Strange boot up??

[GMJim]

I have an older AMD 3500+ system running Win XP Pro (SP3) and recently I have been having a problem when booting up. Everything seems fine through the post but then after the POSt screen disappears Win XP usually starts instantly. Lately though the WinXP splash screen doesn't appear after post for a full 3 minutes? I'm running a raid stripe configuration and have never had any issues. The time to fully boot up after the splash screen appears hasn't changed much but the 3 minutes after post to WinXP splash screen is something new. I've run my virus program (Bit Defender) and have not found a thing. Could anybody help me find the cause?
Thanks
Jim

[ilya]

First guess would be BIOS settings got changed, but that wouldn't explain a full 3 minutes, the stall for incorrect boot settings shouldn't last longer than a minute or two at most. But just check to make sure your boot settings are correct.

[GMJim]

Thanks for the reply. I checked the bios and settings were correct but I changed boot settings then back to what they were to see if there was any difference. No difference. It's kind of odd but I shut the power off after the post when the XP splash screen should have appeared and after restart it asked me to start in safe mode or normally so I think windows is starting but hanging just before the splash screen??? I don't really want to format the machine but..........I wonder if it isn't windows, maybe a bios update will help?
Jim

[_dangtx_]

check your drives? :)
or os needs a fresh loading. but im thinking drives/cables. something in those lines.

[KaptCrunch]

also check cmos battery is good, may not be keeping boot data hench long boot time, has to reconfigure every time booted

[GMJim]

Thanks. All that seems to check out but I think I've found the issue. I don't know if I can fix it without an OS re-install though. When I boot up in safe mode the scroll of files on the screen stops at windows\system32\drivers\MUP.sys and stays there for the same 3 minutes as it does in a normal start up. I tried running chkdsk/p/r in the repair console but it reports that the repair is not possible or words to that effect. After boot up the system seems to run fine so I don't know how this driver affects the system. I have a little research to do.
Jim

[GMJim]

Thanks for all the suggestions and help.
Well I found the hang issue and fixed it. It would appear that a USB card reader/floppy drive combo that has been in the computer since I built it was the problem. I was having an intermittent problem with one sections of the reader that reads SD cards but I just thought it was a mechanical issue. Anyway I unplugged the card reader portion of the floppy drive and it boots normally now. As a precaution I booted up with the XP disc and entered the repair console and ran chkdsk again. It still comes up with the message "VOLUME APPEARS TO CONTAIN ONE OR MORE UNRECOVERABLE PROBLEMS" ?? The system seems fine though? Any thoughts anyone?
Jim

[clone63]

Try sfc /scannow in command prompt. You'll need an XP disc.

[GMJim]

Originally Posted by clone63

Try sfc /scannow in command prompt. You'll need an XP disc.

Do I do this the same way as chkdsk in the recovery console?
Thanks
Jim

[GMJim]

Ok I read about sfc /scannow and I run it within windows but I have a question. The prompt says that scannow will check to see that all windows system files are there and IN THERE ORIGINAL VERSIONS. Does this mean that I will have to install the service packs again?
Thanks
Jim