How to Fix Failed to Connect to Windows Service

When configuring a computer’s security settings and other operational behaviors, group policies are the settings that are pushed into the registry of that computer. Group policies can either be configured through local group policy or pushed down from Active Directory (although in practice, the client is the one that pulls them down). In this article we will show you how to Fix Failed to Connect to Windows Service.

Some users have reported seeing an error message in the Notification Panel of their computers with the heading “Failed to connect to a Windows service,” and the message stating, “Windows could not connect to the Group Policy Client service.” Because of this issue, standard users are unable to log in to the system. If you are logged in as an administrative user, you have access to the System Event Log, which contains information about the reasons the service did not respond.

Causes of Failed to Connect to Windows Service

• A Windows update is causing the error. Many users have reported that the KB2952664 update, in particular, seems to break the System Event Notification Service service in Windows 7.
• The SENS service is corrupted. It’s possible that the System Event Notification Service (SENS) itself is corrupted. You should suspect this if you often shut your computer down incorrectly.

• The Windows Font Cache Service isn’t working properly. In Windows 7, many services depend on the Font Cache Service. If something happens to it, it causes a domino effect and your computer may have issues with the SENS service as a result.
• The DHCP client service is not running. It may be that your system is currently unable to address and manage IP addresses and DNS records, which leads to the SENS service malfunctioning.

How to Fix Failed to Connect to Windows Service

Clean boot your system

1. To get to System Configuration, press Windows Key + R, type msconfig, and then press enter.
2. Selective Startup is on the General tab. Make sure the box next to “load startup items” is not checked.
3. Select the Services tab and check the box next to “Hide all Microsoft services.”
4. After that, click “Disable all,” which will turn off all the other services that are still running.
5. As soon as you restart your PC, see if the problem is still there.
6. Remove the above steps when you’re done troubleshooting so that your PC can start normally.

Run System File Checker (SFC) and Check Disk (CHKDSK)

1. To get to the Command Prompt, press the Windows Key + X and then click on it.
2. Type the following into the cmd and press “Enter”:
   • Sfc and scannow
3. After the above process is done, restart your PC.
4. After that, run CHKDSK to fix any bad sectors on your hard drive.
5. After the above steps are done, restart your PC to keep the changes.

Registry Editor

1. Enter regedit in the search box after pressing Winkey and R.
2. Enter and wait for the Registry Editor to load (Administrator permission may be needed).
3. File > Export in the Registry Editor.See m Event Log for service failure details.
4. Navigate to the following directory in Registry Editor’s left pane. Microsoft Windows NT – CurrentVersion – SvcHost.
5. GPSvcGroup is a string in the right panel of the SvcHost folder. This fix method may not find one, so continue with the remaining steps.
6. GPSvcGroup must be manually created by right–clicking the SvcHost folder and selecting New. Select Multi-String Value from the next menu.

Restart or Reset Services

1. “Application Layer Gateway Service”
2. “Background Intelligent Transfer Service”
3. “COM+ Event System”
4. “DCOM Server Process Launcher“
5. “Windows Event Log”

FAQs