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WINDOWS · 0x000021AC ERROR_NO_SECRETS

How to fix Windows error 0x000021AC

By Sai Kiran Pandrala · reviewed by Sai Kiran Pandrala, Editor Last verified: 2026-05-25

⚡ At a glance
Error code0x000021AC
DecimalNot assigned
Symbolic nameERROR_NO_SECRETS
PlatformWindows
SubsystemOLE / COM
Official messageThe local account store does not contain secret material for the specified account.
SourceMicrosoft MS-ERREF (HRESULT) (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/com/com-error-codes-2)

What is 0x000021AC?

Real-world context. Cost envelope: ~Rs 0 INR (configuration fix in most cases). Time at the keyboard: ~10 to 30 minutes triage. Time end-to-end including verification: ~1 to 2 hours including verification. Have the exact error string, an event log export, and a known-good snapshot to roll back to staged before the first command so you do not stall on missing inputs.

0x000021AC (commonly seen as ERROR_NO_SECRETS) is a status code returned by the OLE / COM on Windows. This code is raised by OLE / COM (ole32, oleaut32). It typically surfaces during interface marshalling, object activation, or moniker binding. In practical terms, the system is reporting that the local account store does not contain secret material for the specified account. If you see this in a log, it almost always means the calling component hit a precondition that the OS could not satisfy, rather than a hardware fault.

When does 0x000021AC appear?

The most common real-world triggers for ERROR_NO_SECRETS are the ones the subsystem itself reports most often:

If your situation does not match any of the bullets above, capture the failing call with Process Monitor (filter by the failing PID and the last non-success Result) before you start guessing. The exact preceding operation almost always pins the root cause.

How to fix 0x000021AC

Work through the steps in order. The PowerShell block triages the issue, the second block applies the most common fix, and the verify section at the bottom confirms the failure cleared.

Detect (PowerShell, run as Administrator)

# List registered COM classes for a known CLSID.
Get-ChildItem 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID' | Select-Object -First 20

# Inspect DCOM permissions interactively.
dcomcnfg.exe

Apply the fix (PowerShell, run as Administrator)

# 1. Re-register a COM server.
regsvr32 /s 'C:\Path\To\Component.dll'

# 2. Re-register a managed COM-visible assembly.
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\RegAsm.exe 'C:\Path\To\Assembly.dll' /codebase

# 3. Re-grant DCOM launch and activation rights via dcomperm or the UI.
# https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/com/the-component-object-model

Companion cmd commands

rem Inspect a registered CLSID.
reg query "HKCR\CLSID\{INSERT-CLSID-HERE}" /s

rem Open DCOM permissions.
dcomcnfg.exe

If you cannot fix it immediately

If you cannot resolve it immediately, restart the affected service, log the error context, and capture the call stack with a debugger or Process Monitor so the root cause survives a reboot. Treat the code as a signal, not a root cause.

How to verify the fix worked

Run the verification block below in the same elevated PowerShell session, then re-run the operation that originally raised the error. If both the verification commands and the original operation come back clean, the fix held.

# Use a small probe (PowerShell COM creation) to confirm activation.
$obj = New-Object -ComObject 'Scripting.FileSystemObject'
$obj | Get-Member | Select-Object -First 5

Also re-check the relevant Windows event log for the next 24 hours. Codes from this subsystem sometimes return after a scheduled job, a policy refresh, or a service restart fires.

Frequently asked questions

What does 0x000021AC mean exactly?

It is the OLE / COM reporting a specific precondition failure. The symbolic name ERROR_NO_SECRETS describes the precondition in compiler-style abbreviated form; the at-a-glance table shows the official one-line description.

Is 0x000021AC dangerous?

In isolation it is mostly an indicator, not a vulnerability. The code is a status, not a fault. The deeper problem is whatever upstream call passed in bad inputs or hit a stale piece of state. Treat the code as a signpost.

Will reinstalling Windows fix 0x000021AC?

Almost never, and reinstalling is the wrong first move. The fix is almost always a config repair, a permission grant, or a service restart. Reserve a reinstall for the rare case where SFC and DISM both fail to repair the component store.

How is 0x000021AC different from neighbouring codes in the same range?

Codes in the same numeric range come from the same subsystem and the same source file, so they share the surrounding context. The specific failure mode is what changes from code to code. Inspect the symbol name to spot the exact precondition.

Does Microsoft have a public reference for ERROR_NO_SECRETS?

Yes. The canonical reference is https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/com/com-error-codes-2. The MS-ERREF spec (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/openspecs/windows_protocols/ms-erref/) lists every HRESULT, NTSTATUS, and Win32 system error code with its numeric value and symbolic name.

Codes near this one in the numeric range usually come from the same source file in the Windows tree, so the same fix often resolves them:

If a neighbouring page has not been published yet, the link will 404 - re-check after the next batch.

Related guides worth a look while you sort this one out:

References

This guide was assembled from the official Microsoft MS-ERREF reference and the OLE / COM documentation on 2026-05-25. Always confirm against the vendor reference before applying changes in production.

Field notes from real Windows incidents

When I work on the 0x000021AC symptom the rhythm I lean on is the one I have built over years of these tickets, not a stack of generic advice. Windows error codes come in a handful of families; once you recognise the family, the doc page is one search away. Reliability Monitor is the single most underused triage surface in Windows — it gives 30 days of crash history without writing a query.

DISM RestoreHealth needs network or a known-good source image; the most common cause of a failed RestoreHealth is a blocked Windows Update endpoint. STOP codes look terrifying but the first DWORD almost always points directly at the responsible driver.

Tools I actually reach for

For the 0x000021AC symptom on Windows the cheapest signal I can land usually comes from WinDbg for STOP code analysis, then Windows Error Lookup Tool (err.exe), Reliability Monitor (perfmon /rel), PowerShell Get-WinEvent when WinDbg for STOP code analysis cannot see the layer the fault sits in, and Process Monitor (procmon) for the cases where neither of those answers cleanly. That ordering is not academic. It matches the layers the failure tends to surface through, so the cheap signal lands first and the heavier tooling only comes out when the simpler answer does not hold up under scrutiny.

Verification I run before I close the ticket

Before I mark the 0x000021AC symptom resolved on a Windows unit, the verification loop below is what I actually run. Each step proves a different layer is green, and the order matters - the cheap checks gate the more expensive ones.

Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName='System'; Level=1,2; StartTime=(Get-Date).AddDays(-7)}

If that one comes back clean, move to the next check. If it does not, stop and dig in there before layering more verification on top of a red signal.

err.exe 0xXXXXXXXX  # symbolic decode

If that one comes back clean, move to the next check. If it does not, stop and dig in there before layering more verification on top of a red signal.

sfc /scannow

Only when every line above runs clean do I close the ticket and update the runbook with the timestamps.

Where I check first when the docs disagree

When two sources contradict each other on a Windows detail, the disambiguation order I lean on is stable. I usually start at learn.microsoft.com/windows/win32/debug/system-error-codes for the ground-truth view on Windows. I usually start at techcommunity.microsoft.com/category/windows for the ground-truth view on Windows. I usually start at github.com/microsoft/Windows-Driver-Frameworks for the ground-truth view on Windows. Random blog posts and reseller wikis are signal, not ground truth, and I treat them as such until the references above either confirm or contradict the claim.

Pitfalls I have walked into on this exact path

The shortcuts that look smart on the 0x000021AC symptom have a habit of biting back. The pitfalls below are the ones I have personally walked into on a Windows unit, not things I read about. DISM RestoreHealth needs network or a known-good source image; the most common cause of a failed RestoreHealth is a blocked Windows Update endpoint. Windows error codes come in a handful of families; once you recognise the family, the doc page is one search away. When in doubt I revert to the slower path that the manual prescribes - the time I save by skipping it is always smaller than the time I spend cleaning up afterwards.

What I tell the next on-call

When I hand the 0x000021AC symptom off to the next person on rotation, the three lines I leave in the runbook are these. First, the symptom signature for Windows on the Windows family - not a paraphrase, the exact string that surfaces. Second, the diagnostic that gave the highest signal in the least time. Third, the exact verification command whose green output justified closing the ticket. That trio is what turns a one-off fix into a runbook entry the next engineer can use without paging me at three in the morning.

I also add a one-line note on the cost of getting this wrong. For the 0x000021AC symptom on a Windows unit, the cost is rarely the replacement part. It is the downtime, the second site visit, and the trust deficit you spend with whoever owns the asset when the fix does not hold. That framing keeps the next on-call from choosing the cheap-looking shortcut that ends up costing the most in elapsed hours and goodwill.