Stop 0x00000073 error

[jrisenberg]

I have a Dell Inspiron E1405 laptop, 1.66 GHz processor, 1024 MB DR2 SDRAM (533MHz memory speed), 8MB video memory, 78GB HDD (52.2 GB free).  OS = Windows XP SP3, IE7.  McAfee Security Center installed - virus definitions updated.

When shutting down the laptop, the unit will power off and will turn back on automatically, without user touching laptop.  It starts up to Dell Media Center.  2 spash screens appear, then a BSOD:

CONFIG_LIST_FAILED

Stop 0x00000073 (0x00000001, 0xC000017D, 0x00000002, 0xF9688BB8).

Steps taken to resolve:
1)  Upgraded virus protection and ran full virus scan.
2)  Ran Registry Cleaner

Rebooted and received Stop 73 error.  Removed battery and restarted laptop.  Upon start up, received following BSOD error:

Stop 0x0000007B  (0xF9E4F524, 0xC00000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000).
error coding indicates a possible Boot Sector virus.

3)  Ran RootkitReaveler detection utility from Sysinternals Suite (part of microsoft.com)
Found 3 items:

Path                                                               Time Stamp                Size             Descripton
a) HKLM\Security\Policy\Secrets\SAC*                 8/16/2005 12:01p     0 bytes      Key name contains embedded nulls (*)
b) HKLM\Security\Policy\Secrets\SAI*                  8/16/2005 12:01p     0 bytes      Key name contains embedded nulls (*)
c)  HKLM\Software\Classes\webcal\URL protocol  6/14/2006  12:55am 13 bytes   Data mismatch between Windows API and raw hive data.

What steps can I take (without reloading laptop) to resolve this issue?  How do I fix the data mismatch issue as identified in 3c above?

[patio]

Changed or updated any drivers lately ? ?

MSDN article.)
The process creation failure indicated by this error message can only happen during the fairly brief time that the Windows Executive is being initialized, which is during phase 4 of Windows startup. Typically there is a problem with a device driver or with a missing or corrupt system file used during Windows startup.

you could also go to Start/Run and type in sfc /scannow and hit enter...
Have your Win CD handy as it will ask for it.
When done remove the CD and re-boot...