Cannot create a file when that file already exists - error during Group Policy processing

Question

I have various GPOs assigned to machines running Windows 11 22H2 with the latest cumulative update. All machines get the GPOs, but some are experiencing errors as follows:

EventData  

  SupportInfo1 1  

  SupportInfo2 5213  

  ProcessingMode 0  

  ProcessingTimeInMilliseconds 713203  

  ErrorCode 183  

  ErrorDescription Cannot create a file when that file already exists.   

  DCName \\NP1DC02.PVI.local  

  ExtensionName Group Policy Local Users and Groups  

  ExtensionId {17D89FEC-5C44-4972-B12D-241CAEF74509}  

Other affected CSEs are: Group Policy Drive Maps, Group Policy Shortcuts, Group Policy Registry, Group Policy Scheduled Tasks, Group Policy Files. I've turned on Group Policy diagnostic logging but that just reports the same "Cannot create a file when that file already exists" error without specifying what the file is:

2024-02-06 11:03:10.089 [pid=0x173c,tid=0x6bc4] Completed settings update (csePostProcess). [ hr = 0x800700b7 "Cannot create a file when that file already exists." ]
2024-02-06 11:03:10.091 [pid=0x173c,tid=0x6bc4] Completed csePostProcess
2024-02-06 11:03:10.092 [pid=0x173c,tid=0x6bc4] Completed CSE post-processing. [ hr = 0x800700b7 "Cannot create a file when that file already exists." ]

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? Has anyone seen this before?

Answer 1

Hello RobinCM, Thank you for posting in Q&A forum.

Did you configure any creating a file via any GPO setting and apply to the machine above?

If so, you can try to try to unlink this GPO Temporarily to the OU if this GPO has only one creating file setting.
And then update the GPO on one machine to see if there is any error.

You can also try to remove the creating file setting Temporarily within the GPO if this GPO has more than one creating file setting. And then update the GPO on one machine to see if there is any error. Based on your description, you can also check and find more error messages by following these steps:

1. Check Group Policy settings: Pay special attention to the relevant settings of the file system, such as login scripts, file distribution, etc. Make sure you're not trying to create a file that already exists.
2. Check File Permissions: Make sure that the permissions required for the files or settings defined by Group Policy are valid on the target system. You may need to elevate privileges or run Group Policy as an administrator.
3. View verbose logs: Use the Event Viewer to view detailed system and application logs, which may provide more information about the relevant Group Policy failures. Look for errors related to Group Policy or file creation in the event.
4. Run the "gpupdate /force" command on win 11 to force the Group Policy settings to be updated and see if there are more error messages. Also, you can refer to this link and follow this link to boot your computer in safe mode and fix GPO.. Cannot Create a File When That File Already Exists [GPO Fix] (windowsreport.com).

If it does not work above, please check if you can see any error message after you run command: gpupdate /force I hope the information above is helpful. If you have any question or concern, please feel free to let us know. Best Regards, Daisy Zhou

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