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

Question

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?

Answer 1

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

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Answer 2

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