Yesterday I encountered a strange error with Windows Vista laptop while troubleshooting WiFi connectivity problems. We were at a public hotspot but his laptop failed to join the network. It displayed a message Windows cannot find wireless networks. While opening Dell Wireless utility, it shows the status of the Dell adapter as disabled. However, in Device manager, it shows the device is working properly. A possible issue might be with Wireless Zero Configuration service. For Vista and later versions, WLAN AutoConfig is doing the same function. We accessed the services page and found the specific service in the stopped state. We pressed the button start but it failed with a strange error. It is given below.
Service cannot be started Error 1747: The Authentication Service is Unknown
Though it was the first time I encountered such an error, we fixed it quickly. This tutorial explains how to deal with the error Service cannot be started Error 1747: The Authentication Service is Unknown and solves it quickly.
Service cannot be started Error 1747: The Authentication Service is Unknown
Though it was the first time I encountered such an error, we fixed it quickly. This tutorial explains how to deal with the error Service cannot be started Error 1747: The Authentication Service is Unknown and solves it quickly.
Troubleshooting steps
- Make sure the Wireless button on the laptop is ON
- Check Firewall settings
Faulty settings on the Firewall installed on your computer may prevent it from accessing the Internet. So for troubleshooting purpose, we need to disable it. - Services must be running with full permissions
It is important to make sure the services are running on the PC with full permissions. To verify it, follow the registry path and make sure your current user has full permissions.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services - Try Windows Socket reset
To do it, type the following command on DOS prompt and press enter.
netsh winsock reset
To go with advanced Windows Socket permissions follow the registry.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Winsock
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WinSock2
Right click on the registry entry and click on permissions. Make sure that Winsock and Winsock2 have full permissions. Before testing with Registry, I recommend you to read the article provided below by visiting the link.
How to Backup Registry - Perform clean boot
While clean boot, check if any third party software is causing the issue or not. If any third party is causing the issue try the system restore to a date before the date when that particular software installed. To do it, I suggest you follow the instructions provided in the link below.
How to Perform Clean Boot - System Restore
Does System Restore to a day when the wireless was working(Before the error 1747)? If still the issue persists we need to perform the final parts of solutions.
System Restore Lessons - Run Windows Update
If you are using Windows Vista on your computer, upgrade it to Windows Vista SP1. Even if the issue persists we need to reinstall the OS on your computer. So the last resort is: - Reinstall Windows Vista on your computer.
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