UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME -- Please Help

I guess I could give that a try, but the problem is im away at school and don't have my disk.  Is there anything else I could do or do I need it?

This issue is most likely caused by a messed up Boot.ini file there are a few ways to handle this below i have put in some steps that you can try and run to fix this issue.

 

 You can boot to the XP cd and when you see the Welcome to setup press the letter R
You will get a dos prompt
Then type "chkdsk  /p" without the quotes and hit enter
When that is done type "fixboot" and hit enter
"Y" and enter at the prompt
Then type "exit" and hit enter
The system will now reboot into Windows      

    If for some reason that don't work for you, you can boot to the recovery console like above and...
Type "chkdsk  /r" then enter
When done type "exit" and hit enter.
This will take longer, but the system should boot back into Windows.

 

Hopefully that should work to let you recover to Windows without losing any information.

I actually just spoke to a friend up here who has their disc with them that I can borrow.  So I can just follow those steps and hopefully it will work?  What are the chances that this will fix the problem?

Well if you are at a location where you do not have access to your disk you could try and boot to safe mode using F8 when the windows splash screen comes up, at that point you will recieve a prompt for selecting which option you would want the one with command prompt at that point you could try running the chkdsk command that was metioned in my above post. But i would suggest having the recovery disk available just in case your system may need to replace a corrupted file.

go5586 wrote:

I actually just spoke to a friend up here who has their disc with them that I can borrow.  So I can just follow those steps and hopefully it will work?  What are the chances that this will fix the problem?

Not good, UNMOUNTABLE BOOT VOLUME has two causes, one is software, but the other most common cause, is a failed hard drive.

Bev.

 

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It's not looking good for the hard drive.  I cant get it to boot the windows xp cd.....i'll be calling dell tonight to ask them what my options are.  Is there a way i'll be able to get my data off my bad hard drive?  Please help! I would really like to keep all of my music and such from my bad hard drive.  Please help Bev!

go5586

 

After installing the new hard drive and reinstalling XP, you could try installing the failed drive as a second [slave] hard drive and see if you can transfer the files to the new hard drive, you cannot transfer any programs or applications, these must be reinstalled from their disks or from the publisher's site.

 

If the hard drive is completely dead and the above procedure fails, then you would need the services of a data recovery company andthis would very expensive.

 

I respectfully suggest that you review your data backup policies.

 

Bev.

 

 

 

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Please don't send me questions about your system by DCF Messenger.
Post the issue in the appropriate Board, where they will be answered.