Symptom : After installing (or Re-installing) the Cisco AnyConnect Client on Windows 8, unable to initialize the NIC. Error is “AnyConnect was not able to establish a connection to the specified secure gateway. Please try connecting again” The Fix is to correct an error in the Description string for the VPN Connection in the registry. Run Regedit Navigate to the key Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\vpnva Open the properties of the key DisplayName The text will look something like this: @oem20.inf,%vpnva_Desc%;Cisco AnyConnect VPN Virtual Miniport Adapter for Windows x64 Change the field to: Cisco AnyConnect VPN Virtual Miniport Adapter for Windows x64 by removing all the text and characters that are on the left of the word Cisco. Exit Regedit and try again.