Error 5: Access is denied (when starting services)

[hsrstud]

Recently, I started have trouble with my Internet-related system services. I'm able to connect to the Internet fine, but my Internet connection icon in the system tray has a big red X. When I hover over the icon, I see the following notice:
 
 "Connection status: unknown
 
 The dependency service or group failed to start."
 
 When I go into Services, I see that a bunch of the Internet-related services have not been started, even though some of them are set to Automatic. For instance, the DHCP Client service is not running, but it is set to Automatic. The same holds true for the Diagnostic Policy Service listed below the DHCP Client service. If I try to start either of these service, I receive the following notice:
 
 "Windows could not start the DHCP Client (or DPS) service on Local Computer.
 
 Error 5: Access is denied."
 
 My user account has administrative rights. I've search around the Internet for a resolution to this issue. A lot of people seem to have encountered this situation, but I haven't found anyone who has been able to resolve the problem. I tried using the default Vista SP2 services registry patch, but still no go. 

Hopefully, someone in this forum can help.
 
 Thanks!

[Black Viper]

This could be due to a service changed itself from the required account (system, network, local) to a different user account and not being able to start as another service already started with different privileges in the same container (svchost.exe) and thus the collision.

Check each of the affected services and see if the user account they should run under is what you are actually using:
http://www.blackviper.com/WinVista/Services/DHCP_Client.htm

For example, DHCP Client -Log on as - "Local Service".

Here is the complete list:
http://www.blackviper.com/WinVista/service411.htm

[hsrstud]

Thanks for your help Black Viper.  The user account settings for the services appear to be fine.  Any other ideas?

[Black Viper]

Getting to the root cause is the problem because it could be "anything" really.
Have you tried using an internal static IP address (meaning your local computer, not a static internet accessible address) instead of using DHCP?
It could be that the router or other device fails to update the DHCP address properly and Vista complains.
It could be a hardware failure (network card or router/modem).
It could be a poorly applied security fix or corrupted file system...
Ya may see where I am going with this.

[couttsj]

It sounds like you have no IP address because you are using DHCP and the DHCP Client service will not start. You can verify this by using the Command Prompt in Administrative mode and issuing the command "ipconfig /all".

C:\Users\couttsj>ipconfig /all
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82562V-2 10/100 Network Connection
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1D-09-7E-44-A2
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.4(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

If you are behind a router, you can get around that by using fixed IP addressing as shown above. All you need to know is the gateway address, and you can figure out the rest. If you are directly connected and using DHCP, then you have to get the DHCP Client service working.

J.A. Coutts

[WildcatDan]

The dll file associated with displaying your network status nlasvc.dll.  That's for Network Location Awareness.  Are you running Trend Micro for your Antivirus by chance?  There was a problem I've run into twice in the past year with Trendmicro mistakenly quarantining and killing several microsoft system files.  These problems first showed up last September.  Anyway, the end result was that Network Location Awareness no longer worked properly and the only solution seemed to be downloading or copying a workign nlasvc.dll file to replace the old one with.  This is tricky since that file is a system protected file and requires some doing to fix it. 
 
If you think this could be the problem, find a copy of nlasvc.dll from another Vista computer (c:\windows\system32\nlasvc.dll) or do a Google search to find a downloadable copy on the Internet.  Then follow the procedures I list below here.  For the life of me I can't remember exactly where I got the procedures from but suffice it to say that I'm not the original author.
 
Here's the procedure:
 
 
First, open an administrator command prompt.  You can do this by locating Command Prompt in Program Files>Accessories, right-click on "Command Prompt" and choose "Run as adminstrator."

To take ownership of the file, you'll need to use the takeown command.

At the command prompt type: takeown /f c:\windows\system32\nlasvc.dll

That will give you ownership of the file, but you still have no rights to delete, move and rename it.  Next, you need to run the cacls command to give yourself full control rights to the file:

At the command prompt type: cacls c:\windows\system32\nlasvc.dll /G your username:F
Make sure that you replace "your username" with your username exactly as it is spelled for the currently active user account on your computer.

At this point, you should be able to change the file.  Rename the file from nlasvc.dll to nlasvc.dll.old.  Next, copy the new source file that you downloaded from above to c:\windows\system32.

Once the file has been replaced you need to set the permissions back to its original state.  Locate nlasvc.dll in c:\windows\system32 in the Windows File Manager.  Right mouse button click on the file and choose Properties.

Click Security tab; Click Advanced button; Click Owner tab; Click Edit button; Click Other User or Group and type in NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaller.

Press Ok on all dialogs until all property dialogs are closed.  Restart the PC and you should be back in business.

I hope this helps.

[DogTired]

See this article

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943996

When you try to manually start the service, you get the error mentioned below. This problem may also occur for the DHCP Client service, or the ?Diagnostic Policy Service? service.

[dave_fugi]

I had exactly the same problem in Windows 7 Ultimate which inadvertently caused Windows updates to fail.

This is a corruption in the Windows 7 'Event Log' service. I searched high and low on several different forums all to no avail. Nobody seemed to have a solution. I managed to solve the problem myself by loading the Windows 7 'Setup.exe' whilst logged into Windows 7 and performed an upgrade. This will re-install Windows 7 without effecting any of your data or programs already installed. Moreover, it will fix the corrupted 'Event Log' service.
After installing Windows 7 over the existing installation, it fixes any service issues and now, not only is the Event Log service starting, but the Windows updates are successfully  installing.

!As a precaution though, I would strongly advise you to backup your data prior to perform this task.

[tim5700]

Had the same issue with an MS Windows Server 2003 box.  The MS article here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/895149 did not work for me.

However, after runnning Process Monitor I gave the network service rights to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\dhcp\Parameters

Afterwards, the DHCP client service worked.

Follow the directions on the support link, then do the same for the registry key above.

BV EDIT: Fixed