[blobotron]

OK, here's what happened. I purchased and installed new RAM for a friend and all appeared to go well(memory showed up) upon a restart, so I got greedy and unchecked all but the anti-virus software and cftmon from the msconfig startup option. I restarted and checked 'don't show that I used selective startup and msconfig anymore' and decided to admire my work with another restart. Only this time, windows\system32\config\system was corrupt or missing and I was to go to the recovery console. Forget about safemode with or without command prompt, or last known good configuration- same thing happened.

After getting to the recovery console via CD(not sure if it was the original), I chose my operating system(the only one on there), and then came the BSOD- page fault in nonpaged area, stop: 0x00000050. This happened repeatedly.

After doing some research, I ran memtest86. To clarify, the new memory is 512MB and the old is 256MB for a total of 768. I believe crucial.com told me that I could mix and match these sticks. Together, the memtest reported errors immediately, so I removed the old 256 stick, which worked perfectly fine before I came along, to test the obviously bad new one. Upon completing one time through the test, it showed no errors whatsoever. Mind you, I didn't let it run for 2 hours. Can memtest show false positives/negatives, or was your 2 hour runtime suggestion merely a high end estimate for those with alot of memory?

The old stick results were fine as well. I can't remember why I decided to run a 2nd memtest on the new stick, perhaps accidentally, but this time, the errors came early and often. Boy am I confused. At this point, I figured the new RAM was bad, and just went with the original 256MB stick.

I was going to do a HD diagnostic, but it told me to backup data first, so I canceled. Honestly, how could it possibly be the HD. And of course, I hadn't backed anything up yet.

Luckily, I was able to get into the recovery console after downloading rc.iso. Finally! I did a search for missing ...config\system on your site and followed the directions given to somebody else(I can get the exact page if you need it). I followed 8 steps:
CD..
ATTRIB -H C:\\boot.ini
ATTRIB -S C:\\boot.ini
ATRIB -R C:\\boot.ini
del boot.ini
BOOTCFG /Rebuild
CHKDSK /R
FIXBOOT

Everything seemed to be going great except for the CHKDSK /R, which took almost 2 hours and acted funny(I left the room at 70%, but when I came back, it was only at 53%). When it completed, it said that it found an error or two and fixed them. After running FIXBOOT, I exited and I now had a "choice" for operating systems:
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition or
Windows XP Home Edition

I realize that they are the same and they are identical in BOOT.ini, but I thought I deleted the original BOOT.ini in step 5 above? Oh well, not that I have a clue what I'm doing- no big deal. The only problem was that neither worked, but still gave the missing or corrupt ...config\system file error.

I searched for 'how to restore from the RC', and did this in the snapshot directory with my 2nd to last rp:

Now the command prompt will look like this c:\system~1\_resto~1\rp9\snapshot
Type: copy _registry_machine_system c:\windows\system32\config\system
Press enter
Then type: copy _registry_machine_software c:\windows\system32\config\software

Now I get hungup during the boot process when it gets to MUP.sys. I did a search for this on your site, and I can't believe what I'm reading. What the heck is going on here? How could I have taken a perfectly good system and rendered it useless simply by adding RAM and unchecking startup programs in msconfig? You guys do an amazing job, please help.

Thanks, Blob

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bad/mismatched ram can do horrible things to a machine...especially with regards to OS corruption

there are two things with the MUP.sys error

If there's an actual issue with the MUP.sys file and that's where it's hanging...there's little recourse other than a format/reinstall

More often than not when safe mode hangs on a specific file (or at least shows it's hung on the screen) it's actually the next file/driver that's loading that's hung...GENERALLY the next driver past MUP.sys is your AGP driver file (the name of which escapes me at the moment).... during bootup press f8 repeatedly (like you're going to go to safe mode)...is the option to enable VGA mode available? is so choose that and see what happens

[dsenette]

bad/mismatched ram can do horrible things to a machine...especially with regards to OS corruption

there are two things with the MUP.sys error

If there's an actual issue with the MUP.sys file and that's where it's hanging...there's little recourse other than a format/reinstall

More often than not when safe mode hangs on a specific file (or at least shows it's hung on the screen) it's actually the next file/driver that's loading that's hung...GENERALLY the next driver past MUP.sys is your AGP driver file (the name of which escapes me at the moment).... during bootup press f8 repeatedly (like you're going to go to safe mode)...is the option to enable VGA mode available? is so choose that and see what happens

[blobotron]

Thanks for the help. No luck though. The Windows splash screen comes up, then the screen remains black as the hard drive, or fans, start up fiercely, then subside, or give up after a short while. Nothing on the screen.

[dsenette]

do you have your windows disk? or A windows disk?

[blobotron]

Yes, but i'm not sure it's the original.

[dsenette]

not particularly relevant...is it the same type as what was originally installed? i.e. is it the same SP revision (less important), is it an OEM or retail copy? xp or pro? (those questions are all with regards to whether or not the disk matches what was originally used to get the OS on the system)

[blobotron]

Also, I was able to run Puppy Linux, and I read an earlier post that said this meant it wasn't a hardware problem. I ran it in order to backup data, but it wanted me to boot from the burner drive, which I don't know how to do because it isn't an option in the BIOS.

[blobotron]

Again, I can't be sure. It's my girlfriend's mother's computer that I destroyed. She has two disks- both XP Home. One with SP1, the other 1a. I borrowed one in the past and swear it was the 1a disk, but only because it is maroon. I'm not sure if they are color coded.

[dsenette]

the 1a has a red sticker..

look on the computer for the COA (the sticker with the product code) it should say "XP home service pack 1" or "XP home service pack 1a"

[blobotron]

I guess I should elaborate- she asked for it back so she could do a reinstallation about a year ago, but she doesn't seem to remember anything about it. So I have no clue basically.

[blobotron]

It doesn't have any SP's, just says Home Edition.

[blobotron]

I also read that Dell may not have sent disks around the time this computer was purchased, so it's possible she never had it.

[dsenette]

all of those are a possibility...

let's use the sp1a disk though...because 1a is a bit more stable than 1

Repair the Windows XP installation.

To do this, follow these steps:

• Make sure that the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive is the first priority startup device.
  See your computer documentation for information about how to do this.
• Insert the Windows XP CD into the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and then restart your computer.
• When the instruction to "Press any key to boot from CD" appears, press a key. Your computer starts from the Windows XP CD.
• When the computer starts from the CD, the system verifies your hardware, and then prompts you to select one of the following options:
  

  - To set up Windows XP now, press ENTER
  - To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.
  - To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

• Press ENTER.
• Press F8 to accept the Licensing Agreement.
• A box lists your current Windows XP installation, and then the computer prompts you to select one of the following options:
  

  - To repair the selected Windows XP installation, press R.
  - To continue installing a fresh copy of Windows XP without repairing, press ESC.

• Press R.

You'll get to keep your existing apps & settings, but you need to re-install SP2, Windows Updates & any unsigned drivers afterwards.
NOTE: Be aware that you'll lose any protection from Blaster / Sasser type worms. Don't go online without a firewall, whether the built in Windows one or 3rd party.

How to Perform A Re-Install Of XP.

[blobotron]

I also tried using the disk to repair the installation(not using recovery console) and it doesn't find the OS on the disk. It just asks me what partition I want to install Windows on and no 'R' option.

[blobotron]

On the same post, the next suggestion was to remove the drive, install it on another PC, backup the data, and then do a clean install. I guess I was hoping to hear something else.