I'm sorry about the length of this post but I've been working on this problem all day now. I have the following system:
I thought I was making progress. Using another computer, I checked the Microsoft Knowledge Base and found that mup.sys was involved in networking. Since it didn't seem crucial to booting the system I rebooted again this time with the install CD in the drive and made my way into the recovery console. I renamed mup.sys and rebooted once again trying to make it to safe mode. The system hung loading the driver right after loading mup.sys. So I figured that whatever was happening after mup.sys was loaded was where my problem lied. I went to the recovery console once again and named mup.bak back to mup.sys.
I went back to the Knowledge Base and found artice Q314503 entitled "Computer Stops Responding with a Black Screen When You Start Windows." I tried booting from a floppy as suggested and still couldn't get the boot screen. So, as suggested by the article, I set about reformatting and reinstalling (good thing I had a recent backup).
I formatted the drive and began installing Windows XP again. This time, after rebooting, I got a lovely BSOD and the error "STOP 0x000000ED UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME." Another trip to the Knowledge Base and I found article Q297185. It suggested that my IDE cable was the problem. I had no idea why it would work for a month then die but I was willing to try anything. I swapped out my 80-pin round cable for an 80-pin flat cable. Same problem.
The article also suggested that the problem could be that BIOS was forcing the hard drive to a faster UDMA mode than it supported. I went into BIOS and set the drive from AUTO to UDMA 100 which is what it is supposed to run at. Still got the BSOD. So I went in and set it to UDMA 66. Worked fine!
So, my question to everyone is ... what the @&!! is going on here???? Is my hard drive dying? Is my motherboard's IDE controller going? Just what on earth is the problem. Please help me with this, I'm completely frustrated!
Update: Well, the Windows installation completed while I was running UMDA 66. Then I made the mistake of restoring my backup and the very next boot I was right back where I started from. Any help anyone can give would be great!
Update: I just completed both a read and write test on the hard drive using Western Digital's diagnostic software and it seems as though the drive itself is fine. I even called their support number and talked to a tech who assured me that the drive is not the problem. He suggested I disable UDMA, re-install Windows (not restore my backup but do a fresh install), then turn UDMA back on. Huh?
- Processor: AMD Athlon? XP 1900+ (not overclocked)
- Motherboard: Epox 8K3A
- HDD: Western Digital 1200JB (Special edition 120GB)
- 2X 256MB Crucial PC2100 DDR RAM
- Antec Plus880 w/430W Antec power supply
- Windows XP Pro
I thought I was making progress. Using another computer, I checked the Microsoft Knowledge Base and found that mup.sys was involved in networking. Since it didn't seem crucial to booting the system I rebooted again this time with the install CD in the drive and made my way into the recovery console. I renamed mup.sys and rebooted once again trying to make it to safe mode. The system hung loading the driver right after loading mup.sys. So I figured that whatever was happening after mup.sys was loaded was where my problem lied. I went to the recovery console once again and named mup.bak back to mup.sys.
I went back to the Knowledge Base and found artice Q314503 entitled "Computer Stops Responding with a Black Screen When You Start Windows." I tried booting from a floppy as suggested and still couldn't get the boot screen. So, as suggested by the article, I set about reformatting and reinstalling (good thing I had a recent backup).
I formatted the drive and began installing Windows XP again. This time, after rebooting, I got a lovely BSOD and the error "STOP 0x000000ED UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME." Another trip to the Knowledge Base and I found article Q297185. It suggested that my IDE cable was the problem. I had no idea why it would work for a month then die but I was willing to try anything. I swapped out my 80-pin round cable for an 80-pin flat cable. Same problem.
The article also suggested that the problem could be that BIOS was forcing the hard drive to a faster UDMA mode than it supported. I went into BIOS and set the drive from AUTO to UDMA 100 which is what it is supposed to run at. Still got the BSOD. So I went in and set it to UDMA 66. Worked fine!
So, my question to everyone is ... what the @&!! is going on here???? Is my hard drive dying? Is my motherboard's IDE controller going? Just what on earth is the problem. Please help me with this, I'm completely frustrated!
Update: Well, the Windows installation completed while I was running UMDA 66. Then I made the mistake of restoring my backup and the very next boot I was right back where I started from. Any help anyone can give would be great!
Update: I just completed both a read and write test on the hard drive using Western Digital's diagnostic software and it seems as though the drive itself is fine. I even called their support number and talked to a tech who assured me that the drive is not the problem. He suggested I disable UDMA, re-install Windows (not restore my backup but do a fresh install), then turn UDMA back on. Huh?
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