UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME following updates

Updated a Win XP Pro Machine and received the UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME error

• Win XP Pro with recovery console
• Dell Optiplex G240
• 1TB Samsung Spinpoint HD103SI (Green)

At the time the machine had been idle for around 5 weeks, so had around 100 updates to go through

During the last two restarts the machine froze before having a forced shut down with the power switch.

At present I have access to a Mac OSX 10.6.8, 2TB virtually clean external HD, decent Internet (for a change) but none of my normal CD's or other tools.

Recovery console was installed on the drive, but claims the MBR is corrupted.

I have Paragon NTFS for Mac, so I can read, write and transfer files with the aid of a Sharkoon external USB adaptor.

Also have a 4Gb USB drive.

All help appreciated.

If you have a Windows XP setup CD present, I am pretty sure this how-to will help you sort out the problem:

http://www.computing.net/howtos/show/how-to-get-rid-of-unmountablebootdevice-error/302.html

Well, my first post here :-)

Good suggestion imeratormk but I don't have my CD/ DVD's with me.

Thanks for the info.

You need somehow to gain access to XP recovery console. If possible, download and burn this .iso file to CD, boot from it and try to execute the commands given in the howto.

http://www.thecomputerparamedic.com/files/rc.iso

Hope this helps.

You need somehow to gain access to XP recovery console. If possible, download and burn this .iso file to CD, boot from it and try to execute the commands given in the howto.

http://www.thecomputerparamedic.com/files/rc.iso

Hope this helps.

This is not a good suggestion, it conflicts with the policies currently present at this website.

Please read: Recommending ISOs of Windows Recovery Discs or pre-made ISOs of WinPE-BartPE - http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic382841.html

Louis

This is not a good suggestion, it conflicts with the policies currently present at this website.

Please read: Recommending ISOs of Windows Recovery Discs or pre-made ISOs of WinPE-BartPE - http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic382841.html

Louis

I apologize.. I am new here and had no idea this is forbidden.

No problem , it's understandable that you would not know.

FWIW: Unmountable boot volume errors in XP...can often be overcome by running the chkdsk /r command from the Recovery Console.

<<Recovery console was installed on the drive, but claims the MBR is corrupted.>>

Can you explain? What drive are you talking about...and what is the exact error message you received when trying to access the RC?

Louis

Hi Louis

The drive is the system drive, which has recovery console installed on it, but when I select it I get a BSOD which says the MBR is corrupt.

Running your chkdsk /r suggestion before I try again.

Running your chkdsk /r suggestion before I try again.

If you manage to get to a point at which you can run chkdsk, run the other commands from the link I gave you as well.

Thanks to someone nearby having an install CD for Win XP Pro I was able to run chkdsk /r from there as the drive version just kept complaining about the MBR fault.

Took nearly 30 hours, then sprang back to working order.

Seems that M$ want to get people away from XP as there were extra updates after it became usable again.

Steps I took:

• Accessed files with external connector and second machine (Mac)
• Removed important files in case things failed
• Tried uning chkdsk /r from HDD but only got it working from CD
• Waited for 30+ hours to complete
• Applied August updates
• Full defragmentation at system boot chkdsk
• Reported back here

The last time it was on according to the AV log was 17 June - updates were from around then that seemed to cause failure.

It was impossible to fix without an installation CD.

Thanks for your help and hope this helps others.

I am glad you sorted it out.

Glad to report that this thread was useful again.

 

Think the hard drive just became full as I hadn't been maintaining it for a while. Called to help on Windows8 and they mention the same Dell from this thread had issues again.

 

***DO NOT USE fixmbr OR fixboot FROM RECOVERY CONSOLE AS A FIRST CHOICE*** This can mess up the (hidden Dell recovery partitions)

 

Back to this thread, after accessing Recovery Console, use chkdsk /r and wait for the results.

 

Also discovered, coutesy of Wikipedia that a different set of switches after chkdsk are quicker that /r

 

/p Fixes errors on the volume. Same as the /f option in standard CHKDSK. /r Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information (implies /f and /p). Takes much longer to run than /p by itself.

 

chkdsk /f /p should be faster on larger drives.

FWIW:

 

a.  I have a 1TB drive which takes 2.5 to 3 hours...to run chkdsk /r to completion.  Anything over that would probably (IMO) be an indcation of a problem with the file system or tha hard drive.

 

b.  The chkdsk /r command is the most thorugh command and differs from the others.  The chkdsk /p is only run in read-only mode and does not correct any problems encountered...while the chkdsk /f command is not as complete as chkdsk /r, with chkdsk /r the only command that results in Windows trying to reclaim any data which is stored on bad sectors, a step completely ignored by all other chkdsk commands..

 

c.  Windows updates have nothing to do with Unmountable Boot Volume situations.

 

d.  The only time that a drive being "full" ever becomes an issue...is when said drive/partition is the boot drive and reflects the Windows partition.  A drive which does not contain Windows...merely runs out of storage space and is fully useable by anyone as far as access, reliability, etc..

 

Louis