Technically Easy

How to Fix Keyset Does not Exist in Windows

Windows 7

Written by

Paul Salmon

in

I recently received an error message stating that the “Keyset does not exist” for all scheduled tasks on a Windows 2003 server. This error caused the scheduled tasks from not running, and caused some problems with a few applications. This is the first time I had seen the error, and so I wasn’t sure what the problem was.

While I have experienced Microsoft Word Errors in the past, this was a first for cryptography in Windows 2003. The error caused the inability to view the “Run as” user ID, let alone change it to something else. Because of this, the tasks couldn’t run, so I had to find a solution to fix it. Fortunately, the solution was easy, and only took a few minutes to implement.

Keyset Does Not Exist Solution

The full error that I received when accessing the schedule tasks was:

General page initialization failed.
The specific error is:
0x80090016: Keyset does not exist
An error has occurred attempting to retrieve task account information.
You may continue editing the task object, but will be unable to change the task account information.

I haven’t seen this error before, it it prevented my schedule task from running. I went online to see what I could find and eventually found a solution that worked for me. I outline the steps to the solution below.

Steps to Correct the Keyset Does Not Exist Issue

After performing some research, I found out that the local system private keys used by the “Cryptographic Services” service had become corrupted. I simply used the following steps to correct the issue:

  1. I stopped the “Cryptographic Services” service.
  2. I then double-clicked “My Computer”, and then clicked “Folder Options” on the “Tools” menu.
  3. On the “View” tab, I clicked “Show hidden files and folders”, and then clicked “OK”.
  4. I deleted all of the files in the “C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Crypto\RSA\S-1-5-18” folder.
  5. I then restarted the “Cryptographic Services” service.

I’m not sure what actually caused the issue, but the above fix should be able to correct the error if it appears again. After performing the above steps, the “Keyset does not exist” error reported in the Task Scheduler had disappeared, and I could see and change the “Run as” user ID.

Unfortunately, the above steps fixed my issue. A good place to go ask your Windows questions is the Microsoft Tech Community

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