Boot problem

I am having some major problems with my laptop. It will not boot at all, it just gets to the windows xp loading screen and then flashes a blue screen very quickly that states windows has been shut down in order to prevent damage to the computer. The only way I was able to read this screen is by hitting F8 upon booting and getting to the OS options screen and hitting don't automatically reboot upon a boot error. On that blue screen it also states Unmountable Boot Volume as the problem. I have tried everything, booting in safe mode, safe mode with networking, and I even tried hitting F10 upon booting and restoring the boot options to their defaults and yet the computer just keeps rebooting over and over and over. It reboots and then begins a countdown from 30 down to zero and then the blue screen pops up for a second and the reboot begins. I do not know what to do. I have had malware and spyware problems in the past but my machine has been running fine lately and this came out of nowhere. My computer sounded like it was stuck trying to load up something and then began clicking and then this happened. Any suggestions???

 

Things to try:

Unmountable boot volume in Windows XP
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000630.htm
Question:

Unmountable boot volume in Windows XP.

Cause:

1. This issue can be caused by a corrupt boot.ini
Additional information and help with the boot.ini file can be found on document CH000492.
2. This issue can also be caused by a bad hard disk drive

_______________________________________________

http://www.techtips4u.com/kb/sw/SW00014.htm
"When booting up to Win XP you may get a error that reads "Unmountable Boot Volume". This is probably because your boot.ini file is messed up.
So, what do you do about it, panic and try to mount your boot in your computer...... No that is probably not a good idea.

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"
_______________________________________
Unmountable Boot Volume in Windows XP ( WINXP )
http://www.windowsreinstall.com/install/winxp/howto3/unmountable.htm

Hope this Helps!
Toni

 

I have often been asked to use the XP CD but my version of XP came factory installed and therefore the only XP cd's I have are the 4 System Restore CD"s which I never use bc I don't want to lose all my files, and I have the Quick Restore Application Recovery CD, so which XP cd are you referring to?

 

Had you gone to the link and read the info you would have seen THIS:
http://www.techtips4u.com/kb/sw/SW00014.htm
"Someone filled out the form to the right and asked about systems without a XP CD like Compaq and HP. If you have a XP system and don't have a XP CD please download the Windows XP boot disk from our Downloads page and use it instead of the XP CD.
NOTE: *** The Win XP boot disk takes 6 floppy disks. *** "

 

I was actually just reading through that section. I replied to you before reading on enough. I apologize, I am just extremely pissed that this happened. I will let you know my progress as soon as I can. Thanks.

 

I have another question, as I have been reading through the instructions you have given me via those links, I see that in many instances it talks about the boot disks being setup disks for windows xp..........I was just curious but doesn't that mean that the setup disks will reinstall the XP operating system and thus I will lose all of my files?

 

No....you can do a REPAIR from them....no loss of data
BUT.....BACKUP just in case!
You never know

 

Are there some steps in order to back up files, I have never done that before, and if there are, is there a link or some instrucations to do so or do the boot disks give me an option to do so?

 

Sorry....I had to go out for a while

How to back up manually or by using Windows XP Backup utility
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/update/howbackup.mspx#ENE

Making backup copies manually
Regardless of what version of Windows you use, you can manually make a backup copy of any file or folder by following these steps:

1.
Right-click the file or folder that you want to back up, and then click Copy from the menu.

2.
Now, in My Computer, you can right-click the disk or external hard drive where you want to store the backup copy, and then click Paste from the menu.


DVD-RW*

*You need a DVD-RW drive to burn files onto DVDs.

A DVD-RW is a DVD onto which you can burn information if you have a DVD-RW drive. (RW stands for "read-write.")
• One disc stores gigabytes of information

• You need to buy a DVD-RW drive if your computer doesn't come with one

• The drive may not come with back-up software


If Windows XP Backup utility is not installed and you don't have the XP CD see if it's on your computer by doing a file search for:
NTBACKUP.MSI
(C:\Bundle\VALUEADD\MSFT\NTBACKUP-This is where it is located on my computer)
You can install it by right clicking it and selecting "Install"

 

Just another question about backing up.........when I am actually going to back up files, before I try to use the reboot disks to repair because I was wondering how I will do that when I can't do anything with the computer at this point because it keeps rebooting and the whole purpose of the boot disks was to fix this I thought? I am just a little confused as how I will backup files when I can't even get to them right now? I am sorry if I sound stupid or am asking a stupid question, its just that I am confused.

 

I'm sorry.....of course you can't backup if you can't even BOOT up....I should have thought out my post a lot better before posting it.
I better leave you in the hands of someone who has a whole lot more experience with your problem than I have.
Don't give up!
Someone here will know what to do!
Toni...again....Sorry

 

Sounds like the Hard Drive may be damaged.
If you have stuff you simply MUST save then all I can suggest is having the info retrieved by a professional.
I would suggest calling local computer repair shops to get info about how and where you could have that done.
They would also be able to test the HD and you could go from there.

I'm sorry I wasn't able to offer more help. but I did the best I could.
Toni

 

Thank you for all of your help, I truly appreciate it. I will try to post another thread on here to see if someone else may know something but more and more I am getting the sense that my computer is shot. I tried using those boot disks and now it seems my A: drive won't even read the disks and I just keep rebooting as I have been for the last few days.........I think its time for a new machine but I do have alot of files I need to recover. Thanks for all your help.