Mele20
Premium
join:2001-06-05
Hilo, HI
1 edit | [XP Pro] Beep service error
I am getting an error message in Event Viewer regarding the Beep Service:
Event Type: Error
Event Source: Service Control Manager
Event Category: None
Event ID: 7000
Date: 4/20/2008
Time: 10:26:01 PM
User: N/A
Computer: MELE
Description:
The Beep service failed to start due to the following error:
The maximum number of secrets that may be stored in a single system has been exceeded.
In Device Manager I have a yellow exclamation point next to Beep and expanding that it says "device not present, or not working properly, or all drivers are not installed (error 24)".
I clicked on the Troubleshoot button and got a blank page in XP Pro Help. 
Current status is "Started" and startup type is "system". The driver is installed. How do I fix this? What does the error mean regarding "secrets"? What "secrets"?
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"The same ferocity that our founders devoted to protect the freedom and independence of the press is now appropriate for our defense of the freedom of the internet. The stakes are the same: the survival of our Republic". Al Gore, The Assault on Reason |
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dave
Premium,MVM
join:2000-05-04
not in ohio
 ·Verizon Online DSL
 ·Verizon FIOS
| Wow, that is weird.
A 'secret' is a piece of encrypted data stored in the registry by the LSA, local security authority. A secret is used, for example, to store the account password when you configure a process-based service to run under a specified account.
The LSA has a fixed limit (I don't know what) on the number of secrets that can exist in a system.
I have no idea why loading Beep (which is just the driver for the motherboard's 'beep' circuitry) would need to have anything to do with secrets at all.
I don't know how you can eliminate secrets, either.
There's always the possibility that the status is being used 'incorrectly' i.e. this is nothing to do with LSA secrets at all. There's no policing that programmers use error codes appropriate to the actual error situation. But since we've no way of telling, that's probably not useful to consider. |
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bcastner
Premium,VIP,MVM
join:2002-09-25
Chevy Chase, MD
clubs: 
·Verizon Online DSL
1 edit | reply to Mele20
The number of secrets permitted for encrypted material is limited by US Export Law.
There is a Delf Trojan quite common know that replaces beep.sys by injection. It is used as a loader for other companion files as rootkit entries.
Both Combofix and SDFix can identify if this is the case, and replace the file. I would do a pass with SDFix in Safe Mode. |
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Mele20
Premium
join:2001-06-05
Hilo, HI
1 edit | reply to Mele20
Thanks, Dave and bcastner. I just rebooted and the yellow exclamation point is gone now from Beep in Device Manager. It says Beep is working fine. I am also now able to access the Troubleshooter. Of course, I don't need it now and I when it might have been helpful, I got a blank page when trying to access it.
I hope it stays fixed. I couldn't think of anything I had done around the time the error appeared the first time last Saturday. I usually access Event Viewer more frequently so I wish I had this time so I would have discovered it sooner and might have recalled what I was doing better.
I'm going to keep a closer eye on Event Viewer to see if it happens again.
I didn't hear it beep though at POST and I think it does usually. The internal speaker is ok as I can check Avira's sound which uses it.
--
"The same ferocity that our founders devoted to protect the freedom and independence of the press is now appropriate for our defense of the freedom of the internet. The stakes are the same: the survival of our Republic". Al Gore, The Assault on Reason |
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