iac505

Yes I have the OS "Reinstallation DVD" but have refrained from inserting it into the PC for fear that it will mean I will lose all my personal data / files etc. Is there any other option? Thanks

I have a Dell Inspiron laptop running the Windows XP OS and from yesterday it won't start up. I keep getting the following error messages when it tries to boot up :- 1) lsass.exe - Unable To Locate Component - This application has failed to start because msls52.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem. 2) userinit.exe - Unable To Locate Component - This application has failed to start because msls52.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem. 3) EXPLORER.EXE - Unable To Locate Component - This application has failed to start because msls52.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem. Further info that may help: On Saturday afternoon (when my laptop last worked) my McAfee AV software informed me on 4 or 5 ocassions that it had found a trojan and then gave words to the effect that it had fixed/removed it. After shutting down my laptop on Saturday, from then on it will no longer boot up. I have tried to boot in the various safe modes etc but no method works. I was able to get into a commapnd prompt and tried regedit but cannot find the missing file msls52.dll (or parts of it) anywhere. Reason I searched for it myself was that I read elsewhere that someone else who had this same issue was able to locate the "string" elsewhere and renamed parts of the registry. Jelly Bean, ref the advice you give on Cookaboy's thread on same issue, I am unable to get to my desktop at the moment so can't get into any applications (eg IE) to download and run the programs you list. I do have access to another PC though if there is something else I can do to proceed? I have searched the web but not found much on this particular file/issue but notice all the posts related to this file are fairly recent as more people become affected. Hope an expert out there can help ! Thanks in advance, iac505

I have just encountered exactly the same issue :( I have been able to get into regedit (in safe mode) but cannot find the missing file msls52.dll (or parts of it) anywhere. Reason I searched for it myself was that I read elsewhere that someone else who had this same issue was able to locate the "string" elsewhere and renamed parts of the registry. Any help would be greatly appreciated ! Thanks, iac505