Lsass.exe application error - If you are suddenly getting an lsass.exe application error and can’t use your computer, its likely you have a virus which could provide access to personal information on your computer.

The lsass.exe application error usually comes from either a corrupted install of Windows, in which case you need to reinstall Windows, or your PC has been infected by a “drive-by download” and you need to remove the virus or trojan that installed a worm using a different file also named lsass.exe.

The original Windows version of lsass.exe is in your Windows/System32 folder, so any other instance of lsass.exe on your PC should be removed.

Getting rid of viruses, trojans, and malware hard to do unless you use the right removal tools. Basically, you are looking to remove all files associated with the virus/trojan/worm from your program files, system registry, and temporary internet files.

Boot into "safe mode" (hit F8 during the Windows boot)

To remove this particular application error and other malware variations, download the free MalwareBytes Anti-Malware tool at download.com, plus download Piriform’s CCleaner and use these free tools to scan your PC.

Piriform CCleaner removes all the temporary browser files from your PC, which is where malware programs, viruses, and popup ad launchers files hide, often by renaming the executable file using random letters after one version is deleted.

You’ll need to run the MalwareBytes Anti-Malware tool runs first because it runs before your computer finishes booting, so it can root out all the various virus files in the system registry before they can use tricky methods to reinstall themselves under those randomly generated new file names.

When the report finishes, it will list all the adware, spyware, and malware files like trojan keyloggers that need to be removed, along with the associated Windows registry keys that also need to be deleted to keep it from automatically re-installing.

Just follow the prompts to delete the malware files and your computer is clean. Delete all the temporary files using CCleaner so you don’t get reinfected.

Sorry for asking a potentially dumb question. I'm pretty technologically challenged, but by choosing the "repair/install" option would it recover any of the files previously saved on the computer or will all that be lost? Is there a way to recover any of the things saved on there such as pictures or word documents? Thanks ahead of time!