Windows XP SP2 lsass.exe Task manager

Hi World,:wave


Can anyone tell me how many instances of lsass.exe I should have running on an XP pro with service pack 2 - noted via the task manager / processes.

My unit at work has only one instance has a nic card and is connected to the i-net, were as my home unit has three or four instances and its current build state hasnt ever been online...just after some info on this not mission critical...??:confused

Thanks for info on this.wave

 

1 on all the xp i have worked on

 

Aas far as I know, one is normal, two is uncommon, but it happens. I have never seen or heard of more that 2 instances of lsass.exe running in the task manager on a non-infected clean PC. I have worked on literally hundreds (probably thousands) or WinXP Pro systems (I'm on my home PC right now running XP Pro and it has one lsass.exe) and have never seen more than 2 on a clean system. The fact that you have 3-4 may not mean anything, so don't worry, but I personally find it strange.... VERY strange.
:confused

Hopefully someone else with some real info will come along and explain it a bit better. I'm pretty sure that lsass stands for Local Security Authentication System Service or something real close to that....