lsass.exe - system error

[Reggie]

Getting the following message when trying to login into windows XP - lsass.exe - System Error "Security Accounts Manager intialisation failed because o the following error: A device attached to the system to the system is not funtioning. Error status: 0xc0000001. Please click OK to shutdown this system and reboot into Safe mode, check the event log for more information" - laptop just keeps rebooting and when trying to login via safe mode same message is still appearing. Is there any solution??? or will i needs to format the whole laptop. - all comments appriacated - Cheers Reggie

[NHH]

Hi Reggie,

The cause of your problem is a corrupt SAM (Security Accounts Manager) which is located in c:\Windows\System32\Config\SAM, either this folder or the contents inside it is missing or corrupt.

Without the SAM you'll be unable to login to Windows.

This is fixable but not by running the affected Windows installation.
I just have to say first that you never have format a disk to fix a any software problem.

You can boot your PC from a DOS boot disk and fix the problem in DOS.
Download this file and run it on a working PC with a floppy disk in the drive, this wil create a DOS boot disk which works on both FAT & NTFS filesystems.
Once you've created the boot disk, boot your PC from it and when DOS has loaded run the following commands;

• copy c:\windows\system32\config\sam c:\temp\badsam.bak
  
• delete c:\windows\system32\config\sam
  
• copy c:\windows\repair\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
  

Now remove the floppy and reboot your PC and see if your problem is fixed, is so you should be able to login to Windows, you may want try a system restore if there are any more problems.

If the problem is not fixed after reboot, then you will have to re-install or repair Windows by booting from your Windows XP CD.
For a quick Windows XP installation guide click here, this will take you from boot to completion.

Hope that helps.