Not getting a command prompt when running Recovery Console??

Question

Yesterday i got a dreaded blue screen when installing a game and so restarted my computer. as my system was booting up it said that one of the hard drives in the array had an error - the system went to the windows loading bit and then i got another blue screen telling me that i have an 'Unmountable Boot Volume'. i tried restarting the computer again and this time it said there was an error with both my drives. this is the first problem i've had with my computer which i've had for most of the year (Dell dimension 8400, 2 x 250 GB). After looking for a solution, i see that the way to try and remedy this is to run the recovery console and then chkdsk /r. the only problem is that i'm getting to the black screen that tells me telling me i've got to the recovey console and to type exit to quit and restart the computer, but i'm not getting a command prompt. anyone have any ideas about what i'm doing wrong or how i can resolve this as i don't really want to have to reformat my computer.

osprey4 · Answer

You must boot with the XP disc to run the recovery console. Set your system to boot from your CD drive in System Setup, then pop the XP disc into the drive and boot.

lip13 · Answer

i've done all that - i'm getting to the black screen where it tells you that you have got to the recovery console, i'm just not getting the command prompt

lip13 · Answer

ok i've now got the command prompt using a different xp disc.  i've tried to run chkdsk /r and /p but apparently my drives are too corrupt.  i've tried to re-install windows over the old one but the old installation cannot be found.  the only option i see available to me now is to format the drives and re-install windows.  is there anyway i can recover anything off the drives before i do this?  i'm not sure what type of raid configuration they're in but i imagine it'll be the same as other stock dimension desktops with raid.  is all my data lost?

osprey4 · Answer

Possibly the only way to save your data is to buy another drive, install XP, then pop the old drive back in and try to recover your data. It may well be your old drive is 'going the way of all flesh'.

Windows General

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