[wayupnorth]

What a drag! My son was using the computer this afternoon and I'm really not sure if he did something or not, but the computer froze up on him. Prior to this, the firewall caught something trying to access the computer-I'm not sure what.

Anyway, after the computer froze, he shut it off. Later when I went to turn it back on, it wouldn't boot. It comes up with the same error message each time I try to restart it. The message is: Windows did not start successfully. And it gives 5 options:

Safe Mode
Safe Mode with Networking
Safe Mode with Command Prompt

Last Known Good Configuration

Start Windows Normally

I tried all the options. Nothing will allow the computer to boot up. The last two leave me with a blank screen (black). The safe mode options show the computer starting to load drivers. It gets to a line which reads:

multi(0)disk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\System32\Drivers\Mup.sys

and this is where it hangs up.

Here are the specs for my computer:
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
AMD Athlon™ XP processor 2200+ (1.800 GHz) with QuantiSpeed™ architecture
VIA KM 266
512 MB DDR (PC2100)
40 GB HDD 1

Please help---someone---I have had to take my daughter's laptop over in order to even post this question!!!!

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Hello and welcome to Geeks to Go!

Hmm i think the same think could of happened to me. Anyway it is probally a missing or corrupted boot up file. I would surgest a WinXP recovery this should replace any missing/damaged files.

Try this link: http://www.geekstogo...ws_XP-t138.html

Good Luck.

[Ntd]

Hello and welcome to Geeks to Go!

Hmm i think the same think could of happened to me. Anyway it is probally a missing or corrupted boot up file. I would surgest a WinXP recovery this should replace any missing/damaged files.

Try this link: http://www.geekstogo...ws_XP-t138.html

Good Luck.

[wayupnorth]

Is there any way to do this without the XP CD? My computer didn't come with one.

[wannabe1]

Howdy wayupnorth!

What kind of computer is this? HP, Dell? ????

I ask because some OEM computers have the cd image of XP stored on a partition of your hard drive. On many of the newer HP's, for instance, you can access the restore function by repeatedly pressing the F10 key during the boot sequence.

wannabe1

[wayupnorth]

Thanks for the idea. Its an eMachines, so I doubt if there's anything fancy stored in there......

[SkyHi]

Well, if you don't have a partition for the restore, and you don't have the CD, I guess the only thing you can do now is call eMachines and ask for a CD. When I got my eMachines, I got a CD, so that's kinda weird. But, without a CD or a partition to repair, there aren't many options left open.

-SkyHi

[wannabe1]

wayupnorth'

Unfortunately, all E Machines come with a recovery cd set that are designed to be used only with your E Machine...if you don't have this set you only have a couple of options that I am aware of.

Option one (recommended) would be to visit http://www.emachines...t/upgrades.html and call the customer service number listed for your region to request a replacement recovery cd set. Run the recovery set, and get thee to the Malware Forum so that the experts there can make sure your machine is clean.

Option 2...(not recommended) would be to format the drive and purchase/install Windows XP. Using this option will cause you to loose all of the data on your hard drive, but to install a new XP over the old one may leave whatever caused your problem on the drive.

If there are other options, I would sure like to learn of them! (hint-hint)

wannabe1

[wayupnorth]

If I can locate the recovery CDs, will fixing this problem cause me to lose my data?

Stupid me, I have a bunch of family pics saves, and no backup.

[wannabe1]

Howdy again wayupnorth...

Running the correct system recovery for your machine should preserve your files. Any applications you have installed after you bought the machine will have to be reinstalled, but your data should be safe.

Here's a thought...Yahoo! has a 30 MB briefcase available to it's members...if you don't have a yahoo account, get one, set up the briefcase, and fill that bad boy up with as much of your important backup data as you can stuff in there. That briefcase has saved my bacon more than once!

Good luck!

wannabe1

[wayupnorth]

Lucky me!! I found the "restore" CDs that came with the computer.

Now for a new problem. It sounds like if I run the restore, my hard drive will be wiped clean. I would REALLY like to avoid this. Here is what the manual says:

"CAUTION If you select 1. RESTORE WINDOWS XP, you will lose all data in the hard disk [C]."

Is there a way around this? The only other option is: BOOT TO COMMAND PROMPT FROM CD-ROM.

Edited by wayupnorth, 12 June 2005 - 08:24 PM.

[wannabe1]

wayupnorth

I was just reviewing your posts and it doesn't appear that we have tried to boot you into safe mode yet....or have you already been that route? If not, let's try that first.

With no cd in the drive...restart your computer and repeatedly tap the F8 key and see if it doesn't boot into a black screen with all kinds of white writing on it. If you can get to this screen, there should be an option there to boot to the "Last Known Good Configuration" Use the arrow keys to highlite that option and press Enter...

Leave it to E-Machines to make things interesting, huh? I did a recovery on one just a while back, but it gave me the option to Repair the present Installation...kinda surprised that that option is not available on your recovery set.

wannabe1

[wayupnorth]

I have tried booting into safe mode. It won't do anything. The closest I get is if I try safe mode with command prompt. In that case it starts booting up until it gets to the line that reads:

"multi(0)disk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\System32\Drivers\Mup.sys"

and then it freezes.

Any thoughts on this??

[wayupnorth]

Can I use the "boot to command prompt" option to somehow save some files??

[wannabe1]

I'm going to try a few things on a machine I have here..........Let me get back to you in just a little bit....I think there is a way to run a system restore function through windows from command prompt which would leave your files intact.....I want to verify the commands before I send you off apunchin' buttons.

wannabe1

[wayupnorth]

thank you