BSOD: "Unmountable Boot Error". Hard drive failure?

[Coldkilla]

I simply restart my PC and get the blue screen of death that gives this message:

"Unmountable Boot Error".

I checked around the web, and most (if not all of the websites) talk about hitting "R" once the Windows Setup screen appears.

The screen displays a few options:
1. To setup Windows XP - Hit Enter
2. To create a partition in unpartitioned space - Hit C.
3. To Delete the partition - Hit D.

There are no "Repair" options and hitting "R" does nothing. Also, hitting Enter on my C drive takes me to a "Format or Format quick screen". "R" doesn't work there ether.

Any ideas? Thanks!

PS: I have XP 32bit SP3

 

[Coldkilla]

Nothin huh?

 

[Blain]

Have you run any anti-malware scans in safe mode?

 

[tkistre]

You are going to have to most likely format and reload. Sounds like Windows is corrupt so Windows Setup doesn't recognize that a Windows installation is there. It isn't going to give you option to do repair. You can slave it to another computer and possibly still save some data if needed. That's all assuming the drive itself isn't going out. You may want to get the manufacture's drive utility to run test on drive first. Good luck.

 

[ihyagp]

Boot from the CD, hit R at the very first screen after it finishes booting. That should take you to the recovery console. From there you have a few options. chkdsk /p would be my first choice (roughtly equal to chkdsk /f from inside windows). You'd be surprised at what that can fix. Then there's always the fixboot and fixmbr commands. If for whatever reason you can't get to the recovery console, put the drive in another machine and chkdsk /f it there.

Finally, if its not mounting due to MBR or partition table damage, try testdisk. It can be found on the gparted livecd. That's saved me from reinstalls a couple times.

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/download.php

 

[Coldkilla]

Originally posted by: ihyagp
Boot from the CD, hit R at the very first screen after it finishes booting. That should take you to the recovery console. From there you have a few options. chkdsk /p would be my first choice (roughtly equal to chkdsk /f from inside windows). You'd be surprised at what that can fix. Then there's always the fixboot and fixmbr commands. If for whatever reason you can't get to the recovery console, put the drive in another machine and chkdsk /f it there.

Finally, if its not mounting due to MBR or partition table damage, try testdisk. It can be found on the gparted livecd. That's saved me from reinstalls a couple times.

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/download.php

I "hit any key" to load the CD... then the window becomes blue while it loads the first window.... during this time, there is no option of a repair and hitting "R" does nothing. The first screen... also shows nothing about a repair & "R" doesn't work ether.

 

[Ketchup]

You can download seatools for dos for free, it is in iso format and it works on all hard drives. I would test the hard drive before I went through the trouble of reloading everything. The program can also fix hard drive errors that aren't too severe.

 

[0roo0roo]

course once your drive starts throwing errors...
probably nearing the end. or at least pretty unwise to trust it anymore.

 

[techs]

Sorry to disagree with the previous posters, but I own a computer shop and their advice is plain wrong.
Boot to the Recovery Console. Then chkdsk /r
This will perform a surface check on your disk and automatically perform repairs. You may have just developed a bad cluster. Any sort of software repair won't work until you get the disk fixed.
In about 2/3 of cases this will fix your problem or at least get you back to windows.

 

[Blain]

> SpinRite <

 

[Ketchup]

Originally posted by: techs
Sorry to disagree with the previous posters, but I own a computer shop and their advice is plain wrong.
Boot to the Recovery Console. Then chkdsk /r
This will perform a surface check on your disk and automatically perform repairs. You may have just developed a bad cluster. Any sort of software repair won't work until you get the disk fixed.
In about 2/3 of cases this will fix your problem or at least get you back to windows.

Sorry to disagree with you but I work at a computer shop and your advice is plain wrong. The method you listed is only a band aid solution and this is a great way to generate repeat business because your customers will come back later since you didn't fix the problem right the first time. 9/10 time there is a problem with the disk that needs to be repaired, which is why Coldkilla should run Seatools.

 

[techs]

Originally posted by: ketchup79

Originally posted by: techs
Sorry to disagree with the previous posters, but I own a computer shop and their advice is plain wrong.
Boot to the Recovery Console. Then chkdsk /r
This will perform a surface check on your disk and automatically perform repairs. You may have just developed a bad cluster. Any sort of software repair won't work until you get the disk fixed.
In about 2/3 of cases this will fix your problem or at least get you back to windows.

Sorry to disagree with you but I work at a computer shop and your advice is plain wrong. The method you listed is only a band aid solution and this is a great way to generate repeat business because your customers will come back later since you didn't fix the problem right the first time. 9/10 time there is a problem with the disk that needs to be repaired, which is why Coldkilla should run Seatools.

The guy needs to get to windows to get his data.
The method described is best for the home user.
If indeed he has a single bad cluster, there would be no reason to rush out and get another drive if the current drive passes diagnostics.