Blue Screen: Unmountable Boot Volume

I'm afraid I already know the answer to this one, but I know there are wiser ones on here.

Situation: Last night, I used SmartDefrag with option to "shut down when finished". This AM I see my comp (dell inspirion 1100, XP) is still on, SmartDefrag has not shut it down (has happened before). So I CTR ALT DEL and restart. XP appears to be loading normally (got the desktop and all icons). I don't get to see it fully loaded however as I have to go to work. Wife calls later and says there is error message that comp has to shut down. She does and gets a blue screen. I come home and have Unmountable_Boot_volume with STOP Code: 0x000000ed (0x82f13b98, 0xc0000015, then rest zeros). Try XP Reinstall to do chkdsk, (using at various time /p, /f, /r) which states One or more unrecoverable errors. Using chkdsk without switches says it appears ok. Try doing a AV scan w/kapersky and BitDefender and both will not load, get errors/warnings and they hang. Do a dell diagnostic, which indicates Error code 1000-0146 Unit2: DST log contains previous errors. diagnositc goes on to load win95 which shows no problems with disk in any form....all tests normal.

What I'm beginning to believe, from various websites and such, is that its dead. IF so, any hope of recovering data. Found some software that promise to do such, but not sure if they would given this problem.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

:majorIf you have a XP disc this can be used to restore your OS to work again. Start com with XP disc inserted then follow onscreen instructions until you arrive at a blue screen asking for ''R'' or install , go with install and following on screen info, when you arrive at the next blue screeen with 'R' showing choose this and it will Repair your XP and leave all files/folders intact.

 

have dell XP reinstall disk. Tried to install after everything else had failed, but it could not. Will retry and look for the second "r" and try that...don't remember that as an option, but worth a shot.

I've read others say to get an official MS XP disk, not the XP disk that came with comp, is there a difference?

 

Hi again, yes you will need a Genuine MS Disk. I take it you have used the System Restore facilty its in Start/All Programmes/Accessories/System Tools/System Restore Pick an earlier time when it was working ok.

 

The Dell is probably an OEM disk (original equipment manufacturer) so the disk would be tied to your Dell. If you sell the computer, that XP goes with it because it won't install on a non-Dell. If you purchase an XP Disk, you can install it on a computer, wipe it off, sell the computer without an OS and use the XP disk to install on another computer. Also, depending on the license you get, you can install the XP version on three computers.

 

We've gotten WAY off topic here! The problem is that the hard disk is failing: "One or more unrecoverable errors"
No matter what, you need a new hard drive. Here is a great deal on a good 80GB drive: http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec_v2.asp?scriteria=CA26790
(You should not get a drive larger than 120GB or it may not boot in that Inspiron 1100)
Next, STOP using the existing drive. Every minute it is on reduces your chances of getting any files you don't have backed up off of it.
Now, do you want to try cloning the failing one to the replacement or do a fresh install of Windows then try to get your files off of the old one?
And, do you have access to a desktop PC? (the recovery or cloning will be much easier on it)

 

Ok, thanks for getting us back on topic.

And you've scared me a little b/c I spent a lot of time trying different things, so Im hoping there is somehthing left to recover. I've resigned myself to the fact that no matter what, I'm getting a hard drive (hopefully talk the wife into a new laptop????).

I've never done cloning, but am willing to learn. I think it would be better as reinstalling windows is sure to overwrite. However, I tried to reinstall using the Dell XP disk and it couldnt do it b/o the errors.

I do have a desktop, a 100G external HD (for my mp3s) with a 40G hd internal. It is an old gateway, but working at the moment.

What's my options and next step?

 

If you want to get the data off of the failing drive, you need one of these: http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec_v2.asp?scriteria=AA67020
You can then connect the laptop drive to the tower (lay it on its side with the cover off, use the cable from the CD/DVD with the adapter, and set the laptop drive on a magazine or cardboard to prenvent shorts)
I would heartilly recommend the free version of http://www.hdtune.com and running the error scan on the laptop drive. If it only shows a few red boxes, you may be able to simply copy your files to the Gateway's drive or the external.
If you want to clone the drive, you need two of the adapters and would then use something like EASUS disk copy to copy the failing drive to the replacement.

 

Thanks, man! Wish me luck!