Invalid Handle on Login (latest Parallels, Windows 10, Sierra)

Same issue here. Spinning circle next to Welcome message after entering your password. Further details:

(Parallels 12.1.3 (41532))

1.) Appears to be across all profiles including builtin Administrator
2.) After waiting several minutes the 'Handle is invalid' message will be shown, at which point I can try to login again and it then goes through the Hi, Installing updates, We'll be ready soon messages (Although something is broken here as during this it often jumps back to the Hi screen or re-fades in the current message)
3.) After logging in as per step 2 and waiting for the updates, it showed the following error and Edge and the Start Menu would not work.

Location is not available
c:\WINDOWS\system32\config\systemprofile\Desktop is unavailable. .... etc
​

4.) I've tried uninstalling updates, but none of the updates listed as issues were installed, and after uninstalling all updates that have an uninstall option I still have the issue. (Some updates do not have an uninstall option)

 

I believe I've finally resolved this problem (at least for myself), and eliminated a chronic and frustrating problem of a non-responsive Windows Start Menu. I found my Local Disk C Permissions were good for System and Administrators, but my User Account was not checked for Read/Write. Once I checked the Read/Write permissions, it all started to work correctly. It's been 2-3 weeks with many restarts and no issues, and I can reliably launch programs using the Start Menu instead of going back to the Mac Launcher. Hard to believe the fix was so easy!
Assuming you can get to Windows File Explorer, right-click on Local Disk C and select Properties. Click the Security tab and check each of the group and user names permissions to confirm Read and Write are both checked. Use the Edit button if you find your User account is not fully enabled.

 

Thanks for the tip. I did remove PT as you suggested, but had issues reinstalling it as I could never launch anything inside Windows. I ended up using a System Restore which helped for awhile. It's interesting you mention Permissions above, as I think I finally traced the problems down to no read/write permissions for my User account. They were OK for System and Admin, but not for User. Once I fixed that, it's been smooth sailing.

 

Anyway, didn't work "out of the box". The "handle-problem" still exists.
Ohh, and btw. the Start-Menu is gone or not working proberly, also "the search" Field is missing.

 

I'm having the exact same issues you've described. This started two days ago and now I can't access work saved in my Win 10 environment. If I am ever able to get to the desktop, the cursor will spin forever when I hover on the Start menu and I can't type in the taskbar's search box. Also, Parallels Tools seems to have been corrupted and when I try to reinstall it I receive an error forcing me to reboot....after the environment reboots PT is gone. I've tried uninstalling Parallels 12 and installing Parallels 11, but this did not help. Were you or anyone else here able to find a reliable solution to this issue? I would greatly like to avoid rebuilding this VM from scratch.

 

Thank you @PaulChris@Parallels . I tried using DISM but it didn't help. Also tried creating a new Parallels VM and connecting it to the hdd from my original WIN 10 VM and this also didn't improve performance. I'm hesitant to use the "Refresh" feature of Windows 10 and I don't want to have to rebuild my entire development environment. If there's nothing else I can do to repair my existing VM then I'm probably going to have to build a new one from scratch.

 

Just a heads up to anyone coming here...I was never able to repair the corrupted VM. Ended up starting over with a fresh install. Attached the hdd to the new instance so that I could copy all of my user files, but have to go through the painful process of re-installing all of my dev tools. Good luck to anyone else with this issue!

 

Same issue here, including the frozen start menu and no keyboard when I do get in.
Parallels 12, El Capitan.
Not impressed.

 

Hello IanO1, are you unable to type in the edge or the Cortana search field? If so, please follow the below steps and keep us posted:

1. Press CMD + R (to open Run )
2. Copy paste and press enter to run this program. "C:\Windows\system32\ctfmon.exe". it brings back the language bar.

 

Hi Andsee and fellow VM-less colleagues,

I'm a bit late to this party, but did you (or anyone) ever find a resolution to this? I've got everything you're mentioning, plus a bit, and sometimes it won't start at all. I've uninstalled and reinstalled parallels, parallel tools, created a new user profile, adjusted administrator privileges, and had the help of work IT. Sometimes I can log into it on the metal (Bootcamp only), but I still have issues there. I've got all important files backed up, and starting from scratch isn't the end of the world, but I've not heard the most promising things about it in the long run.

Would appreciate some sort of light at the end of the tunnel, if it's out there? For what it's worth, I'm pretty newly displeased with parallels as a whole, which is a big 180 for me. I've already done the live chat, desktop sharing, etc.., been pointed to microsoft, all to no avail.

Brett

 

I started having the same problem with invalid login. Yesterday, everything peachy, today nothing is working. Backups don't work, older Parallel Desktops don't work, PT Tools reinstall doesn't work. After seeing even a new VM doesn't work for people, I don't think I will try to go through all the trouble ... 100 bucks out of the window. :/

 

Worked for me - thanks!

Thomas

 

Just ran into this as well after upgrading to Parallels 13. Same symptoms as described above. "The handle is invalid" on startup/login. Start menu, search unresponsive. I can't work right now...

 

Same here, just upgraded from Parallels 12 to 13 and my Windows 10 shows "Invalid Handle" when login or the "Hello, we are configuring..." messages eternally (I have waited for a couple of hours).

Any help will be appreciated.

 

I guess I just joined the crowd. Started for me just as I ran the update. "Invalid Handle" - then it tells me afterward that my computer was just updated. Then I have to wait through a cycle of update messages. I eventually get into Windows, but the start button and Cortana no longer work. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Tried all of the suggested items in the thread above with no luck. Backups didn't work. Reinstalling PT didn't work. Creating a new VM didn't work. Changing permissions on the C drive didn't work. Not sure what to try next. I suppose I'll have to live with it being crippled until they offer up a fix.

 

Hi @MarkT9 , we appreciate your time and patience.