Hmmm...system won't boot, stops at "mup.sys" in safemode boot

[EvilYoda]

So basically I got in on the CC WD 250 gig HD deal on BF. (I just wanted to see how many acronyms I could throw in there) I have a system in a Sonata case...great little case, but horrible for future upgrades...which would be now.

I have 2 hard drives in there, one 100 and one 160...I took out the 160, thinking that it was the data drive, to copy over the data to the 250 and wipe the original. Long story short, put all the original pieces back into the case to figure out which HD was the operating HD and which was the data HD...now Windows won't boot. XP, SP1. Safe mode just takes me up to \system32\drivers\mup.sys and the screen doesn't go any farther.

Any idea on how to get into the recovery console to go back to my last restore point or just anything on what to do? A reformat wouldn't be horrible, but I still hate the possibility of losing data in the transfer.

*** latest edit *** I've resorted to installing on the 250...and the Windows CD gets to the part where the blue screen says "starting windows" or something like that (usually right before the first setup page), but then it never progresses from there!

 

[Uncle Bob]

try selecting "last known good configuration" (1st) or "VGA Mode" (2nd) from the XP advanced boot options screen

alternately, perform a parallel install if you have enough disc space on the boot drive (perform a normal install just don't format the drive and select somewhere other than c:\windows (eg c:\win_new) for the root directory of your windows install, this will at least allow you to copy your data somewhere safe or even repair the original installation). You could of course, setup your new 250Gb disc as your boot drive and then just copy any data of off the old drives by swapping them into the machine one at a time

hth

 

[MaceX]

I think I had this problem before and the problem was that it was a bad harddrive.

 

[EvilYoda]

i dunno, maybe it just died, but it was working up to an hour before I pulled one fo the HDs out.

as for last known good config, I tried that, doesn't boot all the way either.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: EvilYoda
So basically I got in on the CC WD 250 gig HD deal on BF. (I just wanted to see how many acronyms I could throw in there) I have a system in a Sonata case...great little case, but horrible for future upgrades...which would be now.

I have 2 hard drives in there, one 100 and one 160...I took out the 160, thinking that it was the data drive, to copy over the data to the 250 and wipe the original. Long story short, put all the original pieces back into the case to figure out which HD was the operating HD and which was the data HD...now Windows won't boot. XP, SP1. Safe mode just takes me up to \system32\drivers\mup.sys and the screen doesn't go any farther.

Any idea on how to get into the recovery console to go back to my last restore point or just anything on what to do? A reformat wouldn't be horrible, but I still hate the possibility of losing data in the transfer.

I'm sad.

How did you copy the data from the 160 to the 250? Please describe in detail the exact process.

What does Safe Mode do? Boot or no boot?

 

[EvilYoda]

well I've resorted to installing on the 250...and the Windows CD gets to the part where the blue screen says "starting windows" or something like that (usually right before the first setup page), but then it never progresses from there!

I can't even install an OS onto a fresh and empty hard drive...wtf is going on!?

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: EvilYoda
well I've resorted to installing on the 250...and the Windows CD gets to the part where the blue screen says "starting windows" or something like that (usually right before the first setup page), but then it never progresses from there!

I can't even install an OS onto a fresh and empty hard drive...wtf is going on!?

Is it a serial ata hard drive? If so you need to hit F6 during bootup to specify drivers.
Is Service Pack 1 or 2 integrated onto the CD you're installing XP from?

 

[EvilYoda]

mmmm, no, no SP1 integrated and it's a standard EIDE ATA hard drive.

not good.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: EvilYoda
mmmm, no, no SP1 integrated and it's a standard EIDE ATA hard drive.

not good.

If the partition you're trying to install to is already 127GB or larger, you're not going to be able to boot from it on an XP without SP1 or higher integrated in it. So, either format a partition smaller than 127GB and install XP there, or integrate SP1 (or nowadays, integrate SP2) into your install media and burn another XP install CD.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Ok, so you've made a new install on the new hard drive and this ran through all the setup program including a couple of reboots - right? and now you're at the stage where you get the normal windows XP start up screen and the system hangs at that point - yes?

So, 1st step: disconnect all external devices (esp USB devices) except monitor, keyboard and mouse. If the mouse and/or keyb are USB then try disconnecting them next if the system still will not boot.

After that, boot the system with only the 250GB boot drive connected (unplug the CD-rom/DVD drive as well). If, at this point - the system still won't boot - remove all internal cards except the AGP card.

Once the system comes back up properly, add components back in one at a time

good luck