I need urgent help!

[Grinch89]

Hi everybody,

I have no idea what my problem is! When I start up my computer, I get a black screen, telling me there was an error. I'm given the choice of how I want to start it up...normal, safe mode, last successful settings, networked, etc. In addition, there's a 25 second counter. After I choose any one of them, it goes to the Windows loading screen. Then, a blue screen pops up and says there was an error. There's a long message, but when I start to read it, the computer turns on and starts the whole process over again.

I really would like to resolve this without rebooting windows. I've got a lot of important files on there. It's a laptop with one harddrive.

Thanks,

Nick

 

[mechBgon]

If you have a digital camera or a camcorder, you might try capturing the error message with either still or video recording so you can read what it says.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

There should be a setting in bios "rebot on fatal error" or something allong those lines. Turn that setting off and it will stop on the blue screen error and require a manual reboot, giving you time to write the error down.

 

[Grinch89]

GuitarDaddy, I dig your icon!

Anyways, back to the problem as hand. This is what it says exactly on the screen:

A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME

If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed. If this is a new installation, ask your hardware of software manufacturer for any Windows updates you might need.

If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware or software. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing. If you need to use Safe Mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to selected Advanced Startup options, and then select Safe Mode.

Technical information:

*** STOP: 0x000000ED (0x81359E30,0xC0000006,0x00000000,0x00000000)

I'm not sure what any of it means, but here's a picture as well:

Screenshot

 

[natto fire]

Have you upgraded any drivers lately? That looks like the error screen from an IDE driver that does not work properly with Windows. It might also be a failing hard drive, I would try to find the hard drive tools for your particular HDD manufacturer and put the drive through it's paces. If you have recently installed any new drivers, last known good configuration option, (or safe mode) should work. You also might have a virus that messed up your master boot record, sometimes a repair install of XP can fix this.

 

[CraigOley]

Here is what I suggest:

If you have a windows CD, put it in your computer. As it is starting up press f10 (or f12) once per second (starting at the first screen, bios, that comes on). Whenever the boot menu comes up, choose to boot from CD. Whenever that loads, press 'r' to go into recovery console. Press 1 to verify that your path to windows is: C:\Windows. Then type in your administrator password, if prompted. Whenever the prompt comes up, type in 'chkdsk /r'. After this finishes (may take an hour or so), type in 'fixboot' let that do it's thing, then type 'fixmbr'. Then reboot.

I hope this work out, these three commands fix 90% of boot bluescreens.

 

[CraigOley]

Ahh sorry, just saw that blue screen error. If those three commands do not work, you can be pretty sure that it is your hard drive that is failing. You will need to speak to the manufacturer about this matter.

 

[Fraggable]

That BSOD usually (not always!) means that the hard drive has some kind of mechanical problem and is beginning its descent to uselessness. It may have gotten to the point where the Windows files are unreadable or corrupted, but you might still be able to recover your documents.

I recommend getting a USB external notebook drive enclosure like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145752 and plugging it into another system as a second hard drive. That should allow you to recover files unless the drive is so far gone that it can't read.

On the other hand, you may have simply corrupted some OS files and the drive is fine mechanically. In that case, you'll still have to recover the files via USB or a similar method, but you'll be able to reformat and continue using the drive afterwards.

 

[squirrel dog]

One last thing.If you can get your drive out,put it in a plastic bag and put it in your freezer for 12~24 hours,then reinstall.This sometimes can retrieve data from a dying drive.I know it sounds nuts,I have seen it work twice on clicking maxtor drives.

 

[Grinch89]

I just bought the computer a month ago.

This is crazy, but...is keeping it on a carpet mean anything? I heard that it prevents it from ventilating properly.