I am running Windows XP Home (Service Pack 2, Build 2600).

The system shows that "Windows is Starting" then it gets to the "To begin, click your user name" screen and a system error box appears showing:

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X (in red circle) System Shutdown

This system is shutting down. Please save all work in progress and log off. Any unsaved changes will be lost. This shutdown was initiated by \ NT AUTHORITY (or is blank in most cases)

Time before shutdown: 00:00:59

The system process

C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe terminated unexpectedly with status code -1073741819. The system will now shut down and restart.
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It then shuts down and attempts to restart and continues in this loop.

I have attempted to boot up in Safe Mode but it gets to a point and then the same message appears.

I suspect I have to run the Hijackthis.exe but I can't get to a point where I can bring Windows all the way up.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

JackDar

In Safe Mode do you have access to the Start button? If so Start>run and type shutdown -a may halt the countdown so you can continue booting.

If you are then able to boot in Safe Mode run scans with every anti-virus and anti-spyware product you have installed.

Can you download the McAfee AVERT Stinger utility (also see instructions for use) from here:
Stinger

-to another computer and then transfer it to your own system via a USB flash drive or CDROM?

Come back with some info about whatever security software you have - if you already have HJT in your system then the guys and gals in the HJT forum may be able to help you in Safe Mode.

Rimmer, thanks. As it turns out, this laptop was purchased within the past three months for my daughter who is in high school. I ended up calling both Symantec and Compaq support. The net result was that I re-installed the operating system and re-formatted the hard drive. I have installed the Norton SystemWorks Premier 2006. It seems to be more stable although it does still crash every now and then. Even after running chkdsk and all the Norton utilities, every now and then upon re-boot it will bring up the message that "This system has recovered from a serious error." I have submitted the report to Microsoft who sent a reply indicating that it was probably related to a bad driver install. The only two drivers that I added were a Microsoft Intellipoint Explorer wireless mouse and an Epson Photo R300 inkjet printer. I have since removed the mouse driver altogether and it seems to be somewhat more stable.

Thanks for your reply.

I'm not a fan of Norton's all singing, all dancing security packages and frankly I would not want to run the SystemWorks utitlities on my PC. The Norton Anti-Virus and Firewall packages are good, but I don't know their anti-spyware capabilities. Still if you're satisfied with it the way it is then that's good news.