April 2018 update broke Chrome browser (Cryptographic Services bug)

Anonymous
2018-08-13T22:50:55+00:00

I updated to the April 2018 version of Win10 a couple months ago. It caused several issues and broke my Chrome browser completely, so I reverted back to the old version. But Microsoft forced another update on me, so I need this issue fixed somehow.

All the googling I've done says Microsoft has "fixed" this issue with the April update breaking Chrome, but I've installed all patches and they clearly haven't, not in my case. Pages simply refuse to load and time out.

I've narrowed the issue down to the "Cryptographic Services" service. If I stop the service, all of the Chrome pages instantly load and I have no issues for about an hour. It seems to be some sort of issue with certificates/SSL.

The problem is the service keeps restarting itself. I've tried setting it to "disabled," tried unchecking the service in System Configuration, nothing works. It always comes back and Chrome breaks. I'm sure there's good reason to keep it running but I'm not going to let Microsoft force me out of my favorite browser/bookmarks/extensions/etc. like this, and I can't keep stopping a service every hour just to browse the web.

So I need a solution please. And something specifically related to fixing the issue with Cryptographic Services preventing SSL on Chrome. I've done all the basic stuff like reinstalling Chrome, checking firewall settings, etc..

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Internet and connectivity

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  1. Anonymous
    2019-02-05T09:55:15+00:00

    Here is a little workaround I did to make things go a little faster.  Maybe it will help someone out a bit while this gets figured out.

    I created two Icons on my Desktop. 

    Stop Cryptsvc - Clicking on Icon STOPS the Cryptsvc service.

    Start Cryptsvc - Clicking on Icon STARTS the Cryptsvc service.

    Stop Cryptserv

    Open Notepad and create a .txt file somewhere on your computer.  Put in "net stop cryptsvc" in the .txt file.  Rename .txt file to "Stop Cryptserv.bat".  Create a shortcut on the Desktop to the .bat file.  Right click on .bat file and go to Properties | Shortcut tab and then Advanced.  Make sure "Run as administrator" is checked and hit "OK"

    Start Cryptserv

    Open Notepad and create a .txt file somewhere on your computer.  Put in "net start cryptsvc" in the .txt file.  Rename .txt file to "Start Cryptserv.bat".  Create a shortcut on the Desktop to the .bat file.  Right click on .bat file and go to Properties | Shortcut tab and then Advanced.  Make sure "Run as administrator" is checked and hit "OK"

    Simply click on the Stop Cryptsvc shortcut when you start having problems.  When you are done browsing in Chrome you can click on the Start Cryptsvc icon to start it up again or just leave it and it will start up automatically after a short amount of time.

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-02-05T09:17:52+00:00

    I am about to give up.  Here are things I've tried.

    Registry fix

    Adding  --proxy-server to end of the Application run command.

    I just spent two days repartitioning my hard drive, formatting the drive, re-installing Windows from scratch and installing and configuring all applications..  I installed everything new and downloaded all Windows updates, including the Fall Creator Update (Windows 10 Build 1809) as well as have the latest version of Chrome.  Same problem.  Most times I get a timeout while going to a secure site.

    Until this gets all figured out correctly between Microsoft and Google I think I will just use Firefox from now on.

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-02-05T09:12:44+00:00

    Hi LarryLACa,

    Finally a real workaround that doesn't involve running scripts, deleting registry keys and changing cryptographic services.

    I have tested your fix this morning and rolled it out to a number of machines and so far so good!

    I can confirm that this works on static, mandatory and roaming profiles within a server 2016/Win 10 1809  active directory environment. 

    Thank you so much for your input. A simple fix via GPO applied is all it took.

    If your ever in Birmingham, UK give us a shout I owe you a couple of cold jars.

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  4. Anonymous
    2019-02-05T08:54:38+00:00

    Matthew: Re:

    Thanks but I have already tried this and it fails to be adequate within my domain. Firstly we use mandatory profiles which would mean editing the registry for each individual user. I have tried both scripted and manual registry of the root key with limited success. Thank you for your input though.

    If you don't need User added Root CA, you might be able to use GPO to dis-allow this feature and avoid the problem CryptSvc.  See my link above to Jason's GPO fix. I'd like to know if the GPO change works with mandatory profiles.

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  5. Anonymous
    2019-02-05T07:00:29+00:00

    It worked a little for me.  Still taking longer than usual to load Secure sites.

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