How to Fix Diagnostics Policy Service Is Not Running Error [Internet Problem]

Internet was working fine on my laptop and other portable devices. But when I turned on my PC the next day it was showing no internet access or limited connectivity on the wireless icon in the Windows status bar. I was facing diagnostics policy service is not running error when I tried to diagnose the network problem. If you are facing the same problem on your Windows 10, 8 or 7 computer, then follow the steps below to fix this error.

If you have fixed this problem once and occurs again then you must read this comment below or repair the system files that might help you to solve the problem again.

Fix Diagnostics Policy Service Error

Before trying diagnostics utility, I rebooted the network devices like modem and router. But the internet wasn’t working on my PC. Then I used the same internet connection on another machine, and it was working fine. I thought something is wrong with my Windows network settings and I performed the following steps to solve the problem. You should follow these steps to fix the problem.

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  1. Try to troubleshoot the problem using Windows built-in Network Diagnostics tool. Right-click on the limited connection network/WiFi icon in the status bar and select “Troubleshoot Problems” from the menu.
    No internet access Windows
  2. Diagnostics tool will take some time to analyze Windows network settings and will show you the problem if found any and ask to fix that.
  3. If you are getting an error message like “The Diagnostics Policy Service Is Not Running.” The error shows that the diagnostics service is not running and we need to run the diagnostics policy service and fix the problem.
    Error the diagnostics policy service is not running
  4. Press shortcut Windows+Q keys or Press the Windows key from keyboard and then type cmd, this will search the Command Prompt. Right-click on Command Prompt search result and select “Run as Administrator” option from the menu.
    run-command-prompt
  5. In the Command Prompt Window, you need to run the following two commands one by one
    net localgroup Administrators /add networkservice
    net localgroup Administrators /add localservice
    If the command executed successfully, then you will see the success message as shown below.
    NOTE: If you are getting any error while running these commands. Make sure you run the command prompt as administrator. Also, try to modify the command, just replace /add with /delete and run both commands. After that rerun both commands with /add same as mentioned above or showing in the screenshot below.
    add-to-localgroup
  6. Type Exit and hit Enter to close the command prompt. Now, restart your computer to apply the changes.
  7. Now, troubleshoot problem again see step-1 above.

See also: View Windows Start-up and Shutdown Time Log

I hope your problem will be solved now, and you can enjoy internet on your computer.

Fix the root cause of “Diagnostics Policy Service Is Not Running”

One of our expert readers shared his opinion. The above method may allow accessing the internet, but this doesn’t fix the root cause which is the system’s files corruption. To fix internet problem properly you need to repair the system files and restore it. To do that you need to follow these steps.

Restore your Windows to an early restore point to undo system changes that may cause system files corruption.

  1. Press Windows key from keyboard and type “system protect” to search it. In the search results click “Create restore point” option.
  2. In the System Protection window, make sure Windows partition is selected under the “Protection Settings” section. Like in my case C: System drive.
  3. Now, click the “System Restore” button and follow the on-screen instruction to revert back your Windows to the latest restore point. At this step, you can check if your internet is working without any error. If the problem persists then continue reading.
  4. Once, restore completed open up the Command Prompt as Administrator. Simply press Windows key and type “cmd” and then in the search results right-click on the Command Prompt and select “Run as Administrator” option.
  5. In the command prompt windows type the command
    sfc /scannow
    this command starts scanning your files to find any corrupt system files. If this command failed to fix corrupt files automatically then it will give some suggestions. As you can see below in screenshot this found some corrupt files but unable to fix the problem automatically.
    scan system files to fix errors
  6. In that case, you should run the following commands. I would suggest, before running the following command you should read about DISM here on Microsoft website.
    DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
  7. After running this command reboot your computer and scan once again with the command sfc /scannow and it should return without any corrupt files found.

Check Diagnostic Policy Service Status

You can also check the diagnostic policy service status form the Windows Services utility.

  • Press Windows+R keys to open the Run window, type command "services.msc” and hit OK.
  • In the Services window scroll down to find a service with the name “Diagnostic Policy Service.” Right-click on this and select Properties, here make sure this service is up and running as shown below.
    running diagnostic policy service local computer

Share your experience below in comments. If you still having the same problem or any other related problem, please reply below. We will be happy to answer your questions.

229 comments… add one
Shailesh September 15, 2015, 1:19 am

After executing these steps also I am getting error as below

Windows could not start the diagnostic policy service on local computer.
error 5: access is denied

Ankit October 28, 2015, 11:29 pm

I am also facing the same problem. When I applied these fixes its works fine for some time and then it start the same problem…have you found the solution for the same

Ahmed December 19, 2015, 12:57 am

Run command prompt with Admin privileges..

Abdassalaam October 31, 2016, 3:26 am

TY BRO YOU SAVED MY SISTER CPU and my hide

BT July 4, 2016, 1:57 am

When I try and run the ‘net local group….”.. Under administrator , it says” the specified account name is already a member of the group”… I’m stumped

Ahmed July 11, 2016, 5:24 pm

Then reboot you computer and check diagnostic policy service status as mentioned above in the guide.

Felipe September 24, 2016, 1:03 pm

Same problem, i do reboot the computer and the problem is still there

Bala Krish August 4, 2017, 6:58 pm

please tell me what to do

Steve December 10, 2017, 8:16 am

Tried all these and still not working.

brenbeau January 10, 2018, 10:11 am

AWESOME FIX…SAVED ME. MY KIDS WERE TAKING OVER MY COMPUTER BECAUSE THEIR INTERNET DID NOT WORK…THANKS FOR SHARING!!!

Piku May 13, 2018, 7:55 pm

My pc shows “the digonistic policy service on local computer started and then stopped.some service stop automatically if they are not in use by other services or program”.

Jeff August 7, 2019, 8:07 am

Make sure to run as admin.
Step 4 above.
You will get through but I am facing the next problem when trying to run the Diagnostic Policy Service I get Error 1079

running under different accounts…”Professional” thirds parties.
“All your bases are belong to US”

Rabindra chetri June 7, 2020, 9:06 am

Windows could not start the diagnostic policy service on local computer.
error 5: access is denied

Aryan September 18, 2015, 5:47 pm

It’s not working…

Dhananjaya October 9, 2015, 10:21 am

Windows could not start the diagnostic policy service on local computer.
error 5: access is denied

Masoud March 18, 2016, 1:13 pm

How can I fix error5:access denied

Ahmed March 22, 2016, 5:41 pm

Please make sure you have admin rights and you run Command Prompt as an Administrator.

Chaitanya December 2, 2016, 6:37 pm

Did u found the solution? I’M also facing the same problem..

Same problem April 11, 2017, 9:34 am

Same problem

Saurabh bansal June 20, 2017, 11:35 pm

Just make a new adminstrator or guest account by selecting “add another account”
And then go to “services.msc “and click on “log on “option select ” “advance” then “find now” and finally select newly add account ..

I hope this will work ..

Try it!!!

Chaudhary August 21, 2017, 3:14 pm

I m also facing the same problem ,plz help..☺

ally October 31, 2015, 6:36 am

It works now since using run as administrator. Thx

SJ December 10, 2015, 6:47 pm

It works fine now, thank you so much!

Marissa December 15, 2015, 7:57 pm

I tried all steps got the same messages but it is not working. I have windows 8

John McNally January 23, 2018, 6:50 pm

Same thing for me, I do everything get the same message yet does not work

Dave December 16, 2015, 2:59 am

I did this solution a week ago but the problem has reoccurred and now this solution will no longer work. The first command completes successfully but after inputting the second command I get the error, *The specified local group does no exist.*

When I try to repeat the solution again the first command then fails with the error, *System error 1378 has occurred. The specified account name is already a member of that group.*

Peter December 19, 2015, 2:31 pm

no work for me please help, both ways are useless on my laptop 🙁

juan o December 20, 2015, 11:14 pm

Thanks, I apreciate your imagenes instructions. It works

preston June 14, 2017, 10:27 pm

Im still having the same problem on my laptop running on windows 7, I can’t start my diagnostic polycy . please help me.

Rachel December 21, 2015, 4:08 am

Woo-hoo! The first option worked for me! Thanks so much!

Amber January 11, 2016, 9:00 pm

Thank you so much worked perfect. Make sure you are on as the admin and restart your computer. I have windows 10

Krissy January 12, 2016, 1:06 am

Thankyou sooooo much it didn’t just solve my IE11 issues but problems i had with Microsoft edge so thank you once again_!!!

CLIFF DEMS January 19, 2016, 4:33 pm

I have tried several times but it’s still not working d’t know what else to do can someone help me ??

Sean H January 23, 2016, 1:01 am

I had the issue today on my wife’s pc. I was able to do the command prompt through the ‘all apps/windows system’ then right click, more, run as administrator. After that, I did the steps listed for the command prompt above. 1 restart later, the pc has internet again. Thanks so much for this.

Ben February 1, 2016, 9:47 am

I have also tried every step in here with no luck. I ran come as admin and got the response “account name already a member ” and when I tried to use services.msc I got therefore 5:access denied”. Anyone have any more help?

Ken October 16, 2017, 7:49 pm

Thus is the 2nd time this has happened. The first fix I made using info I got here worked great. I tried doing the same thing today but I got the message “System error 1378 has occurred”. “The specified account name is already a member of the group”. I’m getting very frustrated with Microsoft and why is this happening?

Mel February 2, 2016, 7:47 am

I’m having the same problem as Ben. I can’t get past the error 5: access denied. And I ran the commands as admin. Does anyone have any ideas about this problem? Everything worked fine yesterday and I haven’t changed or installed anything. I’m guessing this is due to a Windows update.

Edie February 14, 2016, 4:21 am

I followed instructions, restarted and Internet access was restored. Yay! BUT, when I opened Services, the Diagnostic Services Policy showed AUTOMATIC, but was not running. I tried to start it, but got a message saying it started then stopped. So, I’m wondering if something else is wrong.

Karen February 14, 2016, 9:59 pm

Thank you so much for your very clear instructions; they worked. Other places I looked were giving the same instructions, but not nearly as clearly. I am now a hero to my friend whose frustration level had reached hysteria.

Steve G. February 21, 2016, 5:42 am

This worked great! Thank you!

hassan ammar March 3, 2016, 12:49 pm

No success yet. Any other solution please?

Vinny March 4, 2016, 11:05 pm

When I hit the start button in the diagnostic policy service properties I receive the following message
Windows could not start Diagnostic Policy Services on local computer
Error 5: Access is denied

Kat March 10, 2016, 5:56 pm

Thank you, thank you, thank you! This worked for me!

Steve March 16, 2016, 10:16 am

Done all steps it shows diagnostics police stopped. When i hit start i get error 5 cannot run on local computer
Can you help me please

same problem with error 5. Any answers yet? April 4, 2016, 11:31 pm

Same error 5. Any answer on this one yet

asS April 22, 2016, 8:51 pm

when u done type the name of dmc,click run as administrator

Sadra April 21, 2016, 7:18 pm

At first it said access denied but when I run as administrator it worked tnx 🙂

apriljadec April 28, 2016, 3:42 am

Wow! Thank you! It really worked! God bless you, thanks for sharing your knowledge.

mohamed Atia April 28, 2016, 3:41 pm

Great solution
Appreciated,,,,,

Michael rodgers April 30, 2016, 7:11 am

anyone here with Microsoft?

Tammie April 30, 2016, 11:38 pm

This worked once I typed exactly! Didn’t leave the space between Administrator /
Now I just have to figure out how to get my firewall working again, but that will be another day. Working from an old XP was rough!

Varsha May 14, 2016, 5:25 pm

Thanks a lot…..problem got solved.

Luis May 18, 2016, 5:48 am

After i execute the first command it tells me “The specified local group does not exist.” So any help on what i should do under these circumstances??

Tiffany Hayes May 27, 2016, 12:37 am

Tried everything listed above as an administrator and still getting the error 5 everyone else is getting…

Anyone have any other idea?

This all started for me after an update from Windows… is that the case for all of you as well? Starting to think they did this on purpose… :/ :# :{

Syreeia Jones July 1, 2016, 3:01 pm

I dont know if you’re still experiencing the problem or not but mine did the same after a windows update. 🙁

Samuel Newton May 27, 2016, 10:00 pm

The fix worked perfectly. Thanks

Akeem Adesanya June 25, 2016, 2:59 pm

It didn’t work on my pc. I will try it again.

Michelle June 30, 2016, 1:26 am

Thanks so much! Fixed my problem. Fingers-crossed it does not happen again!

Lauden K July 5, 2016, 12:49 pm

After running all the command the service cant start still giving error 5, what else can be done

Ahmed July 11, 2016, 5:18 pm

See the reply to 2nd comment above it seems rights issue with you as well.

per July 27, 2016, 11:59 am

thanks… big helps for me…

fawwaz August 18, 2016, 7:03 pm

Amazing its working

Ernieb44 August 22, 2016, 8:30 pm

I have the problem on a freshly installed Windows 7 (SP1) machine.. even reinstalled the OS.
Machine was installed in a workgroup with (domain) DNS servers supplied via DHCP.

This must be somewhat of a security “feature” Microsoft has build.. i’m digging further to find te real cause.. Unless someone else can clarify the cause of the problem..

prateek August 22, 2016, 9:42 pm

This solution worked well for me.. just wondering why this happened? I was working on my computer and i left it idle for some time. When i came back.. pc was in power saving mode. I tried moving the mouse etc but it was just showing blank/ no display on monitor. I did hard reset after that i started facing this problem.. Anyways all fine now. Thankyou!

Sahid Ahmed August 24, 2016, 7:15 pm

It’s work in my pc… .. Thank you so much

Edwin Holladay September 8, 2016, 2:09 am

Your steps worked like a charm! Thank you so much for these steps.

Phil September 10, 2016, 5:59 pm

Thanks so much 🙂

Pruthwiraj Ansuman September 20, 2016, 11:29 am

It worked. Thank you so much. 🙂

MITESH SONAGRA September 23, 2016, 7:04 pm

I follow all steps but I clicked on start so coming error 2:The system cannot find the file specified.
So I request give me a solution fast on my email
miteshsonagra5 gmail

Felipe September 24, 2016, 12:51 pm

I just can’t fix with these kind of solutions, is there any other way?

Aina Mardhiah September 30, 2016, 10:06 am

My result be like this
System error 1376 has occured.
The specific local group does not exist.
What I can do?

Aniket November 20, 2016, 10:53 am

I went through all of the steps and then got the following error.

Error 5: Access is denied.

How do I fix this? Thank you.

obaidur rahaman September 30, 2016, 11:32 am

Thanks a lot …

Ahmad October 1, 2016, 2:49 pm

works fine. thanks
just run cmd.exe as administrator

Miss H October 3, 2016, 3:25 am

This solution worked perfectly first try. Thank you so much for saving me hours of hassle. A+

Sandra October 3, 2016, 5:42 am

I followed everything and it worked as you said, but the diagnostics policy service won’t start. When i try it says error 5: Access is denied.

John A. October 16, 2016, 4:55 am

Best fix! I was done in less than 5mins!

Shubham October 22, 2016, 3:06 am

Got rid of this error.. in just few mins
Thanks man

Jishnu October 26, 2016, 8:00 pm

To implement method one, make sure your firewall is turned on. Sometimes through your antivirus software like McAfee. First i tried it didn’t worked but after turning on the firewall via McAfee it worked.

Akash November 2, 2016, 12:35 pm

After executing these steps also I am getting error as below

Windows could not start the diagnostic policy service on local computer.
error 5: access is denied

Joe November 6, 2016, 5:42 pm

Ty bro

Narmadha Sriram November 8, 2016, 7:09 pm

Thank you so much.It is working . Did a great help

Kym Possible November 10, 2016, 7:56 am

I went through all of the steps and then got the following error.

Error 5: Access is denied.

How do I fix this? Thank you.

Teja November 28, 2016, 12:29 pm

100% working thanks mate …love u

Niel torres November 28, 2016, 7:51 pm

Starting diagnostuc policy service leads me to error 1053: the service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion fucking statement

Chaitanya December 2, 2016, 8:28 pm

Thanks man! U solved my headache
?

Karan December 12, 2016, 8:43 am

Steps worked… thanks and keep posting

tina December 15, 2016, 11:44 pm

I followed the steps with the commands above and resolved the internet connection problem. Saved $120 that Dell would have charged me. Thanks!

TrickyWays December 17, 2016, 6:58 pm

Happy to hear that you saved something with the help of our guides.

Bezawit December 24, 2016, 9:52 pm

i tried it but not working for me
it displays error 1376 the specified local group does not exist
when i try to add network service & local service on the command prompt
even i tried to start the diagnostic service from service.msc but it displays error5
is there any other solution …?

TrickyWays December 28, 2016, 8:37 pm

Are you using Windows Home version?

Marilyn Murphy December 31, 2016, 11:01 pm

I tried everything to fix my limited access problem. I found this fix and it WORKED!!!!! Thank you so much.

Lindsey January 13, 2017, 5:57 am

This worked for me! However, the icon at the bottom of my screen in the tool/task bar shows a computer monitor with a red “x” going through it. Hopefully that’ll be gone next time I fire up my laptop. But, thank you so much!!

Danny January 14, 2017, 5:32 am

Thank you. It worked perfectly. 2017 – dell computer

Scott January 17, 2017, 9:11 pm

I followed the steps and it worked for a short period of time before the error returned. I keep using tgebsteps to reset, but is there a permanent fix.?

Josh January 25, 2017, 6:47 am

Thank you so much. I had the error 5 issue but it is fixed thanks

Nilavazhagan January 29, 2017, 7:15 pm

I have too facing this problem.. and followed above CMD steps.. works me fine.. thanks you for sharing useful tricks..

Eric February 10, 2017, 6:04 am

Hey thanks for this little tip. I was overclocking my cpu and I must have seriously made a mistake. I changed a few bios settings, ran intel burn test and my computer wigged the f out. After I got it stable and wiped out the overclock I had no internet and got that same error when running diagnostics.

My only mistake was not paying enough attention to your instructions to realize there are two separate commands there. I put in one thinking the other was a duplicate as they look very similar. lol

Thanks again. I’m back up and running!

As others are saying, make sure you are running an elevated command prompt (right click, “run as administrator”). I am running 7 pro so I just usually start typing “cmd” in the search bar on the start menu and right click when the suggestion appears. Also, you do need to restart, or in my case, restart twice, haha!

Joel February 16, 2017, 4:17 pm

I had this issue a month ago,
I fixed it using the above advice
Now I have the issue again, and I have the Error 5 issue.
Yes I’m running as Admin
I’m getting “The specified local group already exists”
I tried rebooting, removing it and the adding it again… no luck
I’ve gone into regedit and given it permission to edit from all users
I’ve gone to Run> services.msc then found it and tried to start… Access denied…. even after giving permission to all users.
I’m out of ideas

Joel February 16, 2017, 4:20 pm

My only possible idea is the diagnostics policy service its self is corrupt and cannot run.
If this is the case, how can I replace it with a functional copy.
Is it an integral part of the system? Do I need a fresh copy of windows?
Is it faulty hardware that could cause this? or is it a corrupt system?

Paul February 18, 2017, 2:01 pm

I’ve followed multiple identical cmd instructions in Administrator mode and STILL keep getting the error 5 message. I’ve read all these and other blog replies and corrected earlier errors. Still the same error 5. I only have one user account with administrator privileges.

Fady A.A. February 21, 2017, 12:13 pm

Thank you so much ?

DubiGrassón March 3, 2017, 5:02 pm

Thank you so much!!! The cmd as admin commands worked for me <3

nqaba March 9, 2017, 2:22 am

thanks it worked

Paul Alton April 2, 2017, 4:40 pm

I have a Lenovo TAB2-A with Windows10. Never before have I had so many problems with a computer and Windows10 updates. It only has 32Gbt Drive, which couldn’t handle the latest W10 major upgrade. I had to install a 32Gbt microSD to tx all data files and some applications before W10 would complete the update. The Reason for leaving this message is that I just had another update which stopped my wifi working or allowing access to the internet, even slowed the device to a crawl and I had difficulty getting at the Settings and Control Panel. I followed your instructions about this “The Diagnostics Policy Service Is Not Running” problem and it worked. Well done and thanks for the techno info.

Chisom April 4, 2017, 4:05 am

Thank you soo much, worked like a dream

Maggi April 6, 2017, 12:48 pm

Thanks trickyways ? working fine

csloh April 8, 2017, 5:00 pm

No use if happen every times, window diagnostic policy service state running in services but it still running error many times. This solution cannot one times solves clear forever. it will still not running after someday and sometimes cause 0-xc000021a error. mostly after 0-xc000021a error network return normal for a time.

Lancelot Tonacao April 9, 2017, 8:30 am

It works in my laptop
Thanks a lot 🙂

Edwin chege April 13, 2017, 3:03 pm

This is helpful

Susan April 14, 2017, 1:08 am

I did all this, very easy, thank you! Got to ge point where I click start on the service properties and I get Error 5: Access is denied. Any suggestions? Thank you! I will continue to looks

kelly April 14, 2017, 8:50 pm

you are amazing!!! thank you so much!!!!

Gigi April 17, 2017, 5:59 am

It worked!!!! Thaaaaaank you!!!

Sayed April 20, 2017, 11:24 am

Thanks a lot

Siddharth April 22, 2017, 9:12 pm

After typing the first line
net localgroup Administrators /add networkservice

I m getting as “ The specified account name is already a member of the group.”
Kindly tell me what to do

Jot April 24, 2017, 2:33 pm

Thanks fo sharing ! Got solution !

Frank April 29, 2017, 9:43 pm

After following steps it solved the issue

Paul May 2, 2017, 9:50 pm

Same thing here, error 5 message. Thanks anyway for a crystal clear instruction path. Just a shame it didn’t work for me.

behzadhn May 2, 2017, 10:39 pm

I did the second step and i hit start for diagnostic policy it says: windows could not start the diagnostic services on local computer
Plz help

Paul May 4, 2017, 5:10 pm

Hi guys. I followed the (very clear – many thanks) instructions above and it all entered OK but didn’t fix the problem. However, I found this on another forum from someone going by the name Spunk.Funk. and it works!
Go to Start/Search and type in devmgmt.msc
Right click the devmgmt.msc icon and click on Run As Administrator. The Device Manager box opens.
Click on Network Adaptors to open it. Right click on each one in the list and uninstall it as the option appears.
Once this is done, right click on any device (I picked Monitors) and click on the option Scan For Hardware Changes.
This should start a new hardware wizard and re-install the appropriate adaptors. After a few flickers of the screen – Presto. Internet back on , yippee. Many thanks to Spunk.Funk (the thread was closed). Hope this works for you.

Emmy May 18, 2017, 1:26 pm

thanks. It works

Spenser May 8, 2017, 2:49 am

For all the people saying they are getting the code:5 error just ignore it and type the same code in the above fix photo above again below the error message (hit enter will give u new start line.) Type in the code this guy states again n photo above EXACTLY AS IT IS WRITTEN AND WITH SPACES. THEN REGARDLESS IF ERROR MESSAGE TYPE AGAIN. I HAD THE SAME ERROR MESSAGE THE 1ST TIME I TRIED TWO in put it. I just skipped it and typed in the command line again above all comments, twice. Then I closed it out as it staTed it was good. Then I did a restart and it started fine. You may have two put in the two command lines a few times.

Jay May 10, 2017, 11:27 pm

It worked like a charm, thanks man.

Oluwabudo May 17, 2017, 6:58 pm

dis post was really helpful thanks…. but instead of opening services after running the command i think its better to just reboot the system first.

Alik May 19, 2017, 6:41 pm

it’s work!
THX

Ritesh Srivastav May 19, 2017, 10:08 pm

Waaaooooo.. It just worked like Slice on cake for my Laptop.. Gr8.. Many Many Thanks

oscar May 19, 2017, 11:15 pm

Am also experiencing error-5 Acces denied what do I do ?

julio June 5, 2017, 10:11 pm

I was able to overcome the “error 5 – access denied” situation by simply uninstalling the offending network card (under Device Manager) and then reinstalling (in Device Manager).

Bharath kumar June 6, 2017, 2:08 pm

Man genius you are..thanks a lot

Munguti June 15, 2017, 1:28 pm

thanks this worked like a charm

Munguti June 15, 2017, 1:29 pm

thanx , this worked like a charm

Michael June 21, 2017, 4:29 pm

I also get the error 5 message, I have tried all advices, and the two groups are already added with the cmd window. Please, how do I fix the error 5 message? 🙁

Vaseem June 24, 2017, 9:14 am

Thanx bro.. it worked✌️✌️

WonderPaul June 25, 2017, 8:07 pm

Wow! works Great! Thanks man!

BYE WINDOWS July 2, 2017, 12:47 am

All of this just reminds me why I love my iPad so much. IT JUST WORKS!!!

Derek July 6, 2017, 2:41 am

I know this is an old thread, but this advice is just plain bad. If you’ve added localservice and/or networkservice into your Administrators group, I would highly recommend you remove them as soon as possible. These accounts were created to allow services to get the access they need without needing administrative rights. They were never designed to be added to the Administrators group and never should be! This fix basically gives unfettered access to anything running as a service or that uses the Network Service account.

I’m still looking for a real fix for this, but the one from hhgeise is not it. It may appear to fix it now, but you’ve basically locked the back door after knocking out the front wall.

David July 6, 2017, 2:44 pm

Thank you , followed the steps and computer back running fine .
I appreciate the help , cheers .

Richie July 23, 2017, 9:04 pm

Thank you tricky ways! Your solution corrected my problem. Very nice of you to post! 🙂

SP August 1, 2017, 6:31 pm

Those two DOS commands did the trick! Thanks for this.

roman August 12, 2017, 8:39 am

i tried this exactly how it told me to do it, but it made my laptop really slow. How do i fix this?

Joshua August 13, 2017, 12:08 am

This CMD command worked like a charm so far and are now running again in the services which they were not able to come back on. Now just need to restart the PC, hope this solved the problem.
So far thanx

Hrishi k August 21, 2017, 9:25 pm

Thank you! worked for me.

Astroboy Chandan August 22, 2017, 5:33 pm

thank u bro 4 ur kind suggestion….it worked for me…

JULINA August 24, 2017, 8:16 am

I have tried to enter both command, and its working but diagnostic policy service still not working. It show error. Network show unidentified. Please help to advice. Thanks

BYE WINDOWS August 30, 2017, 1:50 am

Is anyone else also sick and tired of all the time that gets lost dealing with pc problems, constant update interruptions, computer slowing down?????? I’m done with Microsoft. I’m telling get an Apple, it just works. I especially recommend the iPad Pro: quickly turn on (No boot up time) cellular connectivity, the awesome onscreen keyboard, endless apps to do ANYTHING and best of all IT JUST WORKS!!!!!!!!

Markedzoni September 4, 2017, 2:04 am

Thank you guys !

jide September 5, 2017, 10:04 pm

Wonderful. Thanks very much

Mike September 10, 2017, 3:15 pm

Problem fixed! Thanks a lot!

Oscar September 18, 2017, 6:33 pm

The command prompt worked perfectly. Thanks!
Btw, what causes this issue in the first place?

Bombay November 9, 2018, 8:39 pm

Windows update

Sean O'Connor October 1, 2017, 12:19 pm

Thank you very much!

Mangwiro Kutama October 3, 2017, 9:42 am

Awesome☺

Ms 3 years October 8, 2017, 8:21 am

Yes! 3 years! And it ended with this process. Thank you very much!

Robert caddell October 11, 2017, 6:33 am

I was having problems with my diagnostic service, followed your instructions and it’s now working ( thank you ) but my wireless is still not working, I’ve tried everything I can think of , all the troubleshooter days is Ethernet cable unplugged, it won’t even recognize my router.

Larry Stephenson October 14, 2017, 8:20 pm

I experienced the “Diagnostics Policy Services not running “ on my work laptop. This was a major problem as it had all my work information on it. I panicked and had my IT person at work try to fix it, that didn’t work. I next contacted Dell Tech Support, that didn’t work either. They suggested I take it to a local computer service company. I finally googled it and found this website. I tried the “cmd” command and entered the information on this website, and it worked! Thank you for saving my laptop. Even Dell couldn’t fix their own laptop! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it!
Respectfully,
Larry S Reno, NV.

Ayushiverma October 29, 2017, 7:48 pm

It doesn’t work??? it is written that system error 5 has occurred what should I do know plzz replay I am in stress
Plźzz help ?????????????

Dawood Morris November 12, 2017, 8:19 pm

Thanks man, you just really saved my day. Keep up!

Ben Varela November 14, 2017, 4:03 am

I’m impressed, Ahmed, worked like a charm.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

Ben

elson turcotte November 14, 2017, 7:31 pm

Thank You Thank You

Steve November 18, 2017, 8:00 pm

Can’t thank you enough for this fix – very well explained and worked like a charm on Win7

Josiah Iwoketok November 20, 2017, 3:05 pm

Thank you bro, you save me

Naga November 23, 2017, 9:30 pm

Thanks, it worked.

Saeed Shoeybi November 24, 2017, 12:34 pm

Hello THANK u it was worked mates!

AS November 26, 2017, 4:35 am

Thanks that worked

Holly December 3, 2017, 12:47 am

I have done both steps. The first step worked after I restarted my laptop and stayed connected for a little bit and disconnected again. I tried troubleshooting like instructed but said Diagnostic Policy Service not running again. So I did the second step and right clicked on DPS and it says “Windows could not start the DPS service on Local Computer. Error 1079: The account specified for this service is different from the account specified for other services running in the same process”
Does anyone know what I can do to resolve this issue?

Punshiraj December 5, 2017, 10:23 pm

Thank you Brother. My laptop has net access after execution of your demonstration. Thanks once again.

Taylor December 13, 2017, 9:13 pm

What are you supposed to do when only one of the commands shows up completed successfully?
When I typed in the second command for local group administrator into at local service the syntax of this command said net local group group name comment text domain then it said group name add comment tax delete domain then the third line set group name empty parentheses that says add delete domain what does that mean?

Mushtaq December 17, 2017, 9:34 am

Error 5: Access is denied. I have windows 7. Can anybody help plz

J December 20, 2017, 12:12 am

Worked perfectly.! For those having issues, make sure you are typing he script correctly.!

Ziv December 20, 2017, 3:07 am

Thanks !!!

J December 22, 2017, 6:39 am

HELP.!!!!

Although the steps gave me access to the internet, it has caused mulitple problems. I can no longer click on my notifications on the start bar or click on the start menu. The start menu button on the computer will not pull it up either. I can not watch any videos that I have saved on my computer. It brings up a pop up that says “windows cannot find “”. Make sure you typed the name correctly, then try again. I truly need some help. I feel like I have gotten schemed. Should have done more research. Hopefully I can figure out a solution…

Suw Dram December 29, 2017, 3:17 pm

I have the same problem but I tried both two methods non of them work it shows me (system error 5 has occurred)
Please help me to fix this problem.

Paul December 30, 2017, 12:04 am

Thank you, worked first time 🙂

CHANDA G January 6, 2018, 2:23 pm

After each command iam getting this result” The syntax of this command is:
NET LOCALGROUP
[groupname[/COMMENT: “text”]] [/DOMAIN]
groupname {/ADD [/COMMENT:” text “]: /DELETE} [/DOMAIN]
groupname name […] {/ADD : /DELETE } [/DOMAIN]

HOW DO I proceed?

TrickyWays January 8, 2018, 1:03 pm

Result of your command telling you are missing parameters and have to type complete command. Please see the step-5 in the guide for complete command syntax. If you still have any question please reply, Thanks.

G January 10, 2018, 5:10 pm

I did all the steps, Yes the service status says “Stopped” How do i change it to “Running” Status? please help

Femi January 16, 2018, 4:23 pm

Thank you so much. This solved my problem.

Mubaraq January 18, 2018, 8:04 pm

Thanks Man, it really helped! i had wandered around before i came across your article. it was indeed great. Thanks.

Robin Oakley February 22, 2018, 12:22 am

I have a sony viao unltrabook. model SVT1311A11L.
It had been a nigthmare since I bought it new years back.
Now it wont go online. As per above: Diagnositc Policy Service and when I try to start it I get Error 5:Access Denied messge.
What can I do? Please help.

Sharista March 1, 2018, 12:55 am

Thank you so much. It worked. I had the exact same problem.

mahima March 3, 2018, 12:17 pm

thanks a lot .my internet is now working but the another step of checking if the service status has to be “Running” .it’s showing” stopped” instead. does it gonna affect my network thing any longer?

Dan March 7, 2018, 3:17 am

It worked!
Thanks a bunch. You saved the day…?

Merida March 10, 2018, 10:23 am

My service status is stopped. So i try to hit the start button. Then came out this: error 1053: The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion..idk what to do next..

John April 6, 2018, 3:07 am

It didn’t work, but then it did.

I tried the commands as shown a few times and repeatedly got error messages. Hmmm. So I changed both commands from /add to /delete and they were successful.

Then I used the /add commands as shown and they worked the first time.

So thank you very much for putting me on the right path. This was on an old HP Pavilion m7-1015dx
entertainment laptop running Windows 7.

Nadeem April 8, 2018, 9:26 am

Thanks alot bro! It worked

Sally April 12, 2018, 7:41 pm

I am in the services.csm and instead of it being a command for windows it pops us as command for a user and then it denies the command. Any help in fixing this would be great!

trong April 26, 2018, 9:13 am

thank you i did it

denis randa May 22, 2018, 1:28 pm

i have tried but still getting the same message Policy service not running

Renata Gatti June 1, 2018, 5:22 pm

Omg!!!!!!!!!
DUUUUUUUUDE!
I haven’t been able to connect to the internet for over a month after a stupid windows update. I tried everything. Absolutely everything. I even restored my computer 5 times.
So freaking frustrating.
The. I found this and INSTANTLY after I followed the steps it connected. I didn’t even need to restart the darn thing

Thank you so much and I swear! This is my LAST laptop ever. I’m getting a Mac.
Every single time there’s a Windows update something gets messed up. I just spent 200 bucks to fix it not longer ago and I refuse to put more money In This thing. I was actually about to just throw it out and i found your instructions. Thank you so so so so much

Marcel June 11, 2018, 12:47 am

Problem Solved !!!
It’s the second time I confronted this issue on Windows 7 Diagnostics Policy Service.
But this time around the fix was to first “Delete” the two commands one by one.

net localgroup Administrators /delet networkservice
net localgroup Administrators /delet localservice

Then do a “Restart”, open the Command Prompt as “Administrator” and put fix on place again.

net localgroup Administrators /add networkservice
net localgroup Administrators /add localservice

******This for sure will do the trick *******

Best regards to all
And thanks to TrickyWays writers for the solution.

Arman June 14, 2018, 3:50 pm

Thank you ver much I hope all of your problems be solved.

Sue June 30, 2018, 5:11 am

Thanks so much for this solution! It worked perfectly first time and saved me having to get our work technician to come in and fix my laptop.

Felix July 8, 2018, 11:15 am

Well done, thanks a lot.
Don’t forget to run as adm 🙂

Ashton July 13, 2018, 11:10 am

I was having the same issue with the error until I used this method.

go to start ,search and type:- cmd, right click on returned cmd.exe and select “run as administrator” at the prompt type:-

net localgroup Administrators /add networkservice
press enter then type:
net localgroup Administrators /add localservice
press enter then type:
exit
press enter and restart your computer

Open services and make sure the service is started.

Jazz Botor August 25, 2018, 7:49 pm

Thank you for this very helpful methods!

chrisfreeman August 31, 2018, 6:08 am

perfect! Thanks, man.

edan September 9, 2018, 6:10 pm

the diagnostic policy service service on local computer started and then stopped automaticaly.if not in use by other services ;please help

Eds October 13, 2018, 1:35 pm

Im having the same issue and doesn’t know how to fix this

Candace September 12, 2018, 10:42 pm

Thank you Thank you for this thread!!!! Has helped my work morning get back on track after spending last 1.5 hours trying to figure out why I had no internet when it worked fine yesterday when I left it.

Dom October 11, 2018, 5:31 pm

Wow, this works a treat. So very grateful.

Lady October 13, 2018, 1:28 pm

Tried checking the Diagnostic Service Properties but the Service status shows “Stopped”. I tried hitting Start but got the warning ⚠️ The Diagnostic Policy Service service on Local Computer started and then stopped. Some services stop automatically if they are not in use by other services or programs.
Can someone please help? Thanks!

Ray Leftridge November 8, 2018, 8:40 pm

Thanks, it worked for me. No problems connecting to the Internet!

Todd C December 19, 2018, 5:12 am

This worked immediately — thank you. Losing internet (for no apparent reason) is so frustrating… you’re a lifesaver!

Giridharan December 20, 2018, 3:48 pm

While trying to on diagnostics policy service.. the access has been denied. What to do?

TrickyWays December 24, 2018, 6:22 pm

Please see the step-4 above that will solve your problem, If still having any issue please reply.

Robert Martyn January 5, 2019, 3:34 am

Beautious Maximus !!!

Teo Smoot February 20, 2019, 12:14 am

This worked perfectly. THANKS!

Kigerzz February 24, 2019, 6:14 am

I love you! The first method worked out for me

Rupak March 18, 2019, 11:32 am

Many Thanks, it worked after running cmd.exe as admin and run those to syntaxes.

Adebare April 12, 2019, 8:03 am

Thank you so much!! My system is actually working so fine after completing those commands.. Thanks a lot. I’m so happy.

samjay April 12, 2019, 10:26 pm

wow. it works perfectly. thanks so much God bless you

Nellie June 4, 2019, 1:08 pm

I went to Diagnostic Policy Service Properties…when I try to start the Service it says “Windows could not start the Diagnostic Policy Service on Local Computer.” Error 5: Access is denied.

Please help… I really need to use my laptop

Jacqui July 13, 2019, 1:02 am

Did you ever find the solution to this problem? I’m having the same error and cannot get my laptop to connect to any network.

Nancy@Syracuse,NY June 16, 2019, 12:44 am

If you were here right now I would give you the BIGGEST hug. It worked and prob saved me tons of $. I had a tech from the cable co. and he couldn’t get it to work. I wish you had a way to leave you a donation, I def would.

[email protected] June 27, 2019, 12:24 pm

OH! Wow! It ‘s work! Thank you very much.
[email protected]

Varun K July 9, 2019, 12:00 pm

This solution works perfectly. thanks team.

Justin July 9, 2019, 2:43 pm

It worked the first time but now it does not work anymore. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers from the menu, and retyped all of the commands multiple times. It wont allow me to force the diagnostic policy to start and i cant even recover the computer as it just stops and says it cant do it. Please help

Daniel July 9, 2019, 5:29 pm

Thank you So much Tricky Ways.. i can enjoy internet again

Greg July 15, 2019, 3:33 am

Updated to 1903, wouldnt get an ip address, dhcp and Diag policy service refusing to start, windows activation saying not activated, tried a couple of things incl chkdsk and sfc (both did repair found errors) running these to commands from an elevated cmd worked a treat thanks

Andrew July 19, 2019, 5:25 am

Service status: Stopped how do I change it to say running, clicking on Start pulls up Error 5: Access is denied??? Help

HARJINDER SINGH July 19, 2019, 9:23 pm

Thank you so much.. I appriciate it

Rupinder Singh July 22, 2019, 8:29 am

Thanks…it works

Gary Schieffer August 10, 2019, 1:23 am

I went to Diagnostic Policy Service Properties…when I try to start the Service it says “Windows could not start the Diagnostic Policy Service on Local Computer.” Error 5: Access is denied.

Lucious De'Morte August 28, 2019, 8:35 am

Thank you so much! This works!

Sherry September 16, 2019, 11:50 pm

Thank you!

Michael L August 28, 2019, 12:15 am

This may help you gain Internet access, but it is bad security in the long run and does not fix the bigger issues with the system.
Better to fix the root cause, which is almost certainly corruption in the system files. First do a recovery and restore latest automatic system restore point. Then after it boots, use sfc /scannow to repair system from earlier errors than restore point. If sfc doesn’t repair everything, run dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth, then reboot and afterwards run sfc /scannow again. In the end sfc /scannow should end with everything healthy.

Jim October 17, 2019, 9:35 pm

Hi

I am trying to start the diagnostic policy service and it is not allowing me to do it and I get a message that says “Error 5 Access is denied”

I am enabling this because I can’t connect to the internet at all and my wireless connection says “Limited Connectivity”

Any help will be much appreciated

Thanks

Michael October 23, 2019, 12:54 am

First do a recovery and restore latest automatic system restore point, if successful then follow the rest of my comment above https://www.trickyways.com/2015/06/fix-diagnostics-policy-service-not-running/#comment-274217

James January 9, 2020, 4:43 pm

Thank you soo much you saved me. God bless you

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