GPEDIT.MSC Snap-in creation failed / Snap-in failed to Initialize : FIXED

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As discussed in my earlier post that Microsoft has included this Group Policy Editor feature in only limited Windows 7 and Windows 8 OS Versions that includes Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate editions which means that if you are using the basic or home based Windows Versions then you will not be able to access Group Policy editor unless you manually install it via GPEDIT MSC Installer as discussed in my earlier post but some users were found reporting problems after installing Group Policy Editor in their Windows while running GPEDIT.MSC Command in RUN box they ended up facing “Snap-In creation failed The snap-in was not created, it may not be installed properly” or “Snap-in could not initialize” therefore here I have included a simple procedure by which you can easily fix this error.

Also to note that this below given method will work for anyone facing this kind of error no matter whether you have installed manually Group Policy editor in your windows or got it pre-installed but facing problem now onwards.Just check out this article to fix GPEDIT.MSC Snap-in creation failed error permanently.

How to Fix GPEDIT.MSC Snap-in Creation failed error – Best Ways

Method 1 – Fix it by Editing PATH Environment Variable

There are some cases in which some programs uninstall can lead you into this error by removing necessary pathing in the environment variable section of the system so what you need to do now is that you have to create and add those environment variables manually so just follow the below given steps.

  • Go to My Computer -> Right Click on My Computer -> Select Properties and then Select Advanced Settings as shown below.

GPEDIT.MSC Snap-in creation failed Error - Step 1

  • Now Under the Advanced tab you will see a small option for Environment Variables Just Click on it.
  • Under System Variables Double Click the Variable Path and Add the Following lines

%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem

GPEDIT.MSC Snap-in creation failed Error - Step 2

GPEDIT.MSC Snap-in creation failed Error - Step 3

Note – The Last one Wbem is the one that maybe missing so make sure that it is added in the PATH Variable

Warning – Also if other System variables appear in PATH don’t remove them just add these above one only.

  • That’s it click on Ok and you are all done.

Method 2 – Only for those Facing after Installing GPEDIT Installer

If you are getting error something like “MMC could not create the snap-in” while running GPEDIT.MSC Command after installing the Group Policy editor in your Windows OS Versions after following the guide given here then you may proceed with the following steps to fix this issue.

  • Run the GPEDIT.MSC Installer and Leave it at the last step (Do no finish the setup)
  • Go to C:\Windows\Temp\gpedit\ folder
  • There Right Click on x86.bat (For 32bit Windows Users) or x64.bat (For 64bit Windows Users) and Open it with Notepad
  • There in the notepad file you will find a total of 6 string lines containing the following

%username%:f

  • So edit those lines and REPLACE %username%:f with “%username%”:f
  • Save the File and Run the .bat file by Right Click -> Run As Administrator
  • That’s it and you are all done.
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17 Comments - Write a Comment

  1. Hi Pankaj!

    I finally got your fix to work. Thank you!

    I corrected your batch file to allow spaces and other characters in user names by enclosing %username% in quotation marks. Then the batch file ran ok without the access denied:

    icacls %WinDir%\SysWOW64\gpedit.dll /grant:r “%username%”:f

    Reply
    1. Hmm Great friend πŸ™‚

      Reply
  2. Hi,
    I could not locate the .bat file.. I’m running Windows 8.1…
    I opened the x64 file in edit mode replaced the β€œ%username%”:f and saved the file… Am I supposed to save the file as a .bat?

    Reply
    1. Yeah you have to πŸ™‚

      Reply
  3. Hi,
    I have followed all the steps in method 2 but it still says MMC could not create the snap-in. What do I do now?

    Reply
  4. Ok first i installed gpedit and now i came to solve the problem. Method 1 did not work for me.
    then i tried method 2 and after completion, tried starting gpedit.msc, it could not initiate it because of some error.
    To fix that i went back to the original tutorial and did the 64bit windows steps. and got rid of the error.

    BUT Still, opening gpedit.msc i see the error “MMC could not create the snap-in.”

    Reply
    1. Try the steps mentioned here – Fix MMC Could not create Snap-in error

      Reply
      1. i’ve done that already.

        Reply
  5. oops didnt read..sorry thanks it works now

    Reply
  6. Thanks to Nerd Gamer Geek on youtube
    solved this problem

    In Method 2 After Step
    * Save the File and Run the .bat file by Right Click -> Run As Administrator
    Should be
    * Still in C:\Windows\Temp\gpedit Folder Run the Installer.exe file by Right Click -> Run As Administrator

    * That’s it and you are all done.

    Reply
    1. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

      Reply
    2. Yes that is it!!!! Thanks

      Reply
    3. Life saver. Thats it thanks

      Reply
  7. A dialogue box says

    The following error occurred in
    c:\windows\system32\grouppolicy\adm\inetres.adm on line 6295:
    error 64 help string specified more than once

    the file can not be loaded

    How to fix this?

    Reply
  8. I keep getti ng access denied on x86, but I am using my system as an Admin

    Reply
  9. In Method 2 After Step
    * Save the File and Run the .bat file by Right Click -> Run As Administrator
    Should be
    * Still in C:\Windows\Temp\gpedit Folder Run the Installer.exe file by Right Click -> Run As Administrator

    * That’s it and you are all done.

    Reply

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