So you’re using your Dell laptop (in this case a Dell Inspiron 1501 running Windows XP Professional) with no problems, turn it on one day and you get that gorgeous blue screen of death telling you that you’ve an unmountable boot volume. You call Dell support and they take you through diagnostic tests, get you to boot in safe mode (which won’t work by the way) and then they tell you to launch the recovery console or reinstall Windows.
Reinstall? No sirree!
Getting around this problem today (see previous post) here’s what I did (not my laptop as the MacBook Pro doesn’t throw up those kind of errors)…
- With the laptop on the blue screen, grab your Windows XP CD (might be branded as a Dell Reinstallation CD), pop it into the CD drive and reboot the laptop.
- When prompted, press any key to boot from CD, allowing a minute or so for drivers to load in the background.
- From the first menu you see, press ‘R’ to launch the recovery console. This will launch a dos-prompt driven recovery console allowing some basic disk commands.
- Enter your first command: “chkdsk /r” (give about 20-30 minutes to run).
- When completed, follow up with “chkdsk /p” (give about 2 minutes to run).
- Finally, follow up with “fixboot c:”. This will quickly test the boot sector and prompt you to write a new one. It is likely that the boot sector on your drive has become corrupt, once you agree to write a new bootsector, allow a half minute or so for the task to run until prompted with a success message.
- Type ‘EXIT’ to quit the recovery console and restart the laptop.
That… should be that. It helps to have the original Dell XP disc though. A standalone version wouldn’t display the recovery console menu on launch but the Dell OEM version does (purple coloured CD including Service Pack 1a – it’s been a while). Of course, if the disc doesn’t boot when you restart the computer it may be possible that you’re BIOS is looking to the hard drive before the CD. In that case you’ll need to enter the Dell BIOS (pressing F2 for setup on immediate restart). See here (Dell support) for specific details.
About Ken McGuire
Ken…..if you are still reading these, THANK YOU for the instructions on how to fix this issue…….my Averatec 3200 laptop did this today, with ALL my music, pictures, etc from Iraq, military stuff, and thanks to you, I have it all back. You are the man!!!
CG
Hey Carl,
You’re most welcome! They’re old ones but they still work and have saved a few people a good few dollars and Euro over the past few years!
Hi I’m following your unmountable boot volume fix; mine’s Dell precision M70, and it doesn’t recognize “chkdsk/r” what should I do? please help. thanking you in advance
Thanks Ken for posting this fix! I had this very issue on my Dell optiplex 745 yesterday. I followed your instructions and all worked flawlessly. Thanks to you, I am back in business!
Patty
OMG! Thank you so much for this tutorial. I got so scared when my computer got this error and I was totally thinking I have to buy another computer! I’m so glad I found this!
Possibly the best single-page troubleshooting tutorial I have ever seen, certainly in the PC world (I’m also a Mac man, personally). I can’t thank you enough. If only all online troubleshooting guides were this concise, straightforward, and supportive… well, I’d be out of a job, so I suppose it’s just as well!
Can I fix this “blue screen nighmare” without my disk? Note: the computer that has the prbelm is my Dell LatititudeE5500…Help,please.
Ken
I carried out instructions and seemed to carry through fine but I am not sure whether I should boot into windows from the reinstallation CD or from the newly checked hard disk. Trying from CD seems to a reinstallation of Windows XP, which I was not sure I want. Whereas switching back to boot from hard disk (via boot change procedure) leads back to the blue screen and same message. Any further suggestions most welcome
Please add me to the list of the legions of fans who love you and are grateful for this post. Many many thanks!! I, a total computer novice, was able to repair my computer on my own. My husband is amazed and equally thrilled!
Start computer and Windows is in the process of booting to Windows XP. After this an error, “Unmountable Boot Volume shown but now using simple method you can easily solve this problem……..
http://www.techyv.com/questions/uncountable-boot-volume-xp
Unmountable Boot Volume http://www.techyv.com/questions/uncountable-boot-volume-xp
Our Dell Inspiron E1505 kept running into that (problem was worse, because we upgraded to the Windows 7). What we discovered is that it would go into a Dell Media Direct loop, and couldn’t get back. Upon taking the computer apart, discovered that something had spilled on the power buttons, including dell media direct button. Purchased a new Dell Media Direct button, used Krazy Glue to ensure it could never be pressed again, and the computer has been stable ever since.
Thank you so much for the step by step! I tried it on an old Toshiba J11 and it worked! Saved me at least $65!
A solution that worked for my Dell Inspiron 6400 XP professional SP 3.
As I do not have (like most of us) the XP installation disk (it was preinstalled on my laptop), I discovered (by pure inspiration !!!) that when pressing the Dell Media Direct button (instead of pressing the “power” button !!) I could boot and actually see all the folders of my laptop [those containing media files (photos, videos) I could even play them]. After browsing the folders containing media files (photos, movies) I clicked “exit” and my laptop powered off. After that I pressed the “power” button and my laptop booted normally. I am not sure but it may be that the BSOD Unmountable Boot Volume error appeared after I installed the Slim Cleaner applcation. After I was able to boot again into my laptop I uninstalled Slim Cleaner and run the “chkdsk /r” . I do not know the explanation for this workaround (I am not an IT guru) but I just wanted to share with those using Dell Inspiron 6400 with Dell Media Direct !!!) this possible solution that worked for me. Maybe I am wrong but it could be that this solution worked due to the fact that Dell Media Direct is located on a separate partition (I have three partitions on my Dell Inspiron 6400) allowing thus the booting.
One question : should I run the recovery console “chkdsk /p “ and “fixboot c:” commands to test the boot sector or not ? Waiting for feedback from IT experts. Thanks.
I scoured the Internet for hours before I found the solution that worked! Even MS only had half the answer. Thank you!
Hi I keep getting the message unmountable boot volume on nt hell unspoken 1300
I dont have windows disk either can do without disk.
Ken you are the best…..i turned on my netbook and it had the blue screen from hell….I logged onto another computer followed your advice and now it is up and running….i am currently writing from it now…thanks again..
Same happened to me today but on a Lenovo R60. Unmountable boot etc. Can’t start in any mode and can’t do r and r either! I also don’t have any disks to go withe laptop as all installations were done in my old company which no longer exists. Any suggestions?? Everything is on it, including all my new business files. Thanks.
Hi
If your Not Able to Get Chkdsk/r…u will need to run it as an administrator .Firts try this sfc /scannow ..and then Run Chkdsk/r..
I have a 7 year old Dell desktop and just got the Unmountable Boot Volume blue screen of death. I have limited knowledge about computers but I tried your “volume” fix with no success. When I pop the CD in nothing happens and it goes back to the blue screen. What do I need to do to boot from the CD when I reboot?