SOLVED: Failed to Connect to Windows Service Problem

Despite new versions of Windows released at regular intervals from software giant, some of the common errors that were in there in previous versions can still be found in latest Windows. A live example of this is “Failed to Connect to Windows service” error that was faced by users of Windows 7, is still there to tease Windows 10 users.

For some, the errors shows up when they start their system, while others see this error when their system unexpectedly shuts down while install/downloading a Windows update.

Let me tell you the main root cause of this error. It basically occurs as a result of improper registry entry in the windows due to which Windows is unable to initialize the Group Policy Client service and fails to connect to it as well.

Steps to Fix Failed to Connect to Windows Service in Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 10

To help you get anti failed to connect to Windows service problem Windows 8, 8.1 or 10 PC, you need to try any of the below fixes (whichever works for you).

Fix # 01: Fixing Windows Registry

The first fix involves going into Registry Editor and manually resetting the corrupted registry.

1. Open Run utility by pressing Windows + R key.
2. Type in regedit and press Enter.
3. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services and look for gpsvc folder.
4. If it is present, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion and select SvcHost folder.
5. Check for a key string named GPSvcGroup in the right window pane.
6. If it is not present, create it by right clicking on SvcHost folder and clicking on New->Multi-String Value.
7. Rename the new value to GPSvcGroup and enter GPSvc in Data.
8. Now, right click on SvcHost folder and select New and then Key.
9. Rename the new folder as GPSvcGroup.
10. Right click on this folder and create 2 new DWORD (32-bit) values.
    • 1st DWORD value name is AuthenticationCapabilities , its value is 12320 under Data column.
    • 2nd DWORD value name is CoInitializeSecurityParam , its value is 1 under Data column.
11. Close the Registry Editor and reboot your PC. Hopefully the issue will be resolved by now.

Fix # 02: Using netsh Command

1. Open CMD by right clicking on Start menu and selecting Command Prompt (Admin).
2. Type in netsh winsock reset and press Enter.
3. This will reset your Network Adapter state.

After reset, Windows will automatically try to connect to Group Policy Client and this time will be successful and you won’t face the Failed to Connect to Windows service problem on your Windows 8 or Windows 10 again.

Fix # 03: Disable Fast Startup

1. Right click on Start menu button and select Power Options.
2. From the left column, select Choose what the power buttons do option.
3. Click on Change settings that are currently unavailable text in the first paragraph.
4. Now look under Shutdown settings portion and uncheck Turn on fast startup (recommended).
5. Restart your system.

This will hopefully fix the Failed to Connect to Windows service problem error on any Windows, be it Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10.

M Qasim

Muhammad Qasim is a long time contributor at Geekspie.com. Muhammad has years of experience writing about tech, including tutorials to resolve common problems users experience with Windows and Mac computers, iOS and and android devices, and software of all kinds. He can be reached through the contact us form.