Hardware Policy Driver (hwpolicy) Service Defaults in Windows 8
Contains Processor and other policies.
Default Settings
| Startup type: | Boot |
| Display name: | Hardware Policy Driver |
| Service name: | hwpolicy |
| Service type: | kernel |
| Error control: | ignore |
| Path: | %SystemRoot%\System32\drivers\hwpolicy.sys |
| Registry key: | HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\hwpolicy |
Default Behavior
The Hardware Policy Driver service is a kernel device driver. In Windows 8 it is being loaded by Boot Loader before Kernel initialization. If Hardware Policy Driver fails to load or initialize, Windows 8 startup proceeds. The error details should be added to Event Log without notifying the user.
Restore Default Startup Configuration of Hardware Policy Driver
1. Run the Command Prompt as an administrator.
2. Copy the commands below, paste them into the command window and press ENTER:
sc config hwpolicy start= boot
sc start hwpolicy
3. Close the command window and restart the computer.
The hwpolicy service is using the hwpolicy.sys file that is located in the C:\Windows\System32\drivers directory. If the file is removed or corrupted, read this article to restore its original version from Windows 8 installation media.