WinXP won't start

[dwight]

I am currently working on a gateway select 1400 cs
desktop PC. It is running Windows XP home edition, AMD
athlon 1400 cpu, 256 PC 133 mb ram.
Every time I try to go into windows to include safe mode,
I get the following error message and it never goes into
windows.
"lsass.exe - bad image" "The application or dll
C:\windows\system32\lsasrv.dll is not a valid windows
image. Please check this against your installation
diskette."

I know there is a repair I need to do from the recovery
console, but am not sure exactly what to do.

Can anybody help me with this issue??

Thanks in advance!!

Dwight

 

[Bruce J. Weiers]

Can you actually get to the recovery console?

lsass is security related -- you cannot complete the boot because
windows can not authenticate a user. This problem may extend to
blocking your access to the recovery console -- I don't know. If it
does, I think your only alternative will be a repair installation.