Windows 7 - session manager initialization system process terminated unexpectedly

BSOD: The session manager initialization system process terminated unexpectedly with a status of 0xc000003a (0x00000000, 0x00000000)

I'm getting this on a shop system running Win 7 Home Premium 32 bit. The last thing I did was shutdown before going home and I believe it installed an update then shutdown, so I'm suspecting the update caused the problem.

I can't get into the F8 Safe Mode screen to try Last known good configuration so I think I'll try a System Restore from the install DVD. Does that sound like a good approach?

Any other suggestions?

Sorry I don't have the specs with me but I think it's a 2.8Ghz Dual core Intel with 4GB RAM and two SATA drives. It's been running fine for about a year.

If you can boot into the computer by what ever means just delete the last update and re boot and see if that helps.

So far I've not been able to boot to Safe Mode so I don't think that's an option. System Restore should do the same thing and I can run that from the System Recovery Options menu from a booted Win 7 install DVD.

Rich, does the system have Norton on it?

No. I use MSE and MBAM, no Norton (or McAfee). I saw the threads about Norton being a possible cause though, thanks.

I'll find out tomorrow morning (Monday) what will and will not work. My preference would be to boot to Safe Mode and uninstall the latest update but I don't think I can get to Safe Mode so a System Restore from the DVD "should" fix this.

If not then what? From what I've read, you can't do a Repair Install unless you can boot the system.

I do have a System Image but it's about 8 months old. I kept meaning to update it but never seemed to find the time. I'll use it rather than do any kind of reinstall though.

You can make a Rescue CD with Trinity Trinity Rescue Kit | CPR for your computer

Well, nothing worked.

I tried running Startup Repair 3 times, nothing.
Tried a System Restore but it said there were no restore points available which is wrong as I know for certain I had enabled System Restore on the boot (C: ) drive.
Finally tried restoring from a Macrium Reflect backup image but when I booted the Macrium Recovery disc, neither the mouse or keyboard worked, so I had to create a BartPE PEBuilder iso with Macrium on it. That worked and i was able to restore but it did not fix the problem, still getting the BSOD.

Finally bit the bullet and did a clean install, deleting existing partitions and creating a new one then do a normal install and it worked fine. I had everything I needed backed up so nothing islost but why didn't Macrium restore work?

Now I can't seem to get Automatic Update to offer me SP1. I've installed 70+ updates, including upgrading to IE9 but AU still doesn't offer me SP1.

Once I'm done I'll create a new Macrium backup and hope it will be of some use in the future if needed.

Jacee - didn't see your post till after I'd already nuked the existing installation. Would have been interesting to run it and see what happened.

Have you figured out which update put you through this hell?

Pay attention Rich! I would have liked to see if it worked for you too. lol

Yes, I figured it out

The install had not activated yet, even though I chose Activate when connected during the install. Apparently you cannot get SP1 or MS Office XP SP3 until you do. That was not mentioned in any of the articles I found on the problem so I wasted hours of download and install time figuring it was a prerequisite update that I needed.

What a PITA!