Resolving PCS 7 V9 OS Object Creation Error in Wizard

1. Problem Summary

When commissioning a new SIMATIC PCS 7 V9.0 project using the PCS 7 project wizard, the progress bar halts and the dialog "An error occurred during creation of OS objects" appears. The OS is not inserted into the S7 program, and the SIMATIC Manager or PCS 7 engineering station may close without a clean rollback. Manual workaround attempts—removing the PCS 7 OS checkbox in the wizard and creating the OS directly—trigger a secondary fault where the SIMATIC window terminates during WinCC Explorer object instantiation.

This fault class is reproducible and is almost always linked to the Windows operating system version in use, the SIMATIC HMI security group membership, and the applied PCS 7 Update Collection level. The troubleshooting matrix below is built from field-tested remediation paths and applies to PCS 7 V9.0 SPx installations across engineering stations and operator stations.

2. Affected Versions and Components

3. Root Cause Analysis

Three primary root causes trigger the wizard error. Each is independent and may be present in combination.

3.1 Unsupported Windows Edition

The most common trigger. PCS 7 V9.0 is only released for the operating systems shown in Siemens KB 109745530:

• Windows 7 Professional SP1, 64-bit (English version only)
• Windows 7 Ultimate/Enterprise SP1, 64-bit
• Windows 10 Enterprise 2015 LTSB, 64-bit
• Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard Edition, 64-bit

Windows 10 Enterprise (non-LTSB), Windows 10 Pro, Windows 10 Education, and any build upgraded through the Fall Creators Update (1709) or later silently break two prerequisites of the OS object factory:

1. UAC virtualized write paths – non-LTSB builds enforce stricter UAC that prevents the wizard from writing to %ProgramData%\Siemens\Automation.
2. DCOM launch permissions – the WinCC Explorer service account is denied by default, so the in-process COM call that creates OS.OSServer objects returns E_ACCESSDENIED (HRESULT 0x80070005).

3.2 SIMATIC HMI Group Membership Missing or Corrupt

The Windows user account under which the wizard runs must be a member of the local SIMATIC HMI group. If the security descriptor is removed, renamed, or inherited from a domain GPO, the wizard fails when instantiating the WinCC picture object model. The failure is logged in the Application event log as:

The error is the same UAC/DCOM denial described in 3.1, so the symptoms overlap and both checks must be performed.

3.3 Incomplete or Mismatched Update Collection

The PCS 7 Update Collection is cumulative. Installing a partial patch set (for example, OS server hotfixes but not engineering hotfixes) leaves DLL version skew between CCEServer.dll, OSObjectFactory.dll, and WCCILAPI.dll. The wizard attempts to call an updated method on an older assembly and throws FileLoadException with HRESULT 0x80070021.

4. Symptoms Matrix

5. Prerequisites for Resolution

• Local administrator credentials on the engineering station.
• Original PCS 7 V9.0 installation media (DVD set or downloaded ISO from support.industry.siemens.com).
• Latest PCS 7 Update Collection – identified by build number in SIMATIC PCS 7\Readme\Readme.txt on the engineering station.
• Clean Windows installation media matching the released list in section 3.1.
• USB or network share with at least 25 GB free for the installation snapshot.

6. Step-by-Step Resolution

Execute the steps in the order shown. Each step includes a verification check before moving on.

Step 1 – Confirm the Windows Edition

1. Open winver from the Start menu.
2. Verify the string "Windows 10 Enterprise 2015 LTSB" or one of the other three released versions appears.
3. If the version is non-LTSB (1709, 1803, 1809, 1903, 1909, 2004, 20H2, 21H1 ...), stop the procedure and reinstall Windows from the released media. The feature update cannot be uninstalled in-place reliably for PCS 7 use.

Step 2 – Capture the Installed Software Inventory

Before any patch activity, export the current software list for cross-checking against the Update Collection prerequisites:

Upload this file to the Compatibility tool of the PCS 7 Update Collection to obtain a per-product install status (installed, missing, superseded, blocked). The same tool generates the required install sequence.

Step 3 – Download the Latest PCS 7 Update Collection

Locate the current collection in the Siemens Online Support portal. The download is delivered as a self-extracting archive that creates the directory structure:

\PCS7_Vxx_Update\Disk1\Setup.exe
\PCS7_Vxx_Update\HW_Config\...
\PCS7_Vxx_Update\OS\...
\PCS7_Vxx_Update\AS\...

Step 4 – Compare the Inventory Against the Install Options

Open the generated report from Step 2 next to the install option tree of the Update Collection. The install option tree is the XML file Options.xml shipped with the collection. Validate that every required component is either installed or will be installed by the Update Collection. Pay special attention to:

• SIMATIC WinCC Explorer (must be present and version-aligned with the OS runtime).
• SIMATIC PCS 7 OS Server / OS Client (must match the project scope—do not install OS Server on a client-only engineering station).
• SIMATIC NET (PC station configuration module).
• Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) Windows feature.

Step 5 – Install the Collection

1. Disable antivirus real-time scanning for the duration of the install.
2. Run Setup.exe as Administrator from the Disk1 folder.
3. Accept the detected missing components and proceed with the sequence produced by the Compatibility tool.
4. Reboot when prompted. The installer will resume automatically after login.

Step 6 – Validate the SIMATIC HMI Group

1. Open compmgmt.msc.
2. Navigate to System Tools → Local Users and Groups → Groups.
3. Confirm the SIMATIC HMI group exists. If it does not, recover it by running Setup.exe /RestoreHmiGroup from the PCS 7 V9.0 media.
4. Open Properties → Members and add the engineering user account.
5. Log out and log back in to refresh the access token.

Step 7 – Re-run the PCS 7 Wizard

1. Start SIMATIC Manager as Administrator.
2. Select File → New Project → PCS 7 V9.0 Wizard.
3. Step through CPU, AS, OS server, OS client, and archive configuration as usual.
4. When the OS progress bar reaches the end, the OS objects should be created without error.

7. Verification Procedure

8. Windows LTSB vs Non-LTSB: Engineering Implications

Windows 10 Enterprise 2015 LTSB (Long Term Servicing Branch) is the only consumer-style Windows build approved for PCS 7. The differences that matter for control engineers:

9. SIMATIC HMI Security Group Deep Dive

The SIMATIC HMI group is created by the PCS 7 setup and carries specific rights required by the WinCC and PCS 7 OS services. Its default configuration is:

• Members: the local user running the engineering station and the SIMATIC HMI\User pseudo-account.
• Rights on %ProgramFiles%\Siemens\Automation: Read & Execute, Modify.
• DCOM launch and activation permissions for the WinCC Explorer service.
• "Log on as service" right for the OS server account.

If a domain GPO is applied, three GPO settings must be checked:

This must include the SIMATIC HMI group, otherwise nested folder traversal fails when the wizard opens the project directory.

Repair the group with the following procedure if it has been deleted or stripped of rights:

1. Open an elevated command prompt.
2. Run net localgroup "SIMATIC HMI" "DOMAIN\EngineeringUser" /add.
3. Run sc sdset WinCCExplorerService D:(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;SY)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;IU)(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;S-1-5-32-549) where S-1-5-32-549 is the SID of SIMATIC HMI.
4. Restart the WinCC Explorer service.

10. PCS 7 Update Collection Compatibility Tool

The Compatibility tool is a small executable shipped with the Update Collection. Its purpose is to read the current installation and produce an install plan that will not violate the version pinning enforced by Siemens. Use it before every update cycle, even when applying a one-line hotfix.

11. Field Commissioning Checklist

Use this checklist on any new PCS 7 V9.0 engineering station before signing the SAT (Site Acceptance Test):

1. Windows version matches the released list, no Feature Updates applied post-install.
2. winver output archived in the project documentation folder.
3. SIMATIC HMI group present and contains the engineering user.
4. MSMQ Windows feature installed.
5. DCOM default authentication level set to Connect (not None).
6. PCS 7 Update Collection applied in the exact sequence from the Compatibility tool.
7. Wizard-generated project opens without errors.
8. OS server runtime starts, OS client connects, redundancy is exercised.
9. All relevant event log sources clean (WinCC, SIMATIC, SIMATIC NET).
10. Backup of the engineering station taken with the approved image tool (e.g. Symantec Ghost, Acronis, or Windows Image Backup).

12. Related Edge Cases

• Folder compression on the project directory. The wizard does not write to NTFS-compressed folders because atomic file replacement fails. Always store PCS 7 projects on an uncompressed volume.
• Antivirus scanning of .pdl files. WinCC picture files use a binary format; Defender or third-party AV may quarantine them. Add the picture directory to AV exclusions.
• Remote Desktop session running the wizard. If a colleague opens the project via RDP, the local user token is not used; the wizard fails. Always run the wizard from a console session or a directly attached keyboard/monitor session.
• Project path containing non-ASCII characters. The OS object factory assumes Unicode-clean paths. Avoid umlauts, CJK characters, and spaces exceeding the Win32 path length limit.
• Time skew between AS and OS server greater than 5 seconds. Not a wizard error, but a common source of identical-looking symptoms at OS runtime. Synchronize via WinCC TimeSync or a domain NTP source.

13. Backup and Rollback

If the wizard still fails after applying all steps, restore the engineering station from the pre-install image. The diagnostic data to capture before the rollback is:

msinfo32 /report C:\Temp\msinfo.nfo

xcopy /E /I /H "%ProgramData%\Siemens" C:\Temp\SiemensData

wevtutil epl Application C:\Temp\Application.evtx
wevtutil epl System C:\Temp\System.evtx

Send the three artifacts plus the inventory from Step 2 to Siemens Technical Support via the official support request form. Do not attempt to manually edit the registry or to substitute DLLs across SP levels — both actions void the PCS 7 certification and prevent future hotfix installation.

14. Frequently Asked Questions