[RESOLVED] winlogon.exe application error

I was installing a D-Link wireless card in a PC and, on clicking 'Finish' at the end of installing the drivers, the PC blue-screened on me. Now when I try to boot I get the error message -

SAS window - winlogon.exe - application error

The instruction at 0x00000000 referenced memory at 0x00000000. The memory could not be written.

Click on OK to terminate program. Click on Cancel to debug program.

Clicking on either OK/Cancel causes a reboot, then the same message appears.

I can boot OK into Safe Mode. PC is clean of any malware, XP Pro/SP3, fully patched.

Can someone help me get this running again - it's my teenage son's machine, and he'll go ballistic when he finds it's not working :eek:

I think you need to do an over-the-top re-install of Windows XP here. Boot up with the XP CD in the drive and let Setup run. Go past the "C" and "R" repair options by pressing Enter just as if you're doing a clean install and you'll eventually get an option to "Repair an existing installation". That's the one you want. If it asks about formatting you've gone wrong, so start over.

You'll get to keep your existing apps & settings, but you need to re-install SP2, Windows Updates & any unsigned drivers afterwards. NOTE: Be aware that you'll lose any protection from Blaster / Sasser type worms. Don't go online without a firewall, whether the built in Windows one or 3rd party.

How to perform a re-install of WinXP

Repair XP

WinXP Non-destructive Total Rebuild

I've looked for this error and found some fixs that work and some that don't work for all,

Works for some,
1. Boot with winxp cd
2. Log in to recovery console
3. chkdsk /r

Works for some,
Press f8 during startup before the winlogo comes up, and choose “last configuration that worked”

Doing a repair of Windows seems to fix eveyones PC.

EDITED out the repair option, SuperSparks has added that info..

Thanks Nick and Rodney M. I have managed to get my boot/logon back again without anything as drastic as an over-the-top re-install or repair - thanks to that wonderful little utility, autoruns.

I managed to uninstall the D-Link software and drivers from Safe Mode, but I was still getting the winlogon.exe error. So I ran autoruns while booted in Safe Mode and noticed that Windows was still loading the D-Link/Atheros wireless driver - which it shouldn't have been. I was able to disable the Atheros driver with autoruns, and this fixed the problem.

So it looks like there's a problem with the D-Link driver installation - I'll get on to their tech support and see if there have been other reports of this issue.

At least my son's PC is working again when he gets home shortly .... phew ;)

I'm glad you managed to get it sorted out - problems with winlogon.exe are usually pretty disastrous. Thanks for posting back with your fix :)