Laptop not happy again... "Group Policy Client service failed the sign-in"

My old, longstanding Optimus II laptop has had a number of issues over the last few years but always come out the other side but the latest "hiccup" is a big one I fear - its been out of action for a few weeks but I have only just had a chance to investigate...

I was using the machine as normal but there was an issue connecting to the wifi - this may or may not be relevant but it resulted in a restart after all normal troubleshooting, turning wifi off/on etc etc had been exhausted and I resorted to the old "turn it off and on again". When it got back to the windows screen it took me to the attached warning:


I clicked the OK button (without any other choice) and it then actually allowed me to log on. Except, the task bar doesn't respond at all, whether I click it or press the windows button on the keyboard nothing happens. It looks like it has logged in correctly (background, desktop icons etc) but actually there is little/no functionality and/or it is running painfully slow (unusable so).

Has anyone experienced this themselves?

A search through up some recommendations which involve editing the registry which I am very nervous to do for fear of messing it up further. However, it does seem to be on the Microsoft website so I guess it is the correct way to go... but I am still worried about making it worse! From Microsoft: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...-unique-identifier-uuid-type-is-not-supported

However, both "resolutions" on that page don't make much sense to me! Both involve "modifying the image build in System Center Configuration Manager instead of implementing them in the already deployed image" <- may as well be French!

I'm trying to create a restore point as I type this but that's taking forever (no idea if it should or not as I've not done one before... Any suggestions, help would be greatly appreciated.

I've done what you did and Googled the error message you're getting. It would appear that the common cause of this issue is a crash or failure during a Windows Update that leaves the registry corrupted, hence the 'advice' on editing the registry.

My first question then will have to be, 'have you had a recent crash or failure to restart during a Windows Update?'. If you have then you should be able to go back to the restore point that the update took (Windows Update generally takes a system restore point before updating).

If taking a restore point now is 'taking forever' then there is something (or possible several somethings) seriously wrong with your laptop, especially since you mention issues with wifi and that you have had other issues in the past that seem, from what your saying, to have resolved themselves?

Editing the registry is something that your'e right to be very wary of but since the problem you have is serious it's probably worth a try. Just be certain that you backup every single registry key before you modify it, that way you can put things back the way they were should you need to.

TBH I would be looking to do a clean reinstall of Windows now. I rather suspect from what you've written that there is more than one issue at work here and it will probably be quicker, and certainly much more reliable, for you to do a clean reinstall (even though you'll have to reinstall all drivers, Windows updates and all your third party programs) than it will to muck about trying to patch up whatever is wrong.

Thanks for the reply and clearly you've taking a good look into it for me. Very much appreciated.

Just to confuse things further, I tried again last night after posting this and got logged on and (typically) things looking to be working. I could search, open windows menu, click on icons etc. Certainly doing more than previously... but still PAINFULLY slow.

The system tray seemed to be loading up all the programs that run in the background which seemed positive to me since they hadn't uploaded in the past. It prompted me to run a Windows Defender Scan so I did the Quick Scan and after 2hrs 20mins it appeared to have stalled at about 87% so I had to cancel as I was going to bed!

My concern is that I have a LOT of photos on the computer... i have some fairly important documents on there too but if they got lost I'd live with it, but some of the photos are extremely sentimental.

If I run a restore, does it wind everything back to prior to that point and therefore I would lose any document updates or photo uploads? Or does it just restore the system settings and the documents are essentially a layer that sits on top untouched?

Sorry for the many questions... if it went down the route of a full Windows reinstall could I just sweep all documents on to an external harddrive and then back again?

And what do I need for a window's reinstall - I may have the original windows disk from when I first got the laptop but if not, can I still do it somehow? I know PC Specialist supplied a drivers disk as well. Would i need that or can most things be updated online without the disk?

I would back up all your files to an external drive before doing anything, just to be safe. If your machine is playing up there are a couple of ways to do it. If you have an external drive caddy you can take the HDD/SSD out and run it through that on another computer or you could run a live Linux disro (which will be free) on your Optimus and use that to copy your files to an external usb drive.

jdg199 said:

Thanks for the reply and clearly you've taking a good look into it for me. Very much appreciated.

Just to confuse things further, I tried again last night after posting this and got logged on and (typically) things looking to be working. I could search, open windows menu, click on icons etc. Certainly doing more than previously... but still PAINFULLY slow.

The system tray seemed to be loading up all the programs that run in the background which seemed positive to me since they hadn't uploaded in the past. It prompted me to run a Windows Defender Scan so I did the Quick Scan and after 2hrs 20mins it appeared to have stalled at about 87% so I had to cancel as I was going to bed!

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That's not good and this, plus much that you have already said, could well be caused by a flaky hard disk. Hard disks often become flaky shortly before they fail, so you need to backup all your data NOW.

My concern is that I have a LOT of photos on the computer... i have some fairly important documents on there too but if they got lost I'd live with it, but some of the photos are extremely sentimental.

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DO THIS FIRST!
Get an external hard drive, or a large capacity USB stick and copy all your important photos, documents, and the like to the external hard drive NOW. As I mentioned above, one of the possible causes, given the symptoms you describe, could be a failing hard disk, so you need to backup all your important data now before you do anything else.

If I run a restore, does it wind everything back to prior to that point and therefore I would lose any document updates or photo uploads? Or does it just restore the system settings and the documents are essentially a layer that sits on top untouched?

Click to expand...

System restore only affects Windows, it does not affect your user data at all. BUT BACKUP ALL YOUR DATA NOW, BEFORE YOU TRY SYSTEM RESTORE!

Sorry for the many questions... if it went down the route of a full Windows reinstall could I just sweep all documents on to an external harddrive and then back again?

Click to expand...

Yes, if you copy your data to an external drive you can simply copy it back after a reinstall. BACK IT UP NOW. Although backing up browser bookmarks needs an extra step - simply export your bookmarks to an html file and back that file up. You can then import it into your new browser.

And what do I need for a window's reinstall - I may have the original windows disk from when I first got the laptop but if not, can I still do it somehow? I know PC Specialist supplied a drivers disk as well. Would i need that or can most things be updated online without the disk?

Click to expand...

You will need a disk or USB stick containing the installation media for whatever version of Windows you have. PCS will have supplied one if you bought the laptop with Windows pre-installed. The drivers can be installed by Windows Update or by visiting the Clevo download site and getting them all from there.

You will also need installation media for all your third-party programs. The installation media for browsers, dropbox, etc. can be downloaded when you're online.

However, if your hard drive is failing it's pointless reinstalling Windows on to it. You will need to run a test on that drive to confirm that it's failing. I will tell you how to do that when you confirm that you have first BACKED UP ALL YOUR DATA!!!

Oh, did I mention that the FIRST THING YOU MUST DO IS BACKUP YOUR DATA?

Again - amazingly detailed response, so helpful. I guess the first thing to do is back up my harddrive...!

Perhaps I should start a different thread for this but as it happens I have been in the market for a new external hard drive recently anyway. I had a Seagate Central and while it did a job I never felt that the software worked particularly well on it. Also, I was using it for storage AND regular automatic backups and it quickly became clogged full and was an ass to sort out. Are there any recommendations that anyone here would make? I see that PCS allow you to add the WD or Samsung options. The cost of the WD for huge volume looks very reasonable to me. If I go for one of them should I pay the extra pennies for the My Cloud over My Book?

For a purely backup device just about any external hard drive will do. You're usually not looking for blistering performance from a backup so you don't really need to spend extra cash to get a USB3.0 device for example, nor a 7200rpm drive. If a backup to a USB2.0 5400rpm device takes an hour longer than it would to a more expensive USB3.0 7200rpm device, who cares? I would not spend extra money on a simple external hard drive for backups, just get one that has double the capacity you think you need.

For the backup you need to take now I would just do a very simply file copy. Drag and drop your C:\Users folder (that's where all user data usually lives, unless you've done something different) on to the newly formatted external hard drive and then go and do something more interesting for a couple of hours. What you want is a reliable copy of all your data so keep it simple and reliable.

Once you have a reliable working system I'll make some suggestions on how to keep it backup-up.

I agree with all of what's been said above.

Also as time is of the essence and you need to get things backed up ASAP you might want to look at something like Google Drive or DropBox. Whilst I am not a huge fan of online-only backups as it can take a long time to get everything back, they have the advantage of not needing to go out and buy an external HDD and/or wait for one to be delivered to start getting your stuff backed up.

Right, WD MyCloud arrived yesterday and will set up at the weekend.

Step one will be simply to copy across Users folder and double check I've not saved anything else anywhere stoopid. Once that's done... I'll be back!

Jeez! Well, i got excited and tried to give this a go sooner... These things are meant to be easy... automatic almost! But I have stumbled at the first hurdle. Of those that have said they've used a MyCloud before, any idea why I am getting a "Forbidden... You do not have permission to access / on this server".

I have literally plugged the MyBook into the router, turned it on, got the solid blue light then gone to mycloud.com/setup. The only option is to click Get Started and it searches for my device then returns this message. I have tried releasing / renewing the IP address (via command prompt, ipconfig) but still same result. I have tried restarting the MyCloud but same result. When it is searching, it says: "Be sure your device is on and connected to the same network as the computer". As it is plugged into the back of the bliming thing, I ant see why it wouldn't be. Could it be something to do with the router (Virgin). I also have powerline adapters which gives out further wireless connections upstairs - so in total I have 4 wireless channels running: Virgin's standard 2G and 5G then netgear's 2 and 5 options. All 4 connect to the internet and give me good service around the house but I've still tried disconnecting and reconnecting to each and running the set up but none of them are working.

Fed up with it right now so I'll try again in the another time! Never straight forward...

Took a while - but I have finally made the copy to an external drive. I had a number of issues along the way due to permissions not allowing significant chunks of my Users folder be copied across (its 339Gb on the local disk but only 60Gb was arriving at the destination). I have sorted as best I can but there were maybe 30/40 files that couldn't be copied. Most these were things I could tell were NOT important... i.e. file name referenced 'Chrome' and 'cookies' or temp files but some I am less sure of: .dat file (e.g. UsrClass / NTUser.dat), Log2 files (e.g. NTUser.dat.log2) or other randoms (e.g. store.jfm, store.vol, USS.jtx). I think they couldn't be copied across because they were in use through the normal running of the computer. However, is there any concern here about these files not coming across. The key thing is that my pictures and documents seeem to have transferred fine.

So, now I have a back up. What should I do next - the original error and the funny slowness may be indicative of a failing harddrive... is there anything I can do to check? Should I replace it?!

The solution to the original error suggested editing the registry to rectify things... having copied across my Users folder, shall i just give that a go, or should i be creating restore points etc as well?

Thanks
John

jdg199 said:

Took a while - but I have finally made the copy to an external drive. I had a number of issues along the way due to permissions not allowing significant chunks of my Users folder be copied across (its 339Gb on the local disk but only 60Gb was arriving at the destination). I have sorted as best I can but there were maybe 30/40 files that couldn't be copied. Most these were things I could tell were NOT important... i.e. file name referenced 'Chrome' and 'cookies' or temp files but some I am less sure of: .dat file (e.g. UsrClass / NTUser.dat), Log2 files (e.g. NTUser.dat.log2) or other randoms (e.g. store.jfm, store.vol, USS.jtx). I think they couldn't be copied across because they were in use through the normal running of the computer. However, is there any concern here about these files not coming across. The key thing is that my pictures and documents seeem to have transferred fine.

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The NTUser.dat etc. files are Windows files (part of the registry containing user settings) that reside in your users folder. You're right that you can't copy those because they're open, but you don't need to copy them they will be recreated when you do a reinstall.

The .jfm and .jtx files relate to a product called JetForm Filler and they will likely be recreated when you reinstall that product.

So, now I have a back up. What should I do next - the original error and the funny slowness may be indicative of a failing harddrive... is there anything I can do to check? Should I replace it?!

Click to expand...

Now you have a backup, open an elevated command prompt and enter the command 'chkdsk c: /r' (without the quotes). This will test your hard drive and repair any bad sectors it finds. You may have to reboot to get chkdsk to run. At the end you'll get an error report, if that reports any errors that could not be fixed then you need a new hard drive.

The solution to the original error suggested editing the registry to rectify things... having copied across my Users folder, shall i just give that a go, or should i be creating restore points etc as well?

Click to expand...

You can give it a go, though I suggest taking a restore point before you start and backup up each registry key BEFORE you modify it. To do that right click on the folder containing the key you want to change and select export. Note where the exported copy is written. Do this for each and every key you modify.

Should you need to restore the original registry settings navigate to the folder containing the registry exports and double click on each one to restore the settings in there.