UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME

Yes, that drive will work fine.

Once you've reloaded Windows, connect the failed drive in place of your CD/DVD drive. Then see what you can read - if the drive isn't too far gone, you may be able to recover some or all of your data.

If you can't read the drive at all, you'll then have to weigh the cost of data recovery.

I would strongly suggest buying an external hard drive and a copy of Acronis True Image for making backups in the future. The cost is low (as little as $100), far lower than data recovery (which can easily run $2,500+).

coaster101

First, you replace the failed hard drive, with the new drive, reload windows, install all the updates, etc, and after the system is working to your satisfaction, install the failed drive as the secondary and see if you can transfer the files to the new C:/ drive.

Bev.







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coaster101

There should be no need to buy a second IDE data cable.

This Manual may help.

Bev.








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coaster101

You do NOT want to format the second E:/ hard drive, formatting will erase all the data, including My Documents.

Go to My Computer, right click the E:/ drive, click Open and select Documents and Settings and you should find My Documents files and folders. Open it and right click the file or folder and drag it to the new hard drive's My Documents.

You can only transfer files, all programs and applications must be reinstalled from their disks or from the publisher's website.

Bev.







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It sounds like the drive has lost its partition table - if you need the data, contact a data recovery service (Ontrack, Drive Savers, etc.).

coaster101

Pleased to hear that the problem has been resolved.

Hard drives can fail at anytime, the best prevention, is to keep your data backups current.

Bev.







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