How to Fix Failed to Connect to a Windows Service Error on Windows 10 and 8

Authored by: Support.com Tech Pro Team

1. Introduction

The main cause of this error failed to connect to a windows service is when Windows was unable to start or connect to required Windows Services to carry out the system operations. Mostly This error arises when a computer crashes after the rebooting process during Windows Updates. In most cases, this error message is given birth to by the loss of important Registry settings required to initialize the Group Policy Client service. Also, This error failed to connect to a windows service can be caused by Windows Font Cache Service, Windows Event Logs Service, System Event Notification Service, or any other service.

If you are also suffering from This failed to connect to a windows service Error message And looking for solutions to get rid of this problem. Follow the steps below, which are working solutions to fix this error permanently.

2. Check On Windows Services

Before performing any troubleshooting steps.

1. First note down the name of the Service ( for Ex: group policy client service) that has failed to respond while showing the Error Notification message at startup.
   
   
2. Now Open Windows Services by pressing WIN + R type services. msc and hit the enter key. Here Scroll down look for Group policy client service right-click on it and select properties. Make sure the service is started and set startup type Automatic.
   
   
3. Next move to the Dependencies tab. Here you will see the services & system components that are required to be running in proper condition for gpsvc to be functioning properly. So check on these services too and ensure that they are also in the proper Running state.

3. Run netsh Winsock reset command

Also Resetting the Winsock is one of the best possible solutions to fix failed to connect to a windows service error.

Let’s Run This Command and check the problem is solved or not.

1. Open the Command prompt as an administrator you can type cmd in the start menu search,
   
   
2. From Search results, select command prompt Right-click on it, and select Run As an administrator,
   
   
3. Now Type the Fallowing command and press Enter key to execute the command.

• netsh winsock reset

After successfully Executing the command Restart your Windows computer to execute the changes you have made. Now check problem solved didn’t get any failed to connect to a windows service Error message. If you still need help follow the Next solution.

4. Delete The Windows Logs Files

Sometimes corrupted Windows log files can also cause the error to fail to connect to Windows service. And you can delete all the windows log files to fix the issue.

1. Open Windows services scroll down and look for Windows Event Logs Service Right-click on it and select stop.
   
   
2. Now minimize the windows services windows and Navigate to the following folder:
   
   C:\Windows\System32\winevt\
   
   
3. Here Right-click on the Logs folder and select Rename. Name it to log sold or something else. 
   
   
4. If asked for Permission click continue to rename it.
   
   If you are not able to rename then delete everything present inside the Logs folder.
   
   
5. Again open the Services window and start the Windows Event Logs Service.
   
   
6. Now Restart windows and check the problem is resolved or not.

5. Disable Fast Startup

Also, most of the users report The problem failed to connect to a windows service get solved after disabling the Windows fast startup problem.

1. Press Windows Key + R then type “powercfg.cpl” and hit enter to open Power Options.
   
   
2. Click on Choose what the power buttons do in the top-left column.
   
   
3. Now click on Change settings that are currently unavailable.
   
   
4. Uncheck Turn on Fast startup under Shutdown settings.       
   
    

1.  
2. Click on the “Save Changes” button to apply the new setting.
   
   Your computer may have a slower startup time by disabling fast startup, but it should fix the Failed to connect to a Windows service error from occurring.
    
3. Now Restart windows and check the problem is fixed or not.

6. Delete Windows Font Cache

Sometimes Corrupt Windows font cache can cause failure to connect to a windows service Error.

• Clearing The windows font cache log files may also help to fix this error. You can do this by following the steps.

1. First open Windows Services you can do this by Press Windows Key + R then type services.msc and hit enter.
   
   
2. Here In the Services window Scroll down and find Windows Font Cache Service, right-click on it then select Stop.
   
   
3. Now minimize windows services and again press Win + R, type %localappdata%, and hit the enter key.
   
   
4. Look for the font cache DAT files and delete them.
   
   
5. Open the windows services and start the font cache service.
   
   
6. Restart the windows and check the problem is solved.

7. Disable User Account Control

Disabling the user account control settings can also fix Failed to connect to a Windows service error message on windows computers. In order to fix this problem, we need to turn off UAC Let's see what to do.

Turning off UAC comes with a slight security risk, and by turning it off you won’t get any notifications when you make changes that require administrator privileges.  

1. Open Control Panel\User Accounts\User Accounts
   
   

1. 
   
   
2. Here click on Change User Account Control settings.
   
   
3. Now Move the slider on the left all the way down to Never notify.
   
   
4. Click OK to save changes.
   
   
5. Log into the system to check problem is fixed or not.

8. Tweak Windows Registry Settings

If all of the above methods fail to fix Failed to connect to a Windows service error, Then you can try bellow registry tweak to fix this error permanently. Sometimes if certain registry keys and values are missing or get corrupted This will cause different errors including this Failed to connect to a Windows service error. You can add them manually by changing the registry to fix this error.

Registry Is an essential part of windows. Any small mistake can cause a problem. We strongly recommend creating a system restore point before making any changes to the windows registry. So that if anything goes wrong while making the changes you can revert the changes with perform a system restore. 

1. Open the windows registry by pressing Win + R On run Type Regedit And hit the enter key. This will open the Windows registry window Now Navigate to the following key.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\gpsvc

2. Next, find the value of the image path key and check its data. In our case, its data is svchost.exe -k netsvcs. This means the above data is in charge of the gpsvc service.

3. Again navigate to the following path in the Registry Editor:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SvcHost

4. In the right window pane locate netsvcs and then double click on it.

5. Check the Value data field and make sure gpsvc is not missing. If it’s not there then add the gpsvc value and be very careful in doing so because you don’t want to delete anything else. Click Ok and close the dialog box.

If netsvcs key missing:

If netsvcs Key is Missing under the SvcHost in the left pane, you need to create it manually.

1. Right-click on SvcHost and choose New > Key.

2. Enter netsvcs as the name of the newly created key.

3. Select the netsvcs key you just created,

4. In the left pane click on empty space and choose New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.

5. Name it to CoInitializeSecurityParam 

6. Double click new created DWORD Set the value data to 1

7. Click ok to save changes.

8. Again Create a new DWORD value and name it CoInitializeSecurityAllowLowBox.

9. Double click on New Created DWORD and set its value to 1.

10. Next, Create One more 32-bit DWORD and name it AuthenticationCapabilities. Set its value to 3020 and click OK to save it

11. That’s all Close Registry Editor and restart your computer To take effect the changes you have made. After that check, the problem is fixed or not.

• Did the above solutions help Fix Failed to Connect to a Windows Service Error on Windows 10 and 8? If not