"Unmountable_boot_volume" - WinXP terror

[flashforce]

First off, there's nothing about this problem on the internet. I need someone with brains who knows how stupid WinXP is.

1. All info talks about using your Winxp CD to get rid of this prob. Well I was stupid enough to buy a PC without such a CD. So I'm stuck.

2. I found a page which says that in this case, I should download the Winxp boot disk on floppy disks and try it this way. I did so but I don't even get to using the floppy disks.

3. I start my PC, then hit "del" or "esc" and I arrive at a page where I can choose between various modes: safe mode, safe mode with dos prompt, etc...

4. When I choose any of these, the page "Unmountable_boot_volume" appears again.

5. I hope this doesn't mean I have to throw away my PC and loose all my data. I refuse to make Bill Gates a billionnaire when he sells me crap. I want my money back.

Is there anyone out there who can help me fight this problem? Thx.

 

[Sacrinyellow5]

You'll have to go into you Bios and change around the order that the drives boot. It sounds like a different drive is booting up first. I had this problem a while back as well...

 

[OvenMaster]

You're not the only one stupid enough to buy a PC without a full XP disc. My emachines junkbox only has restore discs with Norton Ghost images on it, so when I eventually will need to reinstall everything, I'll have to revert my hardware back to what it was when the discs were made! What a PITA! I really should break down and get an OEM XP SP1 disc before it's too late; I cant use SP2 due to software issues.
Tom

 

[Clutch]

Ah, I had that problem one time with my parents computer.

What you need to do is make that hard drive a slave, and put it in your computer, then proceed to run Scandisk and let it fix the errors.

It should work after that.