# Windows randomly restarting



## vigilance227 (Jan 12, 2008)

Just a few minutes ago, I got a message on my screen saying something along the lines of "Windows has encountered a critical error and needs to restart." I have no clue what caused this problem and this is actually the second time this happened to me. Has anyone else encountered the same problem and knows what causes this? 

I'm using Windows Vista Home Premium btw.


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## warlordfmike (Aug 15, 2007)

ok here's what i want u to do 

post the minidump files ill have someone look at them as that i cant 

C:\Windows 

winrar them 
http://www.rarlab.com/rar/wrar371.exe

and then gto 

Control Panel\System and Maintenance\System\advanced system settings

and then click on advanced then click on start and recovery and UNCHECK 
AUTOMATICALLY RESTART

and make it do it again 

post the dxdiag file 
click start type in start search dxdiag and click save all info to a text file 

have u installed any new software / hardware


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## vigilance227 (Jan 12, 2008)

Sorry, but where would I find the minidump files?


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## warlordfmike (Aug 15, 2007)

sorry for that 

C:\Windows


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## vigilance227 (Jan 12, 2008)

Hmm...I can't seem to find the minidump files in the Windows folder even when I do a search. Do those files go under another name?

Also, I noticed that when the problem occurred both times, I was accessing MSN internet explorer. When I went to check in the Reliability and Performance Monitor, lsass.exe appeared under application failures, failure type is that it stopped working.


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## warlordfmike (Aug 15, 2007)

hmm lost for words 

are u geting (bsod) 

lsass.exe is a system process of the Microsoft Windows security mechanisms :grin:
http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary/lsass/

so no need to worry over but there is someting that i need u to do

Control Panel\System and Maintenance\System\advanced system settings

and then click on advanced then click on start and recovery and UNCHECK 
AUTOMATICALLY RESTART 

as that i might help me help lol


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## vigilance227 (Jan 12, 2008)

I didn't get a BSOD. And I unchecked the automatically restart option like you said. I'll post again if I encounter that error again and see what happens.


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## vigilance227 (Jan 12, 2008)

Well, after reading the event viewer, I went and searched for the time when my system rebooted itself automatically. Before that was an error log that said under general description, "critical system process, C:\Windows\System32\lsass.exe, failed with status code 255. Machine must now be restarted." Source was Wininit. 

I don't know what that error means, but I hope it helps...


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## warlordfmike (Aug 15, 2007)

hmm ill get some more help 

as i said lsass.exe is part windows but way its doing that i have no clue


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## Placehold (Mar 9, 2008)

Hey vigilance227,

It looks like you might have a virus, as warlordfmike stated it is a system process and shouldn't be disabled, 

lsass.exe is a Microsoft Windows file stored in the _c:\windows\system32_ or _c:\winnt\system32_ directory that is short for *L*ocal *S*ecurity *A*uthority *S*ubsystem *S*ervice and has the file description: "*LSA shell*". This file is responsible for how Microsoft Windows handles security and security related policies, authority domain authentication, and Active Directory management on your computer however, like any file on your computer it can become corrupted by a virus or trojan.

If your recieving the error message *critical system process, C:\Windows\System32\lsass.exe*, it normally means that a virus has tried to alter your security system to gain access to your system.

1. First of all when you boot your PC up, press *CTRL*,*SHIFT* and *ESC*,this brings up task manager.
2. Under *Processes* locate *lsass.exe *

:Note:Now there might be two of them *lsass.exe* and *Isass.exe*. The first one is a lowercase *L* and the second one an uppercase *I*,on your system they will look almost identical, the second one is the virus

3. Then end process
4. Navigate to *Start\Control Panel\System and Maintenance\System\Advanced System Settings*
5. Under *Startup and Recovery* select *Settings*
6. **Under *System Failure* uncheck *Automatically Restart*
7. Then Look over the *First Steps at Removing Malware *

Hopefully you should have your system up and running in no time :smile:

**









Regards




Craig


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## vigilance227 (Jan 12, 2008)

Under Processes, I only found lsass.exe (with L), not Isass.exe, should I end that process?


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## Placehold (Mar 9, 2008)

Dont end it, 

If you go through the steps i posted previous and try to clean your
system you should be fine :smile:

Regards




Craig


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