In Microsoft Windows NT, 2000, and later versions, passwords are stored in SAM (Security Accounts Manager. It is a database, which is stored as registry file. It stores passwords in hashed format (in NTLM and LM hash). In some situations, this database may get damaged and you can not log into your Windows system. This behavior renders all your hard drive partitions inaccessible. It may also cause partition loss in some ways and need Partition Recovery solutions to retrieve your Windows hard drive partitions.

In a practical scenario, when you boot your Microsoft Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Home Edition-based computer, you might come across the below error message: "Security Accounts Manager initialization failed because of the following error: A device attached to the system is not functioning.