Group Policy Client service does not start

Question

Hi,
As soon as I (administrator on my PC) logon to Windows 7, I get a message saying that the Group Policy Client service failed to start. I'm not sure why I'm getting this error even though the dependencies are very much up and running..
Below is the error message I get in the notification area as soon as I logon
Failed to connect to a windows service
Windows could not connect to the Group Policy Client service. This problem prevents stndard users from logging on to the system.
As an administrative user, you can review the System Event Log for details about why the service didn't respond.

Answer 1

I FOUND SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM!
The crash of your computer caused that - you are absolutely right!
I had this issue on my laptop since November, and it really bugged me.  I sifted through the event log and found the pattern of events that preceded the issue, and, probably, caused it.
In short, the pattern is as follows: Windows updates run automatically as scheduled, and when reboot is initiated after the updates are finished, the computer crashes (probably during reboot sequence).  When it boots up, it reports that the last shutdown
was unexpected, and the issue begins to occur.
I spent 2 days trying to dig out a solution from the Internet, to no avail, until I came across
this page.  It doesn't say anything about this particular problem, but it gives more information about SVCHOST process that starts many services, including Group Policy Client.  It looks like during reboot a vital registry settings were lost during
crash and Group Policy Client "don't know" how to start.  Let me explain:
There are two places to look in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services this path should contain
gpsvc key (a folder), which is responsible for service parameters and configuration.  I found that the key was intact, so, you do not touch anything here - just check that the key exists.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SVCHOST This is the most important path you should look into, as it must contain the keys and values referred in the key #1.  Below are descriptions what must be present
there.
There must be Multi-String value called GPSvcGroup. My laptop was missing it.  So, you should create multi-string value named
GPSvcGroup and assign it value GPSvc.
Next, you must create a key (a folder) and name it GPSvcGroup - this key normally should be there, but, again, it was missin on my laptop.
Then open newly-created GPSvcGroup folder and create 2 DWORD values:
First called AuthenticationCapabilities and you must give it a value of 0x00003020 (or 12320 in decimal)
Second is called CoInitializeSecurityParam and it must have value of 1.
Once you complete all steps above, reboot the computer and the problem will be fixed.
Video walkthrough for those who are not very technical is here: http://youtu.be/4m5KEmckWK4
I am so relieved I was able to fix it, and hope this will help others with the similar issue.