfully. Your computer's system files and settings were not changed. It goes to tell me the drive might be corrupted. You might want to retry the System Restore again after running the "CHKDSK /R" command to repair the drive.

    Well I had to get into the Command Prompt and key in: CHKDSK /R. It took a while (about an hour). When it completed, I decided instead of trying another restore from an earlier date to just restarting the PC. Well, it came back and it was working perfect again.

    Hope this helps someone. I was at a point where I was going to throw my laptop out the window, I was so frustrated with the problem. Please don't do this (ha ha). I prayed instead and the solution worked out perfectly.

    Take care and GOD bless.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-11-04T18:50:12+00:00

    nice one"

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-09-05T07:43:50+00:00

    Thanks for very helpful guide. As I am Windows 8.1 64 bit user, I have to create "CoInitializeSecurityParam" and "AuthenticationCapabilities" file with QWORD value to get fixed the issue unlike DWORD value mentioned for windows 7 guide.

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-08-25T19:44:55+00:00

    These are excellent, extremely helpful videos. Thank you so much for making them.

    My registry issue was slightly different. I'm running Windows 8.1 64-bit and had the netsvcs error. Everything on the registry checked out except in the SvcHost folder, my multi-string key was named PGSvcGroup. I changed it to GPSvcGroup, held my breath and crossed my fingers. Issue is resolved on reboot.

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