The “A referral was returned from the server” error can happen in any Windows version (Windows 8, 7 or Vista) when the user tries to run a program or application without administrative privileges or if the UAC setting is enabled on the system . But this strange error, can also happened to users that acts as administrator on their computers and the UAC is disabled.

In this tutorial you can find detailed instructions to bypass the “referral was returned from the server” error on Windows 8 or 7 based computers (32 or 64bit).

Notice: Before you continue to apply the solutions bellow, first make sure that UAC is already disabled on your system. To do that:

1. Navigate to Control Panel > User Accounts and click at Change User Account Control Settings option.
2. At the User Account Control Settings window, drag the slider at the lower position to completely disable UAC.
3. Restart your computer and then try to run the program with the “referral” error. If the problem persist then continue to the solutions mentioned below.

How to to fix: “A referral was returned from the server” error (Windows 10, 8, 7 or Vista).

In order to fix the referral from server error, apply one of the following solutions according your situation:

Solution 1: Fix the “Referral was returned from the server” error for a specific program.

This solution applies to any specific application that gives the referral error. (e.g. if a specific application or program gives the “referral error” but all other applications works without problem).

1. Right-click at the program (shortcut) that gives the error and select Properties.

2. At Compatibility tab, click Change settings for all users.

3. Check the “Run this program as an administrator” checkbox and then click OK twice to close program’s properties.

4. Run you program now. The “A referral was returned from the server” error should be gone.

Solution 2: Fix the “Referral was returned from the server” error for all programs.

This solution applies to all applications or services that gives the referral error. (e.g. If multiple applications or services gives the “referral error)

Windows 10, 8, 7 or Vista Home:

1. Open Registry editor. To do that:

• Simultaneously press the Windows + R keys on your keyboard.
• At the “Run” window, type regedit & press Enter.

2. Navigate to this key from the left pane:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\

3. At the right pane double click at ValidateAdminCodeSignatures and set the Value data to 0 (zero).

4. Then open the EnableUIADesktopToggle value and set the value data to 0.

5. Close registry editor and restart your computer.

Windows 10, 8, 7 or Vista Pro:

1. Open Local Group Policy Editor. to do that:

• Simultaneously press the Windows + R keys on your keyboard.
• At the “Run” window, type gpedit.msc & press Enter.

2. Inside Local Group Policy Editor: At the left pane navigate, to:

Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > Security Options.

3. Look at the right pane and double click at “User Account Control: Only elevate executables that are signed and validated” policy,

4. Change the security setting to Disabled and click OK.

5. Then set to Disabled the Allow UIAccess policy.

6. Close Local Group Policy Editor and restart your computer.

That’s all folks! Did it work for you?

Please leave a comment in the comment section below or even better: like and share this blog post in the social networks to help spread the word about this.

If this article was useful for you, please consider supporting us by making a donation. Even $1 can a make a huge difference for us in our effort to continue fighting spam while keeping this site free: