The Group Policy Client service failed the logon. Access is denied

[Wheelie]

I NEED HELP!!  After Symantec remotely logged into my laptop to fix a problem I had with my anti-virus, they restarted my laptop and now I cannot log onto my computer!  I get the message: "The Group Policy Client service failed the logon. Access is denied."

Does anyone know how to get rid of this so I can use my computer again?

[iam_fletcher]

This is an UGLY windows error that can be difficult to fix. From what I've seen the only option is usualy to kill the whole profile and just make another one. This is no problem if you have another account you can use to log in with admin privilages. If this error happens to your one and only user account or your one and only admin account, you might be looking at a recovery to fix it. I hope you backed up your data.

[RonKe]

Therefore, to prevent this should we have 2 Admin Accounts with different passwords on the Windows login Screen?

[iam_fletcher]

Honestly that's not a terrible idea. I can say that this particular error seems to be very rare. A google search for this error had only a few results (compared to other errors) and a microsoft tech net seach revealed little as well.  So it's not somthing you really need to worry about on a day to day basis. Over all I would say this is a cautionary tale for ALWAYS having a back-up of your data, cause you never know when somthing crazy, like your user account service going out, will happen.

[RonKe]

I see no reason why 2 Admin Accounts would conflict since the UAC gives you the option to choose Standard or Admin Accounts.

I think I might set up another Admin with a slightly different Password as a backup access plan, just as a preventive step if 1 account is corrupted. 

I do not share this paticular computer with others and anyone can use the Guest Account, if needed. 

Kudos

[KrAzYHeidi]

i am having the same problem on my laptop..i can log in my email threw the amistration side but cannont log in on starnard user side.who did u contact or what did you do..thank you Heidi

[Kalt]

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Wheelie wrote:

I NEED HELP!!  After Symantec remotely logged into my laptop to fix a problem I had with my anti-virus, they restarted my laptop and now I cannot log onto my computer!  I get the message: "The Group Policy Client service failed the logon. Access is denied."

Does anyone know how to get rid of this so I can use my computer again?

---

If you want to gain access to your profile again, follow these steps:

Required Steps To Restore Functionality:

1.  Power-off (shut down) the PC.
2.  Power it on and tap the F11 key when you see the HP or Compaq logos.
3.  It will then say "Windows is loading files...." and you can stop tapping F11.
4.  It will bring you to the HP Recovery Manager where you can restore/recover your system.
5.  Click the Advanced button, then choose "Microsoft System Restore" and click next.
6.  Continue to the System Restore and then choose a restore point to before Symantec got on your PC.
7.  Run the system restore...hit "Finish" and it should boot to your desktop/logon.

Additional Advice (Recommended):

1.  Go to the Start menu, click on All Programs, Click on Accessories, then right-click on Command Prompt as choose "Run-as Administrator."

2.  A black Command Prompt box will open in elevated mode.
3.  Type "sfc /scannow" into the box and hit enter.  If entered successfully it will start the system file checker utility.
4.  Once the check is complete, it will let you know if it found any corrupt files. (If not, it will say "No integrity violations found")
5.  Now type "chkdsk /r"  and hit enter.  It will tell you the disk is in use or etc....just ignore that message and type "y" for yes and hit enter.
6.  Type "exit" and hit enter. 
7.  Restart the PC and let it run the disk check.

One you've done all of this, I would recommend that if you need to reinstall/repair a Symantec product (Norton) then you use their Norton Removal Tool to remove the program, then restart and reinstall it from the disc or downloaded file.

This issue is caused by corruption to your user profile/registry settings/system files.  If the above mention steps did not work, I would recommend performing the HP System Recovery from the Recovery Manager.

Related thread on Technet (The issue is similar)

Group Policy Client service failed the logon Access is Denied

[hrgolafshan]

I Did All You Said but no help

I even Did System Recovery ,

Made a New Admin User  several Times and Interchanged All Data In Users Folder,

I Think I Have To Change Windows 7

Help Please If You Want Better Solution

Thank u Very Much

[wguru]

I ran into this issue after I deleted the nt files in C:\ (ya, I know) then re-booted (hoping a fresh set would be created).

Problem was, I didn't then know that the nt files link and/or are comprised of files that relate to the user profiles.

Anyway, in that re-booting thereafter always opened using a temp profile, I was effectually ostracized from using the majority of my programs, email, etc., but at least I could access my files by going to C:\Users\me (as opposed to the default empty folders for temp profile) and back up those file onto another drive.

Well, then towards trying to see if I could avoid registry hacking (deleteing my SID entry that is synonimous with the one that ends in .bak, and then re-naming that one by simply removing the ".bak" and re-booting), I made the added mistake of accessing the F8 menuization (where safe mode selection, etc. is found) and then I selected 'repair my computer'.

Thereafter, unless in safe mode, all I can now boot to is the logon screen, enter my password and then I'm confronted with the prompt that "The group policy client service failed to logon - access is denied."

So it seems that this post's parent post has never been properly responded to by anyone.

A proper response would include how someone (encountering this type of inability to logon) is supposed to create a new user account (safe mode?), If in safe mode, then why not say so?  Again real helpfulness includes more than essentially saying fix it by fixing it and genuinely useful help actually mentions the steps a user needs to perform.

But then again I've rarely ever found any forum worth the time and energy to visit, mostly because very few people contribute genuine help (most seem to be reveling in how smart they are and how dumb others are) and if actually trying to help, usually the advice is abreviated, sometimes also incomplete, or worse it's entirely wrong either because the postee omitted info or the replyee didn't read the post or if so, has no business trying to help where he'se's unqualified to do so.

[KREAMEDCORN]

It escapes me how to get there but there is an option to access a hidden 2nd admin account. I will do some research when I have more time an see if I can get that info for you. If you get to it before I do post it here that might help in this case.