System Problems

My big problem is 3 years of pics and music I didn't backup! Learned that lesson!! (Hope to recover) Will post after attempts are done.

Edited by hamluis, 13 March 2011 - 06:59 AM.
Edited, split from different topic.

If you are asking for help you need to provide some information about what is going on.

When I power it on, I get a black screen saying that Windows did not shut down properly, and offers me choices, from Safe Mode to Last Known Configuration to Start Windows Normally.
Regardless of which I choose, eventually a blue screen with white text appears, just for a second or 2, too fast to read anything, and then I get returned to the original black screen. And so on, until I simply power down.

I do not have any of the original disks for this machine, and nothing has been changed on it. Dell Latitude Laptop C840 w/ XP.

Any and all suggestions welcome!

Ritchie

I got the Blue screen up, abbreviated content as follows;
UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME
Tech info
*** STOP: 0x000000ED (0x837DBA68, 0xc0000006, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)

Hi -
Do you have time to run a small program in safe mode , or is the screen instantly black -
If you can, please download BlueScreenView
No installation required.
Double click on BlueScreenView.exe file to run the program.
When scanning is done, go Edit>Select All.
Go File>Save Selected Items, and save the report as BSOD.txt.
Open BSOD.txt in Notepad, copy all content, and paste it into your next reply.

Can you borrow an XP CD and try this -
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.

Thank You -

Edited by noknojon, 14 March 2011 - 01:22 AM.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/297185

As noted...tbe typical thing to try with Unmountable Boot errors...is to run the chkdsk /r command.

I would do that and momentarily postpone the suggestion re BlueScreenView.

Louis

Blue Screen says;

A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.
UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME
If this is the 1st time you've seen this Stop error screen, restart your comp. 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 install, ask your hardware or software manuf. for any Windows updates you might need.
If prolems continue, disable or remove any new 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 select Advanced Startup Options, and then select Safe Mode.
Technical info: *** STOP 0x000000ED (0x837DBA68, 0XC0000006, 0X00000000, 0X00000000)

When I enter Safe Mode, I get a long (What resembles DOS) scroll list to the effect of;

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\System32\Drivers\ (then a lot of other things, all ending in .sys) The top few go by so fast, I am not sure of exact prompt.

Then it starts the loop again.

Ritchie

We know what the error says...please try the suggestions made.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315403

Louis