XP Home SP2: RPC refuses to start with error 5

March 1, 2008

As I was preparing to repartition my hard disk (something I haven't yet got

around to do), I decided to run a chkdsk run on my Toshiba laptop, an Equium

M70-272. Well, the chkdsk lasted four hours, one of which was spent fiddling

with "security descriptors" (or similar) of file #9, three of which were

spent fiddling with "security information" (or similar) of each and any file

in the partition.

As a result, a number of problems popped up, and after a quick investigation

I found that the culprit is in RPC now refusing to start with error 5, Access

Denied.

To save some time:

* Yes, I did make a system restore point just before the chkdsk. And yes,

System Restore depends on RPC which means it won't start. Sigh.\

* No, I have no (legal) way to reinstall Windows XP install, thank you very

much. The system was provided with no restore disk, and being an OEM product

it didn't bring a Windows XP install either. If this is really only solution

I'll just delete Windows, thank you very much. :(

* Yes, I'm geniunely trying to fix the issue. I don't care if it'll take

some time and if it'll be an headache.

Also, how can I discover what file is file #9?

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