lsass.exe problem

[benjaminallen84]

a couple of days ago, i got an error message after starting my computer that said

"lsass.exe - system error
the system has tried to pass an invalid service or function"

i have not recently installed any software or hardware, this thing came out of the blue. i have tried everything that i can think of, but still cant seem to get rid of it.

i searched google looking for answers, came up with a few, but none of them seemed to solve my problem.

i am now running an old copy of winXP home on a seperate hdd instead of winXP pro that i was running until the problem started ...which means that i stilll have access to my winXP pro drive. if there is nothing i can do to fix it, ok. however, i really need my files that are in my documents and my music folders, which of course i cant get to because an error message keeps coming up that says that i dont have access or permission or something like that.

is there any way to get by the error? if not, how do i get my files? i wont mind nuking the winXP pro install, but i really need those files for some of my classes. thanks for any help you guys can provide.

specs

msi neo2 ls mainboard (865pe)
p4 2.6 non o/c 800 fsb 512k cache
512 mb ddr400 kingston value ram
radeon 9600 pro 256mb
120gb maxtor sata150 hdd (primary with winXP pro)
20gb ibm deskstar (secondary hdd with winXP home)

bios at latest version

[rpertusio]

To get past the 'permissions' error, it is a bit tricky with WinXP Home, because it is hard to modify security settings. However, I believe you can try the following..

Boot into your WinXP Home installation in Safe Mode (press F8 when booting). Now, you should be able to see a 'security' tab on folders when you view the folder properties (right-click a folder -> Properties.)

Once you can view the [security] tab, you can then proceed to Take Ownership of the folders that you want to get access to. You do that by hitting the [advanced...] button, clicking the [owner] tab, and changing the owner of the item with your name. Now you should have access to the folder.

- - - - -


You could try running a Repair Install of XP onto the problematic drive (essentially re-installing XP onto your drive without formatting or losing your data.) You can find instructions on how to repair install XP by visiting this Repair XP site, and looking at the How to run a Repair Install section. Follow these instructions word by word, and you wont lose any data.

- rp