question

PatrickMeier-4903 avatar image
0 Votes"
PatrickMeier-4903 asked RenaudYannick-9113 answered

WinHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Service (WinHttpAutoProxySvc) no longer works

Hello,

Various Windows functions no longer work on several Windows computers:
- Windows Search; it is no longer possible to open the start menu and enter a word
- Windows Updates; When I open the Windows Updates view in Computer Settings, only the three dots appear. It does not stop loading anymore.
- It is no longer possible to open the mail settings in Control Panel; Outlook does not work too
- Firefox does not work; can't open a web page
- Edge can open web pages but can't download files correctly
- In Computer Settings > Network & Internet, the Ethernet section has disappeared. The proxy section cannot be opened.

One of these computers was only set up with Windows 10 20H2 on April 6, 2021.

Windows specifications
Edition: Windows 10 Education
Version: 20H2
OS build: 19042.928
Experience: Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.551.0

The event log contains the following suspicious entry:

The WinHTTP-Web Proxy Auto-Discovery-Service service terminated with the following service-specific error:
Access is denied.
Event ID: 7024

So, the WinHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Service (WinHttpAutoProxySvc) no longer works.


We tried to start the service manually (as admin):
- In services.msc > right click => everything is greyed out
- sc start winhttpautoproxysvc => sc query winhttpautoproxysvc => state = 1 stopped
- net start winhttpautoproxysvc => A service specific error occured: 5.

If the service is disabled via registry, the above Windows functions work again.

We took the following further steps:
- We have tried to repair Windows with dism and sfc (via Windows Update and offline image).
- We have uninstalled drivers and programs.
- We compared WinHttpAutoProxySvc's registry entries with the entries on a working Windows. Everything looks the same.

Nothing helps.

Does anyone else have any ideas? How can we find out where the service does not have access?

windows-10-general
· 2
5 |1600 characters needed characters left characters exceeded

Up to 10 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 3.0 MiB each and 30.0 MiB total.

Hi,

I experienced exactly the same issue:
- windows search doesn't appears
- IE doesn't start,but is visible in Task Manager
- ...

In my case, I fix by restarting the PC. The problem is that the PCs deployed are not restarted periodically, and so the issue occurs after some days.
Did you find any cause/solution?

thanks a lot



0 Votes 0 ·

Hi,
I am facing the same problem from the last 10 months. This problem is there in my laptop since the first day of buying it. From the last 10 months, I am in exaggerating mental stress and thinking that I have got a defected piece. I have tried each and every method but problem couldn't be fixed. Now there is only 40 days warranty left of my laptop.
Please help me with my Asus vivobook 14, windows 10.

0 Votes 0 ·
XiaoweiHe-MSFT avatar image
0 Votes"
XiaoweiHe-MSFT answered PatrickMeier-4903 commented

Hi,

If you are not using proxy autoconfig, then you can safely disable this service. If you would like to know the why the service affect the Windows functions, it's recommended to open a case with MS for deep troubleshooting.

Below is the link to open a case with MS:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/gp/customer-service-phone-numbers

Thanks for your time!
Best Regards,
Anne


If the Answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.
Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.



· 1
5 |1600 characters needed characters left characters exceeded

Up to 10 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 3.0 MiB each and 30.0 MiB total.

Hi Anne,

Thank you for your reply. We have disabled the service in the registry. So far everything works normally. We will probably still open a case with Microsoft. We would like to know what is the cause of this problem. Even if only a small amount of our computers are affected by it.

Best regards,
Patrick

0 Votes 0 ·
RenaudYannick-9113 avatar image
0 Votes"
RenaudYannick-9113 answered

Hi,

For information, we don't know exactly what is the problem, but we fix it by disabling 2 services:
- WebHttpAutoProxySvc
- Ip Helper service

Those services are not usefull for us.

Tanks a lot for your comments




5 |1600 characters needed characters left characters exceeded

Up to 10 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 3.0 MiB each and 30.0 MiB total.