[Jackol]

I have the barebones essentials installed (see below) and am trying to install windows xp or 2000, but neither will run. I booted from the cd and installed both operating systems on different partitions on the same WD drive (2000 then xp), and setup went fine until I restarted. Then whenever i booted into the OS it would hang at the starting windows screen on both XP and 2000. Upon starting it in safe mode, it stops at MUP.sys in BOTH cases (xp and 2000 installations) and the computer locks up. I tried installing just XP on ANOTHER freshly formatted and NTFS partitioned brand new Western Digital IDE hard drive and got the same result. So I updated my motherboards bios to the latest version but to no avail as I still get the same problem. I swapped out the memory with new memory, hoping that would be the culprit but still a no go. The memory is good because it works on another computer fine. It hangs at Mup.sys but since that loaded the file after that might be causing the problem.
I'm at a loss right now. I have no idea what to do. The only thing I haven't replaced or swapped out is the motherboard and the processor. I hope there is a software solution/configuration that would remedy the problem but all signs point to a hardware glitch. Any suggestions on what I can try to get the comp to boot into the OS? I'm about to throw the entire box out the window in frustration.
Specs:

Supermicro PIIIDM3 Motherboard Bios Revision 1.5
Pentium III 500Mhz
Western Digital 80gb HD
Plextor UltraPlex 40x max scsi cd-rom
1 GB PC133 Memory (2) 512mb simms
Diamond Viper Ultra Video Card

I've researched the mup.sys problem on the web and ive found that quite a few people have had a problem with this file but could not find any answers or possible solutions to even try other than swapping out hardware, renaming the file or disabling it.

I have swapped out and replaced the following:

Memory
Hard drive (clean install on brand new hard drive)
Video Card

Not swapped out:

Motherboard
Processor
Cd-Rom

Disabled:

Onboard SCSI
Onboard Sound
Onboard NIC

Still I have the same problem with everything enabled, disabled. Could it be a problem with the motherboard? I will try to install windows 98 and see if that boots up fine, but win2000 and xp both hang at the mup.sys file.

I've heard that not loading the mup.sys might lend something to a solution, albeit temporary, but I do not see any options on the xp boot mode menu when i press F8 or Shift+ F5 to load files one by one. Should there be one?! I'm running out of things to do, check or replace!

Any suggestions are greatly welcomed. Thanks.

Bret

 

[gotissues68]

I *hope* my solution helps. I had a similar situation with data corruption (in your case mup.sys) with XP and a WD hard drive.. I am willing to bet 98 will install fine and run fine.. the secret is the file system. There was/is a bug in both XP/2k in the way it handles writes to the disk from cache in large hard drives and only affect NTFS volumes. I'd try using FAT32 just for shi* n giggles and let us know the results.

 

[Jackol]

I installed windows 98 and it loaded fine and i have no problems booting into the OS and installing/running programs on it. I installed it on a FAT partition.

I tried installing XP on a newly partitioned 8gb fat32 partition next but it still hangs on the mup.sys file when i go to boot it up.

I swapped out that hard drive and put in a brand new WD 80gb drive and partitioned a 5gb NTFS file and tried installing NT Workstation 4 but it hangs on the blue kernel screen where it shows the processor and memory at the very top on 2 lines. Does this every time.

Tried Windows 2000 again and still a problem with Mup.sys or the file after it.

What gives? How come windows98 is the only OS that will install? Does it have something to do with the Western Digital Hard drive and onboard IDE controller? Should i buy a PCI based IDE controller and try installing the OS's using that? I'm going to contact the Motherboard manufacturer (supermicro) and pose the problem to them. I will post the results of that if i ever get a response. Does anybody have any other suggestions on things to try in the meantime? Does this sound like a faulty IDE controller or mobo problem or what. This is hurting my brain arrgh.

 

[gotissues68]

Hrmmm.. in this case, it might be the BIOS doing something to the controller.. I'd check and see if there is an updated bios revision. If not, you might try FDISK"ing and completely re-create teh FS from a win98 boot disk "this is what I had to do to get XP and 2K working correctly"

Good Luck

 

[toddjumper144]

MUP.SYS is a pain in the A-S-S

I have been running a fresh install of WindowsXP for two weeks, this morning I rebooted after running a security update for WinXP, and then it hangs at mup.sys, I tried doing an emergency system restore from floppy and it still hangs and then the computer stops loading windows. My only option is to format and load Windows 98. What the hell is this bug - I have important files I was just about to back up to CDrom today and this is the second time I have had this problem- the only result was to format and start over again.

Anyone find a resolution to the problem besides having to start their system over from scratch?

Todd:angry2:

 

[Doonz]

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q314084

 

[BarrettOsis]

One of many Possible Solutions

Had the same Prob. Noticed If I change USB settings in Bios I could at least Boot. But not two consecutive times. So after booting for the 15th time it worked. Went into comptuer management and noticed one of my HDD disk had an error. I"m going to reactivate it and see what happens.

 

[oshwyn5]

Have you tried booting to command prompt only or if necessary the recovery console for the affected operating system and at the prompt type
disable mup.sys
hit enter
?


More info on this here
http://www.techsupportforum.com//microsoft-support/windows-xp-support//90518-reboots-reboots-again.html?highlight=mup.sys

As I noted there; it generally is not mup.sys that is the problem; but the next driver to load after it.

 

[Superslinky]

Re: One of many Possible Solutions

Had the same Prob. Noticed If I change USB settings in Bios I could at least Boot. But not two consecutive times. So after booting for the 15th time it worked. Went into comptuer management and noticed one of my HDD disk had an error. I"m going to reactivate it and see what happens.

I realize this is an old thread but thought I'd add my 2 cents. BarrettOsis mentioned USB settings in the BIOS so I started checking what had changed with my system when I realize it was just that. I had recently installed a PCI USB card and then connected my APC along with the software. Upon reboot, nothing but hang time. I un-installed, removed the hardware and restored the BIOS back to original and all worked well. Maybe this works for others as well.

Later all,

Super