WinXP Pro SP2 C:\ boot issue

[gratefulluke]

I am about to give up on this and I'm pretty upset, I hope someone can help me!

My main machine will not complete booting on C:\ anymore. I've tried the six boot floppies that Microsoft.com suggests, editing the boot.ini file on the first floppy, etc. only to discover Microsoft's disclaimer "You cannot use the Windows XP boot disk(s) to help resolve boot issues that occur after you see the Windows XP startup (Osloader) screen." The booting issue sometimes occurs after I see the WinXP startup screen, but not always. Sometimes it doesn't even get that far. I'll explain:

After the motherboard completes it's preliminary initializations, I get the "Windows did not start successfully" screen (always). It gives safe modes, Last Known Good Configuration and Start Windows Normally options. When starting in any of the safe modes, it skips the WinXP load screen (Osloader, see above) and the screen starts to scroll down and displays the C:\ WinXP boot sequence i.e.:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\............etc., etc. etc.

and gets hung up while doing this. It stalls at:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\Mup.sys

If I choose to start in the two non-safe mode options (Last Known Good Configuration and Start Windows Normally), it displays the WinXP load screen (Osloader, see above) the "busy bar" rolls as usual but after about fifteen seconds, total blackness. Nothing, no hard drive activity or anything else.

Could the Mup.sys file be corrupted? How could I fix this? Any suggestions?

Some extra information: WinXP Pro SP2 is running on the C:\WINDOWS directory of a single partition Western Digital Caviar 120GB Hard Drive (Serial ATA-150, 7200 RPM, 8MB) connected to a ASRock 775V88 motherboard with a P4 3.0 gig 800mHz FSB and 1GB (512 x 2) of Kingston ValueRam 266mHz DDR. There is a second 250GB SATA F:\ drive that I use solely for storing music and movies. If there is any other necessary or helpful info., let me know and I'll serve it up.

Thanks in advance, I need this machine back in service, it has my entire life on it!

 

[DrAsik]

As long as you don't format the hard drive, or it doesn't break, your data is safe; you can always plug that hard drive in an already functional computer and backup your data.

Did you try reinstalling Windows by using the Windows cd-rom? If it doesn't want to boot from cd, then you need to access your BIOS by pressing the Delete key just right after starting the computer. There will be a "boot" section where you should select the cd-rom as the first boot device, floppy second, and hard drive last. Save your changes and try again.

Know that if you reinstall windows, it will ask you to reformat you hd. Doing so will erase all data! So I recommend you try backing up your data with the help of another computer first.

 

[attrofy]

This can be quite a troublesome problem. I have found it related to a driver being incompatible or out of date with the system; or a hardware conflicting with what windows believes should be a correct driver. If you do a google search on MUP.SYS you will see countless threads regarding the exact symptoms you are describing. Many seem to be a best guess pop-shot at resolving the issue. I had this happen once, and I believe it was a hardware driver that was out of date or incorrect. I am sorry I can't remember the details on what steps I took to fix it, but it ended up being something quite simple. If I recall I may have had to take out a few pieces of non-estential hardware to get it to boot to safe mode, then replace pieces one by one until I found the culrpit.

One last sugestion - remove any and all USB devices before rebooting. Sometimes they will hang in odd ways - especially if attached as storage devices (or logical drives).