Hey, posted this uber formal thing on PC World's helpscreen...and got no response at all lol Only thought about posting it here when I finally figured that I needed to fix the computer =p
Several months ago my desktop system running Windows XP Professional reported on boot up an error with "lsass.exe", saying something similar to "lsass.exe has found that the current password does not match records", after which it would reboot and become a cycle. I'm sorry I cannot provide the exact wording as the error occurred during my HSC exams and I didn't write it down.
After searching on the internet for possible reasons as to why this was occurring, it was found that it was possible to use the repair console to overwrite the c:\windows\system32\config\security file so I could back up my files and perform a format and clean install. The overwrite was done (from c:\windows\repair to c:\windows\system32\config) however it then informed me, just after bios and just before XP booted, that the file c:\windows\system32\config\system was corrupt or missing, and hence Windows would not be able to boot.
So I used the repair console to overwrite that file with a new one from c:\windows\repair as well. Windows then proceeded to work fine, and enabled me to backup my files. However after a very short period of time, the file c:\windows\system32\config\system would become corrupt again, and a variation of the original "lssass.exe" error would pop up if the c:\windows\system32\config\system file replaced.
Having backed up my files, I performed a format with my trusty Windows 98 CD, then attempted to install Win98 and try to upgrade from there. However during the installation of Win98 it would often say "You have interupted Setup whilst it was copying files", and and generally unhelpful popup would inform me of my options, whether to retry, skip or file details. This occurred several times during installation, where I found I had no other choice but to skip copying that file. After installation Windows 98 worked but wouldn't let me upgrade to XP, freezing when I put the CD in.
So I performed another format in DOS and tried to install XP straight from DOS. The installation hit no problems and Windows would work for a short period of time, but the file c:\windows\system32\config\system would become corrupt again, forming another cycle. In one of the short times Windows worked, I managed to get Norton Antivirus 2004 up, and scanned. It found no viruses.
This leads me to consider that maybe the hard disk is broken, however there have been no unusual noises coming from the drive. Many many installations of Windows 98 and XP showed the same problems. Recently I tested with another old hard drive found somewhere in my dusty room...and the same problem happened. So, maybe not a hard disk problem? Any ideas?
I run an Athlon 1.4C GHz on an ASUS A7A 266-E Mainboard, with 256 DDR ram, a Western Digital 20G IDE HDD, a Toshiba IDE DVD-ROM, a Ricoh MP7060S SCSI 6x Burner, Creative SB Live! 5.1 sound card, Geforce 2 GTS 32MB, and a generic 10/100 network card on WinXP Pro.
Thanks for reading this uhh long post.
Several months ago my desktop system running Windows XP Professional reported on boot up an error with "lsass.exe", saying something similar to "lsass.exe has found that the current password does not match records", after which it would reboot and become a cycle. I'm sorry I cannot provide the exact wording as the error occurred during my HSC exams and I didn't write it down.
After searching on the internet for possible reasons as to why this was occurring, it was found that it was possible to use the repair console to overwrite the c:\windows\system32\config\security file so I could back up my files and perform a format and clean install. The overwrite was done (from c:\windows\repair to c:\windows\system32\config) however it then informed me, just after bios and just before XP booted, that the file c:\windows\system32\config\system was corrupt or missing, and hence Windows would not be able to boot.
So I used the repair console to overwrite that file with a new one from c:\windows\repair as well. Windows then proceeded to work fine, and enabled me to backup my files. However after a very short period of time, the file c:\windows\system32\config\system would become corrupt again, and a variation of the original "lssass.exe" error would pop up if the c:\windows\system32\config\system file replaced.
Having backed up my files, I performed a format with my trusty Windows 98 CD, then attempted to install Win98 and try to upgrade from there. However during the installation of Win98 it would often say "You have interupted Setup whilst it was copying files", and and generally unhelpful popup would inform me of my options, whether to retry, skip or file details. This occurred several times during installation, where I found I had no other choice but to skip copying that file. After installation Windows 98 worked but wouldn't let me upgrade to XP, freezing when I put the CD in.
So I performed another format in DOS and tried to install XP straight from DOS. The installation hit no problems and Windows would work for a short period of time, but the file c:\windows\system32\config\system would become corrupt again, forming another cycle. In one of the short times Windows worked, I managed to get Norton Antivirus 2004 up, and scanned. It found no viruses.
This leads me to consider that maybe the hard disk is broken, however there have been no unusual noises coming from the drive. Many many installations of Windows 98 and XP showed the same problems. Recently I tested with another old hard drive found somewhere in my dusty room...and the same problem happened. So, maybe not a hard disk problem? Any ideas?
I run an Athlon 1.4C GHz on an ASUS A7A 266-E Mainboard, with 256 DDR ram, a Western Digital 20G IDE HDD, a Toshiba IDE DVD-ROM, a Ricoh MP7060S SCSI 6x Burner, Creative SB Live! 5.1 sound card, Geforce 2 GTS 32MB, and a generic 10/100 network card on WinXP Pro.
Thanks for reading this uhh long post.
/FS:NTFS