Unmountable Boot Volume

[comp2015]

Hello All,

Thanks in advance for your help.

I have been looking through threads (and internet) for solutions to my "Unmountable Boot Drive" and have had no success.

I have done all the basics boot from CD, run chkdsk /r etc and still no fix.

I considered some online support but they basically made it seem like they guarantee to format my hard drive and that’s it.

I am running an older computer a Dell XP Desktop (I know..its outdated)

I know there are a lot of experienced and smart users here, and I was wondering if anyone offers phone support for these types of things.

I am willing to pay someone to help me troubleshoot this over the phone and can pay extra if they help me fix it.

I don't know if any user/members offer this kind of service, but I just don't have the time to troubleshoot this via forums for a week.

Let me know and message me or post any info you can if you are interested.

Thanks!

 

[mikeymikec]

Do you have a spare computer available? If so, I would try connecting the problematic HDD to that system, back up your data, then run a full disk check (chkdsk /p from recovery console isn't a full check), ie. chkdsk driveletter: /f /v /r.

IMO it's pointless to format the drive, partly because there's a reasonable chance that it won't make any difference to the overall problem (ie. a machine that is having problems booting) and you'll lose your data in the process, and partly because if that disk is dying then formatting it is about as effective a solution as painting the disk a different colour.

I would only consider formatting the drive once I had done a load of checks on it and be reasonably confident that the reason for the BSOD wasn't the disk being faulty in some way (even then I've seen Windows crash for no apparent reason, the disk passes all the checks I throw at it, then the problem happens again some months later and the disk is obviously showing signs of dodginess the second time around). Admittedly UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME can be caused by other things: a seriously borked security suite might manage it, malware, or changing the IDE/SATA/AHCI driver to one that doesn't work properly.

How well (performance/reliability) did the computer perform leading up to this situation? Had it slowed down? Were there weird periods whereby you would tell the computer to do something, but while the pointer would move, there was no audible disk activity and the computer wouldn't react to things you clicked on, then suddenly say two minutes later everything would go at a normal speed and responsiveness again? Would Windows take 5+ minutes to start, or sometimes not start the first time you tried it?

 

[daveybrat]

Of all the computers that come into my shop with that particular blue screen message, i'd say about 97% or more of them are due to a failing hard drive.

It's almost always a result of bad sectors developing on the hard drive. Which is why running checkdisks aren't solving the problem.

You'll need to download a program called Ultimate Boot CD from here:

https://www.ultimatebootcd.com/


It has almost every bootable diagnostic program you'll need. Run one of the hard drive diagnostic tools on the drive and that'll give you the answer.

 

[mikeymikec]

chkdsk can help work around the problem temporarily as well as help diagnose it.

 

[comp2015]

Hi Guys,
Thanks for the great info. I have answered some of your questions below.

Mike:
Your are SPOT on. The computer was doing exactly what you described the week or so before this happened. I thought it was perhaps running low on space, so I cleared off a bunch of files. It was definitely doing the freeze/no response, then would come back online and work.

So let me know what you think of that.

Davey:
I will look into Ultimate boot CD as an option. But I had a couple of questions first as to what I should do/expect.

A) I would love to be able to get the computer going again partly because I have some files on there I want back. The computer is about 90% backed up so there are 10% I want to access.

B) More importantly I would love to be able to have the computer running so that I could clone all of the software/file etc. My biggest pain in installing the dozens of software's and settings I have on the machine. Is this in any way possible to move?
C) So once I download the Ultimate Boot CD what will happen will I see the computer as normal. What if it is a failing hard drive will the boot CD tell me.

When I ran chkdsk /p (this is before I posted) it got to 75% and then stopped.
When I ran chkdsk /r (again before my post) it said some sort of error like it found something that cannot be fixed..

Sorry for the newbie questions but I just don't know what I should be trying to do? Am I trying to figure out if the hard drive is bad? Can I boot anything if the hard drive is bad? Is this computer pretty much done, and am I trying to get my files off and then huck it out the window and buy a new comp running windows 8?

Thanks again for your help guys, really appreciate it!

 

[Shelleyer]

i think the best way to solve your problem is format your boot volume.but before you formatting this volume, you’d better back up all the important files and data that you want to keep.i used the third-party software AOMEI Partition Assistant to format.
To ensure the operating system works properly, AOMEI Partition Assistant will not allow you to format system partition and boot partition. However, if you do need to format system partition or boot partition, you need to create a bootable media with AOMEI Partition Assistant first, after that, you can format these partitions by entering Bootable Media. In this situation, you should reset the start order of your computer from the original location to the bootable media you created. To do this, sometimes, you need to change the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) settings of your PC. i hope this will help you.

 

[mikeymikec]

Hi Guys,
A) I would love to be able to get the computer going again partly because I have some files on there I want back. The computer is about 90% backed up so there are 10% I want to access.

If connecting the disk to another machine isn't an option, then a boot CD should provide you with a useful interface. XP's recovery console won't allow access to the "Documents and Settings" folder IIRC.

B) More importantly I would love to be able to have the computer running so that I could clone all of the software/file etc. My biggest pain in installing the dozens of software's and settings I have on the machine. Is this in any way possible to move?

Some programs can simply be moved by I wouldn't count on that tactic working. IMO you'll need to bite the bullet on that one.

C) So once I download the Ultimate Boot CD what will happen will I see the computer as normal. What if it is a failing hard drive will the boot CD tell me.

I don't know the Ultimate Boot CD in particular but I expect it would provide you with a graphical user interface so you can drag and drop files to removable storage. daveybrat sounds like he's in a better position to advise you regarding that software.

When I ran chkdsk /p (this is before I posted) it got to 75% and then stopped.
When I ran chkdsk /r (again before my post) it said some sort of error like it found something that cannot be fixed..

I'd put my money on a faulty disk, the symptoms you've reported are absolutely typical of that. It might be worth trying to replace the data cable to that disk to see if that makes any difference, but I wouldn't try to diagnose the disk any further until you have everything you need that can be backed up.

Sorry for the newbie questions but I just don't know what I should be trying to do? Am I trying to figure out if the hard drive is bad? Can I boot anything if the hard drive is bad? Is this computer pretty much done, and am I trying to get my files off and then huck it out the window and buy a new comp running windows 8?

Once you've backed up your data, you could format (translation: wipe all data off) the hard drive but IMO when you try to install Windows again (from CD) it either won't successfully complete (IMO this scenario is likely given the symptoms you've reported) or you'll run into the same problem again in a few months' time.

So you would either need to buy a new hard disk for this computer and then install Windows on it, or ditch this machine and go for something new.

In future, even with a new computer / hard disk, make sure you back up your files on a regular enough basis to ensure that you don't potentially lose files. Hard disks can fail in the way you're seeing or in a sudden, "it was fine the night before, but now the system can't even detect the drive" sort of way.

 

[comp2015]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the help, I wanted to give you an update.

It got to the point that the drive was just not accessible through the computer. So I purchased a Sata enclosure (SIIG 3.5 USB SATA Enclsoure) for the drive.

I loaded it in the enclosure and my computer (s) can see the drive, but when I click on the drive I get the spinning wheel and the computer basically freezes and I cannot access anything.

The drive is making noise (like it is working) so I don't know what is happening.

I think the next step is Data Recovery through someone, but something I am probably not going to consider. I am losing some project, but they can be redone, but was hoping to avoid that.

Let me know if there are there any other steps I can take from here?

Thanks so much for your help.

 

[comp2015]

With my novice experience is there a way to access the drive (That the computer does see) through commands (dos) side of things instead of through the freezing windows. A way to copy them from the back end using commands. Again, sorry for the novice explanation.

Thansk

 

[mikeymikec]

Is all of Windows freezing (ie. inc. pointer, no caps lock light response) or just Windows Explorer?

Try to avoid attempting the same thing repeatedly. If this drive is dying, you may not have many chances left to recover the data.

 

[Ketchup]

Sounds like the drive is dead. What you are describing with the spinning wheel and the freezing is normal for such a situation.

I am glad to hear that your project can be redone.

 

[comp2015]

Hi Guys,

You were right the drive is a bust. I decided as a last ditch effort to take it to geek squad (i know) but they were the only place who could take a look at it right away while I waited, everywhere else was a couple days. I just wanted to know if the drive could be "seen" at all.

Anyway he said that he heard it spinning but could not mount the drive. So definitely a hardware issue.

Like I mentioned I have the majority of the stuff backed up (I learned from a complete hard drive failure years ago).

I am going to be installing a mirror raid system now (going to post some thread questions about that), my goal is to never have to install another program again by having the drive completely mirrored.

Thanks again for everyone's help.