Fix “A referral was returned from the server” Error in Windows 10

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Are you frequently facing “A referral was returned from the server” error? Learn how to fix A referral was returned from the server error in Windows 10 PC.

You might have come across “A referral was returned from the server” error when trying to install or run an application on your Windows 10 laptop or desktop computer.

This error usually appears when a user tries to access any application without administrative privileges or in case the User Account Control (UAC) security feature is enabled on the system.

If you are also experiencing such error quite repeatedly then you need to follow the below mentioned A referral was returned from the Server Windows 10 fixes which will help you in getting rid of this strange issue.

a referral was returned from the server

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As we all know, User Account Control (UAC) is a security feature of Windows operating system which is designed to prevent unauthorized changes to your computer. And if UAC is enabled on your computer, there is a high chance that the referral error is appearing due to that.

So before you start following the methods explained in this tutorial, you need to make sure that UAC is disabled on your Windows 10 computer. Here’s how to disable UAC in Windows 10 PC:

  • At first, type User Account Control in the Start search box and then click on the Change User Account Control Settings option from the search results.
  • On the User Account Control Settings window, drag the slider to the bottom (Never Notify me when) to completely disable UAC and then click on the OK button to save the changes.

how to fix a referral was returned from the server error in windows 10

Note: You can follow this User Account Control guide if you want to learn in details – What is User Account Control (UAC)? How to enable or disable UAC in Windows 10 / 8 / 7 operating system?

Once the UAC is disabled, restart your computer and then try accessing the program with the “A referral was returned from the server” issue. If the error still persists, it’s time to follow the below-explained solutions.

A referral was returned from the server Windows 10 Fix

Experiencing the error that says “A referral was returned from the server” while attempting to install programs in Microsoft Windows 10 operating system is a quite common problem and it can be easily fixed.

It doesn’t matter whether you are facing this referral error for a specific application only or for all applications on Windows 10 computer, try these solutions to resolve.

Here we have listed two most active solutions and you can follow any of these methods and get rid of this annoying referral error.

Method 1: Fix “A referral was returned from the server” Error for a Particular Program

In case, if you are only getting this referral error when trying to run a specific application (while all other application works just fine) then you can follow these steps:

Step (1): First of all, right click on the application which is showing you the referral error and then select Properties option.

Step (2): On that application Properties dialog box, go to the Compatibility tab and then click on the “Change settings for all users” button.

a referral was returned from the server windows 10

Step (3): Now on the Compatibility for all users tab, select Run this program as an administrator option and then click on the OK twice to close program’s properties.

a referral was returned from the server windows 10 fix

Once you have made all the changes, now try to run that particular application and you shouldn’t get the error anymore which you were getting earlier.

Method 2: A referral was returned from the server Windows 10 Fix for All Programs

While the above solution (Method 1) worked only for a specific program, this solution applies to all programs or services that appear with the referral error. So, if you are coming across this error for multiple programs then you need to follow these steps:

Step (1): At first, open Run dialog box by pressing the combinations of Windows + R keys together and then type regedit in it and hit Enter key to bring up the Registry Editor.

Step (2): On the Registry Editor window, navigate to the following key in the left pane:

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

Step (3): From the right pane, open “ValidateAdminCodeSignatures” by double-clicking on it and then set Value data to “0“.

how to fix a referral was returned from the server

Step (4): Similarly, open “EnableUIADesktopToggle” by double-clicking on it and then set the Value data to “0“.

Step (5): After making these changes, close Registry Editor and then restart your computer.

Now try running any program which was earlier giving you the referral was returned from the server error. You should be able to access it without any interruptions.

Conclusion

With the help of above described A referral was returned from the server Windows 10 fixes, you will be able to solve this strange error if it appears for a specific program or even for all programs as well.

These solutions will also work on other versions of Windows, so if you are getting this referral error on Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 operating systems then you can follow these exact same methods.

We hope this step by step tutorial on how to fix “A referral was returned from the server” error in Windows 10 PC helped you in resolving the issue properly. Which solution fixed the referral error on your computer? Do let us know using the comments section below.

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