I need a computer geek!  HELP!

[MC MUSTANG]

Guys,
I have an HP Pavillion and I turned it off on Friday before going to camp and no when I try to fire it up, I get the blue screen with unmountable boot volume. I am trying to follow the HP site instructions, but it says to insert the recovery disk and the computer will but to the recovery console; problem is, even withthe disk inserted I still get the blue screen....

HELP! I really can't afford to lose everything that is on there... I don't have everything backed up...

HELP!

Here is what the HP site says:
HP notebooks that use Microsoft Windows XP without XP Service Pack 2 installed may start with the following error:
STOP 0x000000ED (0xaaaaaaaa,0xbbbbbbbb,0xcccccccc,0xdddddddd) UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME
This error is related to the way Windows XP interacts with the hard drive during an unexpected shutdown. Sometimes the contents of the cache are not written to the drive properly causing the error to appear when the notebook restarts.
This document provides instructions to repair your notebook PC and prevent this error from reoccuring. Once you have repaired your notebook PC, be sure to follow the steps to prevent the error from occurring again.
View the knowledge base article from Microsoft, Stop 0x000000ED Error Message When Volume on IDE Drive with Caching Enabled Is Mounted (in English) and the Microsoft Help and Support article, Unmountable Boot Volume in English).
Repairing the notebook PC when the error occurs
The following repair options require the HP Operating System disc that was included with the HP Notebook PC. If you have misplaced or lost your disc please view HP Notebook PCs - Obtaining a Recovery CD or DVD set to order a new disc. For customers in Europe, Middle East, and Africa please refer to the HP support document Europe, Middle East, and Africa - Statement on the Availability of the Recovery Software on CD . For other countries/regions, contact your local HP support center for information about obtaining recovery CDs.
Option 1: Use CHKDSK from the Recovery Console
Start the computer with the HP Operating System disc in the CD or DVD drive.
Press any key when prompted to boot from the CD or DVD.
A blue screen will appear and several files will load. This process takes about 30 seconds to complete. You should not have to select anything from the keyboard.
At the blue setup menu, press R to Repair a Windows XP installation.
At the C: prompt, type chkdsk /r. This repair process may take 30 - 60 minutes depending on the size of the hard drive and repairs needed.
After the chkdsk completes, type Exit at the C: prompt.
Windows will restart. Eject the CD or DVD and it should continue normally.

 

[BusaSamurai]

Have you tried stsrting in safe mode

 

[HRJR]

I looked at the KB article. It said:

"If the second parameter (0xbbbbbbbb) of the Stop error is 0xC0000032, then the file system is damaged. "

Does the second parameter show the file system as damaged?

Did you boot the XP CDROM and try both the "chkdsk /r" and "fixboot" commands?

Does the BIOS see the hard disk?

Does the hard disk sound like it is spinning up correctly?

Is the hard disk making any "funny" noises?

If the hard disk is going on you, here is two tricks to get it operational enough to get your data back:

1) Trick #1
Take out the hard disk. Hold it level in your hand and twist it about it's axis (this might dislodge the head if it has gotten itself stuck). Insert the hard disk into a functioning computer (same OS, or, at least the ability to read the files system (if it is NTFS). See if the BIOS can see the hard disk, then boot the OS and try to view some files on it. If you can, copy the files to the other (working) hard disk.

2) Trick #2
Take out the hard disk. Put it in a plastic bag. Put it in the freezer for 15-20 minutes. Insert the cold hard disk into a functioning computer (same OS, or, at least the ability to read the files system (if it is NTFS). See if the BIOS can see the hard disk, then boot the OS and try to view some files on it. If you can, copy the files to the other (working) hard disk.

Hopefully, you just messed up running the recovery console commands (chkdsk /r and fixboot).

Good luck.

 

[Wag]

If that doesn't work, you may need to go to the BIOS and force it to boot from the CD-ROM, not the HDD. That could get the recovery process started.

--Wag--

 

[MC MUSTANG]

Well, I have heard that the simplest fix is usually the right one...
I couldn't get the computer to boot formt he disk to run chkdsk - looked underneath the disk and saw that coming out of the sealed envelope the thing was scratched worse than my front fender....

So, I did a bad thing and used my XP recovery disk to run chkdsk... I hope that all will be well when that is finished because my laptop is heinous!

 

[LABusa]

Sounds like it's not booting to the disk. Try pressing either Esc or F9 during startup. The BIOS should take you to a boot menu where you can choose your boot device. Choose the CD and then you can get to the Recovery. On my HP laptop I press Esc to get to the boot menu.
Hope this helps...

 

[omslaw]

Shawn - I wish I were closer to give you a hand. However, if you don't have any luck getting it to boot, you can send me the laptop or just the HD and I'll see if I can get it working for you and/or recover data off of it.

I'll be glad to help out in any way I can.


--Omar

 

[warbrown]

(HRJR @ Mar. 12 2007,13:21) I looked at the KB article.  It said:

"If the second parameter (0xbbbbbbbb) of the Stop error is 0xC0000032, then the file system is damaged. "

Does the second parameter show the file system as damaged?

Did you boot the XP CDROM and try both the "chkdsk /r" and "fixboot" commands?

Does the BIOS see the hard disk?

Does the hard disk sound like it is spinning up correctly?

Is the hard disk making any "funny" noises?

If the hard disk is going on you, here is two tricks to get it operational enough to get your data back:

1) Trick #1
Take out the hard disk.  Hold it level in your hand and twist it about it's axis (this might dislodge the head if it has gotten itself stuck).  Insert the hard disk into a functioning computer (same OS, or, at least the ability to read the files system (if it is NTFS).  See if the BIOS can see the hard disk, then boot the OS and try to view some files on it.  If you can, copy the files to the other (working) hard disk.

2) Trick #2
Take out the hard disk.  Put it in a plastic bag.  Put it in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.  Insert the cold hard disk into a functioning computer (same OS, or, at least the ability to read the files system (if it is NTFS).  See if the BIOS can see the hard disk, then boot the OS and try to view some files on it.  If you can, copy the files to the other (working) hard disk.

Hopefully, you just messed up running the recovery console commands (chkdsk /r and fixboot).

Good luck.

Very sound advice here. If there are no serious physical errors, the chkdsk /r will usually fix the unmountable bv problem. Make sure your boot device priority is set to CD first in the BIOS, then use an XP setup disk to boot to the recovery console. (home or pro, retail or oem disk doesn't matter for the basic disk scan you be doing). Boot from cd, then press r to enter the console, then press 1 to get to your OS command prompt. Run chkdsk /r at the prompt, and wait up to an hour as it slowly does several passes to fix the problem.

 

[MC MUSTANG]

Guys - thanks for all the words... chkdsk /r was what I knew I needed, but I couldn't get the boot from CD prompt and even in the options, it wouldn't read from the disk... the disk was all scratched up! I just used the xp setup dosk to get the comand prompt and chkdsk /r was what worked for me!

Thanks again, I am bak on line with the laptop!

 

[HRJR]

Now that you had all of that fun

It is time to get a real good backup or two on the system.

You want to avoid more of that fun in the future.

Glad it worked out for you.

 

[TurboSN95]

definitely get another backup hard drive on it now while its up and running. External USB Hard Drives arent that expensive and are easily transportable too.