Windows 8.1 - Windows Couldn't connect to the System Event Notification Service service

Question

I have an issue that has been bothering me for a while on new 8.1 computers. Standard users are not able to log into the computer on the first try consistently. They receive the error message: Group Policy client service failed the sign-in access is
denied. They are stuck at the logon screen.
If an administrator logs in (local or domain), they can log in but get a black desktop with two error messages. The first is Location is Not available - C:\Windows\system32\config\systemprofile\Desktop is unavailable. The second error message is a popup
balloon. It states "Failed to Connect to a Windows service. Windows couldn't connect to the System Event Notification Service service."
When a standard user attempts to log in, event viewer records three warnings. They are listed in order from oldest to newest
The winlogon notification subscriber <Profiles> was unavailable to handle a critical notification event. -Logged 9:14:44
The winlogon notification subscriber <GPClient> failed a critical notification event. - Logged 9:14:44
The winlogon notification subscriber <Profiles> was unavailable to handle a notification event. - Logged 9:14:49
After a reboot, users still have the issue. I noticed that the user profile services and system event notification service are not running though their startup type is automatic. They start after a minute or two.

Answer 1

Hi Joseph__Moody,
Based on your description ,I assume it is a domain environment .First of all ,I would suggest you to try to update all the machine .
"I have an issue that has been bothering me for a while on new 8.1 computers"
Do you mean all the Windows 8.1 machine share the same symptom or just a specific one ?Did the machine work correctly before ?When did the issue start to occur ?Have you installed any third party software before ?Can we operate the machine when we login with
an administrator account ?
If the issue occurred with the specific machine :
"The first is Location is Not available - C:\Windows\system32\config\systemprofile\Desktop is unavailable."
Please try the following suggestions if we can operate the machine when we login with the administrator account :
Open Windows Explorer and navigate to: C:\Windows\system32\config\systemprofile and verify if it has the Desktop folder there.If the folder doesn`t exit, we can copy from C:\users\Default\Desktop location(This folder is hidden by default).
We also can try the following suggestions to have a troubleshoot :
1.Run "sfc /scannow"or "dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth" to check the health of the system files.
2.Perform a full scan with an antivirus software.
3."They start after a minute or two."
I suspect there is a third party service confilct here. Please perform a clean boot to verify whether there is a third party conflict here .
How to perform a clean boot in Windows
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/929135
If the issue occurred with multiple machines in the domian ,I would suggest you to check whether you have configured any logon scripts and logon group policy .We can remove the machine from the domain to have  a troubleshoot .
If the issue occurred recently ,we can perform a system restore to recover the machine to a previous normal point.
Best regards
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