My P3 evectra pc suddenly wouldn’t start. The mouse pointer still worked, but after the error (this application has failed to start because umpnpmgr.dll was not found), it just shows a blank black screen and there is no disk activity.

Ctrl-alt-del doesn’t do anything, so there is nothing else left to do, except switch off the power.

I try safe mode but I get exactly the same results.

By using a live CD (bart PE), I find the file in cwindowssystem32 and dllcache, but its dated aug 2005… (exactly the same as on another working system)

I use a usb drive to copy umpnpmgr.dll to the damaged system, but I get a crc error.

I try a few different ways (including just deleting the dll), but it seems untouchable… its looking like the maxtor 541DX drive is faulty.

I use a different drive (I ghost copy from another identical, working system), and it all works well.

Hardware failures can cause so many different symptoms… it always amazes (and frustrates) me.