Failure when installing Cisco VPN client on Windows 7
I was trying to install the Cisco VPN client in order to connect to some client systems when I ran into an ominous installer error message. Boatloads of bad advice on the Internet later, I believe I’ve located the solution.
Error message:
Error 27850. Unable to manage networking component. Operating system corruption may be preventing installation.
Error cause:
Windows limits the number of services which may be installed on any single network adapter. Attempting to exceed this limit gives you an intelligible and understandable error message when working through the control panel but apparently gives you the above ominous error message.
In my personal case, I’ve got all the normal Windows 7 stuff installed, the HyperV Windows stuff, VMWare Workstation, and Oracle VirtualBox installed. Apparently this is one too many virtualization tools and is the root cause of my issue.
Resolution steps:
- Open the Control Panel –> Network and Internet –> Network and Sharing Center
- Click the active connection’s network adapter (mine was the Wireless Network Connection) to open the Connection Status dialog
- Click the Properties button
- <begin test for maximum services> Click the Install button
- Select Service and click Add
- Expected error message: Filters currently installed on the system have reached the limit
- Click OK to return to the Properties window </end test for maximum services>
- Remove a service by selecting a service and clicking Uninstall (I removed the VirtualBox Bridged Networking Driver)
- Click OK to commit changes and retry the Cisco installation
Credit where credit is due:
I found the solution (reposted here to not pirate bandwidth) inside of the comments on this Cisco support forums posting:
https://supportforums.cisco.com/thread/2015629
I just figured this one out. The issue is that you cannot add new services, likely you are running multiple virtual machine products and/or multiple VPN solutions. I am not exactly sure why, but Windows is only allowing a certain number of services/filters. See if you are able to recreate the following for a specific network adapter. Once I removed one of the VM filters (Microsoft VM in my case, the install was able to proceed successfully).
