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Windows 10: “A referral was returned from the server” Error Fix

By Mitch Bartlett 24 Comments

When attempting to install applications in Microsoft Windows 10, some users may experience an error that says “A referral was returned from the server”. To solve this problem, try these steps.

Fix 1 – Registry Setting

Download and run referralfix.zip and run referralfix.reg to automatically apply these changes to your computer.

  1. Hold the Windows Key and press “R“.
  2. Type “regedit“, then press “Enter” to bring up the Registry Editor.
  3. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ System.
  4. Open “ValidateAdminCodeSignatures” and set “Value data” to “0“
  5. Open “EnableUIADesktopToggle” and set the “Value data” to “0“.

Fix 2 – Group Policy

  1. Hold the Windows Key and press “R“.
  2. Type “gpedit.msc“, then press “Enter” to bring up the Local Group Policy Editor.
  3. Expand “Computer Configuration” > “Windows Settings” > “Security Settings” > “Local Policies” > “Security Options“.
  4. Change the “User Account Control: Only elevate executable that are signed and validated.” policy to “Disabled“.

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Filed Under: Hardware Tagged With: Windows 10

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. radman says

    October 22, 2021 at 5:47 am

    yeaa men tnx for your post you solved my problem thath i search for 1 waek and finally you solved that]

  2. Rocky says

    August 1, 2021 at 4:57 am

    Thanks it’s work

  3. Vijay says

    April 15, 2021 at 12:08 pm

    Nice it worked for me thank you so much

  4. Dishant says

    April 11, 2021 at 12:17 am

    gpedit.msc worked for me.
    Thanks 😊

  5. t says

    January 17, 2021 at 5:24 am

    This whole thing was done before but i Still have the same problem till now

  6. O. Hablani says

    December 13, 2020 at 10:01 pm

    All the settings I have are the same as you suggested. However, this is doesn’t give a solution to resolve my problem.
    Thank you anyway for your great job.
    Othman

  7. Sachin Landge says

    September 21, 2020 at 2:44 am

    Thank you…..It worked for me…

  8. Ava says

    September 10, 2020 at 12:06 pm

    Fix 1 did not work. Fix 2 my laptop will not let me open the gpedit.msc part in step 1 because it says it has been blocked by my admin for my protection?

  9. henazo says

    July 19, 2020 at 3:27 am

    the reg key change worked for me right away, thanks!

  10. Pix says

    June 1, 2020 at 6:14 pm

    It dind’t work for me. I’m still with the message “A referral was returned from the server” in msra.exe and quickassist.exe applications.

  11. G B says

    April 5, 2020 at 1:18 am

    settings as described, but quickassist still gives “A referral was returned from the server”. Tried running as admin too.

  12. Buda says

    March 22, 2020 at 7:24 am

    Thank you very much
    You guys deserve a corona(beer):-)

  13. ali says

    March 8, 2020 at 7:24 pm

    thank you

  14. Tim Ros says

    September 25, 2019 at 4:07 pm

    My registry was already set to zero and windows home does not have a gpedit.msc

    My error is a referral about and AMDDVR.exe

  15. Fade says

    June 27, 2019 at 9:20 pm

    Just had to leave a comment and say thank you.

  16. andres says

    April 27, 2019 at 12:06 am

    thanks now it is working

  17. Bhanu Pratap Singh says

    March 19, 2019 at 4:17 am

    Great !! Thanks it worked for me

  18. Yogi says

    February 4, 2019 at 6:23 am

    great #1 worked for me

  19. David says

    January 14, 2019 at 3:21 pm

    My settings were already set to “0” and disabled. I get the error when I try to install my Logitech mouse driver.

  20. Merca Loday says

    August 28, 2018 at 12:35 pm

    Thanks, Tip #1 worked great

  21. Big Smoke says

    August 6, 2018 at 11:29 am

    thx thx thxxxxxxxxxxxx , the only site that helped me thank you thank you from all of my heart , i was can’t do anything in my pc , now i can thxxxxxxx,

  22. tam says

    January 7, 2018 at 10:08 am

    thank you so much. it worked for me

  23. Diana says

    November 25, 2017 at 9:08 am

    THANKSS!!! When i first saw the post i was like:Naaaah, i will try but i am sure it will not work , BUT IT WORKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!O M G THANKS!!!!!!!!!!

  24. Peter Smedley says

    November 16, 2017 at 7:51 pm

    on opening gpedit.msc — “Windows cannot find ‘gpedit.msc’ ??

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Baby and Daddy My name is Mitch Bartlett. I've been working in technology for over 20 years in a wide range of tech jobs from Tech Support to Software Testing. I started this site as a technical guide for myself and it has grown into what I hope is a useful reference for all.

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