Windows XP Hangs at MUP.SYS the reboots

[smurph98gt]

Well crap. This is on my brothers computer, 2800+, A7N8X Deluxe, 120gb SATA Hard Drive.

My brothers computer one day, just stopped loading windows. It would get about halfway there, then die. I did a little bit of looking into it and found that when trying to start windows in safe mode, it stops at mup.sys

So after searching and scouring and whatever, some people say unhook all USB peripherals and cards. Done and done, all I have hooked up is a mouse, keyboard and monitor. Some say move the RAM around, or swap it out.. likewise done, nothing changes. Try using the XP CD To get to the recovery console and disable that stupid mup.sys.. that one most people seem to have the best result with, my problem though is that when it starts to load the recovery console, I get another blue screen telling me they halted windows to prevent any errors or whatever, somethings wrong with NTFS.

So I'm at a loss here as to what to do. We most definetly don't want to just blow it away, my brother has a ton of stuff on this computer that he wants to save. I can't hook it up to my PC since I don't have SATA. And I just don't see a way for me to get in there and get it.

Any bright ideas guys? I'd really appreciate 'em.

Thanks..

-Ronald

 

[ilikesushi]

For getting the data off the hard drive, you can probably run a Linux Live CD such as Knoppix and setup up an ssh server. Then use your computer to connect to your bro's computer through ssh and copy things over. I'm not sure if Knoppix supports SATA though if at all.

Could be a bad hard drive. Check to see if the BIOS detects the drive.
You might want to try a repair installation of Windows, but there is always the risk of losing data. To do a repair installation, don't go into the Recovery Console when you boot off the Windows CD. Instead proceed and select repair an installation of Windows.

 

[smurph98gt]

Well, the BIOS doesn't see it cause its SATA, but it gets recognized..

If I do the repair installation, what are the chances that it'll hose my data?

 

[ilikesushi]

Well when you do a repair installation, all it is doing really is re-installing system files etc. If bad system files are the culprit this would generally solve the probelm.

Regarding the chances of losing data, I would do a google search and see.
Here are a few link to start you out.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=312368

If you decide to do it here is one guide. Again, google is your friend.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm


EDIT: Another potential reason for the problem might be damaged hard drive sectors or bad boot sectors. You can probably run these commands in the Recovery Console
chkdsk /r
fixmbr
fixboot

google it for more detailed info. you might want to try this first before the repair installation. The chkdsk will probably take some time though.

 

[smurph98gt]

The problem though is I can't get the recovery console to load at all.. it just keeps crashing.

 

[smurph98gt]

"A problem has been detected and Windows has been shutdown to prevent damage to your computer"

*** NTFS.sys is the file it mentions

Thats what I get when I try to a) do the recovery console from the CD, or b) Install XP.

 

[Smilin]

That Damn MUP.sys!!!!

hehe. Smurph, mup.sys happens to be the last thing that displays there before it goes to gui mode even on a healthy system. It is very unlikely that it's hanging due to that driver.

If you are using a SATA controller it is likely that you will have to provide an F6 driver when booting to your Windows CD for the purpose of running setup or recovery console.

If you are providing the proper driver with F6 and still crashing just by trying to boot from CD then you have a serious hardware problem unrelated to your OS.

fixmbr and fixboot won't help much since you are past the mbr and bootsector.
Run a chkdsk /P at recovery console.

If the chkdsk doesn't do the trick, You can run an inplace upgrade:
Boot with your xp CD (provide the F6 driver diskette)
Enter to setup,
R to repair.

It will preserve your data and program settings. Service packs and updates will need reinstalled. Some drivers will need updated.

 

[smurph98gt]

haha yea.. thats what I've come to realize the more I've read into it.. It seems that mup.sys is an issue for some people, but like you said, its unlikely that it is that driver.

I have provided the correct drivers to get into the Windows CD... without them it just says "NO HARD DRIVE! EFF YOU!" Then kicks you out. After I provide the drivers and have the option to install or load the recovery console, selecting either one causes it to just blow up with that blue screen a few seconds into the hard drive analysis.

So it would seem that it comes down to a hardware problem. GREAT.

I'm thinking, I might drop my Hard Drive with Win2k on it into his machine to see what happens... if something messes up there, then we know for sure its a problem. I'm hoping that if I can get into my OS on his computer, it will recognize his SATA drive, and let me start making copies of his crap so I can then go in and blow everything on that hard drive away.

Do we think that will work? If the motherboard or CPU were messed up, would the BIOS be a little screwed up? It's not, and it posts all the information about his system fine... *shrug*

Thanks again guys.