STATUS_REMOTE_RESOURCES (0xC000013D) – Quick Fix Guide

1. Stale or Mismatched Credentials (Most Common)

Nine times out of ten, 0xC000013D pops up because the saved credentials for a remote printer or mapped drive don't match what the server expects. Maybe your password changed, or the account got locked. Windows caches these, and when it tries to reconnect, the handshake fails.

Fix: Clear saved credentials and reconnect

1. Open Credential Manager – hit Start, type credential manager, select Windows Credentials.
2. Look for entries under Windows Credentials that match the server name or IP of the remote resource (e.g., \fileserver or \printserver).
3. Click the arrow to expand, then Remove the entry. Confirm.
4. Reboot the machine. Yes, reboot. Clearing the cache in memory doesn't always take effect without a restart.
5. Reconnect to the share or printer – you'll be prompted for fresh credentials.

If you see the error right after a password reset, this is almost certainly it. Don't bother with network reset or SFC scans – they won't touch credential caching.

2. Printer or Share Timeout on Slow Networks

Another common scenario: the remote resource is on a VPN or slow WAN link. The default timeouts in Windows are stupidly short – around 60 seconds for printer connections. When the server takes longer to respond (common with old printers or congested links), Windows throws 0xC000013D instead of waiting.

Fix: Increase timeout via registry (for printers)

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print

1. Open Regedit as admin.
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print.
3. Create a new DWORD (32-bit) called NetPrinterTimeout if it doesn't exist.
4. Set the value to 120 (decimal) – that's 2 minutes. You can go up to 300 if it's really slow.
5. Also, under the same key, create PortThreadTimeout DWORD and set it to 120.
6. Restart the Print Spooler service from Services.msc.

For SMB shares, the timeout is controlled by HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters – add a DWORD SessionTimeout (default is 60 seconds, set to 120 or 180).

3. Group Policy Printer Deployment Timing

If you're in a corporate environment where printers get pushed via Group Policy, the timing of the login process can cause this. The printer connection attempt starts before the network stack is fully up, especially on Wi-Fi. The result? A dead connection that shows 0xC000013D.

Fix: Force synchronous printer deployment

1. Open Group Policy Management Console (run gpmc.msc).
2. Edit the policy that deploys the printers.
3. Navigate to Computer Configuration > Policies > Administrative Templates > Printers.
4. Enable Always wait for the network at computer startup and logon. This forces Windows to wait for network connectivity before applying printer policies.
5. Also enable Specify wait interval for startup policy processing and set it to a value like 30 seconds.
6. Run gpupdate /force on affected machines, then reboot.

For standalone machines: You can mimic this by disabling fast startup in Power Options. Fast startup skips reinitializing the network stack, causing dead resources. Turn it off: Control Panel > Power Options > Choose what the power buttons do > Uncheck 'Turn on fast startup'.

4. Corrupt Spooler or SMB Cache (Rare but Annoying)

Sometimes the printer spooler cache gets corrupted or the SMB autodisconnect cache holds a stale session. This is less common but worth checking if the above didn't work.

Fix: Reset spooler and clear SMB cache

net stop spooler
 del %systemroot%\System32\spool\PRINTERS\* /q /s
 net start spooler

Then clear SMB connections:

net use * /delete /y

Run those commands from an elevated command prompt. After that, reconnect the printer or share manually.

Quick-Reference Summary Table

Start with cause #1. It's the quickest and fixes most cases. If you're in a corporate domain with push printers, skip to #3. Don't waste time reinstalling drivers – that's rarely the issue here.