lsass.exe system error not cleared by Repair Installation

[Richard J.]

I have a Toshiba M30X laptop running a non-OEM XP Home SP2. On switching
on yesterday I got the message about \windows\system32\config\system
being missing or corrupt, indicating a corrupted registry. I followed
Part 1 of the Microsoft advice in KB 307545 to recover from the
corrupted registry using the Recovery Console, but on booting up Windows
in safe mode to start part 2 of the advice, I got an lsass.exe system
error: "When trying to update a password, the return status indicates
that the value provided for the current password is not correct."
Further use of the Recovery Console was not possible, as it called for
an Admin password which I had never set up (and blank didn't work).

I therefore tried to do a Repair Installation from the XP CD-ROM, but
this also gives the lsass.exe password error.

I know that lsass.exe can be hijacked by the Sasser worm, but I can't
believe it's that, as the symptoms seem different, and I was running
SP2, Zone Alarm firewall and a fully-updated AVG 7.5.

Can anyone suggest what I can do other than wiping the C: drive and
doing a full reinstallation of Windows XP, and other software on C:?

And if I do that, will any software that I have installed in a second
Program Files folder on the D: drive still work, or will I have to
reinstall it all from the CDs again? This is the second time in 6
months that I've had the config\system file missing problem, and it's a
pain.

 

[Rock]

I have a Toshiba M30X laptop running a non-OEM XP Home SP2. On switching on
yesterday I got the message about \windows\system32\config\system being
missing or corrupt, indicating a corrupted registry. I followed Part 1 of
the Microsoft advice in KB 307545 to recover from the corrupted registry
using the Recovery Console, but on booting up Windows in safe mode to start
part 2 of the advice, I got an lsass.exe system error: "When trying to
update a password, the return status indicates that the value provided for
the current password is not correct." Further use of the Recovery Console
was not possible, as it called for an Admin password which I had never set
up (and blank didn't work).

I therefore tried to do a Repair Installation from the XP CD-ROM, but this
also gives the lsass.exe password error.

I know that lsass.exe can be hijacked by the Sasser worm, but I can't
believe it's that, as the symptoms seem different, and I was running SP2,
Zone Alarm firewall and a fully-updated AVG 7.5.

Can anyone suggest what I can do other than wiping the C: drive and doing
a full reinstallation of Windows XP, and other software on C:?

And if I do that, will any software that I have installed in a second
Program Files folder on the D: drive still work, or will I have to
reinstall it all from the CDs again? This is the second time in 6 months
that I've had the config\system file missing problem, and it's a pain.

Sorry I don't have a specific resolution for your issue. One thing to try
is to reset the Administrator password using this utility:
http://home.eunet.no/pnordahl/ntpasswd/editor.html

Yes if you did a clean install then all apps will have to be reinstalled
from their original media.

There are a couple of things to look at for the future. First here is a KB
article with info on how to troubleshoot registry corruption issues.
Something is causing this corruption in the registry. It could be hardware
or software.

How to Troubleshoot Registry Corruption Issues
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=822705

Consider using ERUNT to make a backup of the registry on a daily basis,
keeping several iterations of it. If set up properly, the registry can be
easily restored from the recovery console from one of these backups using a
small utility that comes with ERUNT.

ERUNT
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/erunt.txt

Installing and Using ERUNT
http://www.silentrunners.org/sr_eruntuse.html
http://www.winxptutor.com/regback.htm

Lastly consider getting a drive imaging program such as Acronis True Image
Home, vs.. 10. This will make a compressed image of the drives which can be
stored on external media such as a USB drive or CD/DVD. Restores can be
done on a file basis or the whole drive. This allows for a quick means to
recover to a previous working state. It also does file backups. Check the
prices on Newegg.com for this. I have seen them fluctuate in the past month
from a high of USD $37 to a low of $27. The list is around $50 from
Acronis.

http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/

 

[Richard J.]

Sorry I don't have a specific resolution for your issue. One thing
to try is to reset the Administrator password using this utility:
http://home.eunet.no/pnordahl/ntpasswd/editor.html

Since I couldn't get into Windows at all, I had no way of getting that
utility on to the laptop. I therefore did a reinstall of XP Home on C:
from the CD-ROM, then had problems installing SP2, but have now overcome
that.

Yes if you did a clean install then all apps will have to be
reinstalled from their original media.

Some seem to be OK. It depends, I guess, whether they include any .dll
files that they had stored on C:.

There are a couple of things to look at for the future. First here
is a KB article with info on how to troubleshoot registry
corruption issues. Something is causing this corruption in the
registry. It could be hardware or software.

How to Troubleshoot Registry Corruption Issues
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=822705

Consider using ERUNT to make a backup of the registry on a daily
basis, keeping several iterations of it. If set up properly, the
registry can be easily restored from the recovery console from one
of these backups using a small utility that comes with ERUNT.

ERUNT
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/erunt.txt

Installing and Using ERUNT
http://www.silentrunners.org/sr_eruntuse.html
http://www.winxptutor.com/regback.htm

Lastly consider getting a drive imaging program such as Acronis
True Image Home, vs.. 10. This will make a compressed image of the
drives which can be stored on external media such as a USB drive or
CD/DVD. Restores can be done on a file basis or the whole drive. This
allows for a quick means to recover to a previous working
state. It also does file backups. Check the prices on Newegg.com
for this. I have seen them fluctuate in the past month from a high
of USD $37 to a low of $27. The list is around $50 from Acronis.

http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/

Thanks very much for the advice -- very useful.

 

[Rock]

You're welcome.

Since I couldn't get into Windows at all, I had no way of getting that
utility on to the laptop. I therefore did a reinstall of XP Home on C:
from the CD-ROM, then had problems installing SP2, but have now overcome
that.


Some seem to be OK. It depends, I guess, whether they include any .dll
files that they had stored on C:.


Thanks very much for the advice -- very useful.