Computer problem.

[rockseller]

Hallo Tech wizards,

I have got problem just come back home yesterday and switch on my PC. But it does not start. This is the message which come up on screen look below.

"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 have seen this stop error screen restart your pc. If problem continue disable or remove any new installed hardware or software. DISABLE BIOS memory options such as catching or shadowing."

What can i do to solve this problem. Your help will be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

[rossored]

most likely this is a corruption of the boot.ini file. You'll need your Windows XP disc to fix it.

Boot your machine off the XP CD, and when you get to the final setup screen, press R to Repair. Log onto your Windows installation (normally this is option 1) and at the DOS prompt type:

"chkdsk /p" (without the quotes, note the space before the "/" mark) then press enter
when that's complete, type "fixboot" (again without quotes)and press enter, then Y at the next prompt

you can now reboot and the PC should kick back into Windows

Post again if that doesn't fix it

 

[rockseller]

most likely this is a corruption of the boot.ini file. You'll need your Windows XP disc to fix it.

Boot your machine off the XP CD, and when you get to the final setup screen, press R to Repair. Log onto your Windows installation (normally this is option 1) and at the DOS prompt type:

"chkdsk /p" (without the quotes, note the space before the "/" mark) then press enter
when that's complete, type "fixboot" (again without quotes)and press enter, then Y at the next prompt

you can now reboot and the PC should kick back into Windows

Post again if that doesn't fix it

Thank you rossored for your reply, the PC with window xp pre-installed. Is there any other way i can do that without window xp. Or i will i need to buy new window xp software? Thanks.

 

[rossored]

Thank you rossored for your reply, the PC with window xp pre-installed. Is there any other way i can do that without window xp. Or i will i need to buy new window xp software? Thanks.

It must have a recovery CD with it?

Short of buying XP again or borrowing someone's disc (doesn't matter if it's XP Home or Pro), you could take the drive out and slave it into another machine to manually edit the file.

This (below) is a copy of what the boot.ini file should look like for XP Pro; you can edit it with any text editor in Windows or Mac

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN /FASTDETECT

Either that, or see if anyone you know has a copy of Windows PE or Knoppix (linux on DVD). Then you could boot your machine off that and edit the file manually.

 

[rockseller]

It must have a recovery CD with it?

Thanks rossored, Yes i have got the recovery CD. But when i put it in nothing happen? I mean i get the same message as before.

 

[rossored]

Ah - Windows is booting from the HDD, not the CD.

You'll need to either change the BIOS settings to get it to boot off the CD (select CD as first boot option, not HDD) or is there a 'Boot Options' choice you can choose? Sometimes this is F12.

If not you can get into the BIOS by pressing either F1 or Delete normally (when it first starts to boot). There will be a section entitled 'Boot Devices' or similar. In there you can change which device Windows boots from first; it'll be set to 'Hard Drive' or 'IDE0' (or similar) - you need to change it so that CD/DVD is first, then Hard Drive/IDE0

EDIT: DO NOT change ANYTHING else in the BIOS!!

 

[rockseller]

Thank you i will do that and i will let you know the outcome.

Cheers.

 

[Kinger]

I'd also ask why this happend in the first place, you may have a virus, so when you do manage to boot the pc ... DO NOT SHUT DOWN AGAIN ...., until you run a complete virus scan including boot and bios.

 

[rossored]

No, this is nothing to do with a virus. It's just Windows - improper shutdown maybe.

 

[Pete007]

Try this

To start the computer in safe mode
1.Frist when you turn on the computer hold F8 down before you see anything on the screen.
2.This will start the operating system in safe mode and the give you change to see what went wrong first time.
3. A system restore may be the next move .
4.When you see the message Please select the operating system to start, press F8.
5.Use the arrow keys to highlight the appropriate safe mode option, and then press ENTER.
6.If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot system, choose the installation that you need to access using the arrow keys, and then press ENTER.
Notes
• In safe mode, you have access to only basic files and drivers (mouse, monitor, keyboard, mass storage, base video, default system services, and no network connections). You can choose the Safe Mode with Networking option, which loads all of the above files and drivers and the essential services and drivers to start networking, or you can choose the Safe Mode with Command Prompt option, which is exactly the same as safe mode except that a command prompt is started instead of the graphical user interface. You can also choose Last Known Good Configuration, which starts your computer using the registry information that was saved at the last shutdown.
• Safe mode helps you diagnose problems. If a symptom does not reappear when you start in safe mode, you can eliminate the default settings and minimum device drivers as possible causes. If a newly added device or a changed driver is causing problems, you can use safe mode to remove the device or reverse the change.
• There are circumstances where safe mode will not be able to help you, such as when Windows system files that are required to start the system are corrupted or damaged. In this case, the Recovery Console may help you.
• NUM LOCK must be off before the arrow keys on the numeric keypad will function.

 

[Kinger]

Just thought it would help as 12 of our servers had the same problem about 2yrs back. Unless rocksellers trying to boot from anything other than the hd of course.

 

[BluCava]

Hallo Tech wizards,

I have got problem just come back home yesterday and switch on my PC. But it does not start. This is the message which come up on screen look below.

"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 have seen this stop error screen restart your pc. If problem continue disable or remove any new installed hardware or software. DISABLE BIOS memory options such as catching or shadowing."

What can i do to solve this problem. Your help will be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Not sure if you have tried this yet or not, but often, rebooting with last known good configuration.
If the actual Hard Disk has not been damaged, which could be the case, then it may work.

When you reboot, keep hitting F8, until you see the boot menu. Using your arrows on your keyboard, scroll down to Last Known Good Configuration.

If that doesn't work, then try rebooting into safe mode. Same steps as above just chose safe mode.

Hope that helps

 

[rossored]

Just thought it would help as 12 of our servers had the same problem about 2yrs back. Unless rocksellers trying to boot from anything other than the hd of course.

Sorry - didn't mean to shoot you down in flames - lots of ppl just naturally assume anything slightly unusual is 'virus' behaviour and it rarely is imo.

Not sure if you have tried this yet or not, but often, rebooting with last known good configuration.
If the actual Hard Disk has not been damaged, which could be the case, then it may work.

When you reboot, keep hitting F8, until you see the boot menu. Using your arrows on your keyboard, scroll down to Last Known Good Configuration.

If that doesn't work, then try rebooting into safe mode. Same steps as above just chose safe mode.

Hope that helps

The boot.ini file is loaded before all this. If the OS can't read the boot file, it won't be able to even offer the choice of Safe Mode, Last Good Config or any other options - the disk is effectively unreadable, and the error message described comes up immediately after POST and before boot.

 

[rockseller]

Kinger, blucava, peter007, rossored you cotribution is much appreciated.

When i press F8 i do get advance menu options. Which give me options like safe mode, safe mode with networking, safe mode with command prompt, enable boot logging, enable VGA mode, last known configuration, Directory services restore mode, debugging mode, disable automatic restart on system failure, start window normally, reboot, return OS choices menus.

When i click any of these options. it takes me direct back to the same message message "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 have seen this stop error screen restart your pc. If problem continue disable or remove any new installed hardware or software. DISABLE BIOS memory options such as catching or shadowing."

Once i am here whatever i do nothing happen. Any ideas?

 

[rossored]

You will not be able to use any of the options other ppl have described because the boot.ini file is corrupt, and this is the file that allows the OS to be loaded (mis-typed my previous post, sorry - in a bit of a rush when I wrote it, obviously)

You have to repair the boot.ini before you can proceed any further - there are no other choices. That can only be done using the methods I've previously described.

 

[rockseller]

You will not be able to use any of the options other ppl have described because the boot.ini file is corrupt, and this is the file that allows the OS to be loaded (mis-typed my previous post, sorry - in a bit of a rush when I wrote it, obviously)

You have to repair the boot.ini before you can proceed any further - there are no other choices. That can only be done using the methods I've previously described.

The PC does not respond to CD (XP) i have try that. So it is impossible to boot it from CD as far as i you have explain to me. I have follow everything to the letter.

 

[rossored]

Yes - and I have also advised you how to get it to boot from the CD. Short of sitting by your side, there's not much more I can do - sorry.

 

[Pete007]

If it's a damaged file system case then:-
1.Insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive, and then restart the computer.

Click to select any options that are required to start the computer from the CD-ROM drive if you are prompted.

2.When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.

3.If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you must access from the Recovery Console.

4.When you are prompted, type the Administrator password. If the administrator password is blank, just press ENTER.

5.At the command prompt, type chkdsk /r , and then press ENTER.

6.At the command prompt, type exit , and then press ENTER to restart your computer.

This takes a bit longer, but the system should boot back into Windows

 

[rockseller]

All you suggestions have been tried but no joy. I specialist and told the Hard Drive is gone need to be replaced. So i have bought new PC now. All i need is to transfer some data from this crap PC now.

 

[Kinger]

Put your old hard drive in your new pc as a slave (change jumper settings on the hard drive itself). then transfer them across ...
I bought an external hard drive a few years ago and that conked out after about 3mths. So I ripped off the plastic shell and put the hard drive in the pc. Works a treat now ...!