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
Hi,
I don’t get the “welcome to setup” screen that the picture above shows. When I put in an XP CD, it goes directly to a blue screen with list of partitions and unpartitions information asking me to install XP on my C drive. Which ofcourse means, losing all my data.
Pressing R makes no difference….is there any other way I can get to the dos prompt?? I have tried pressing all the other keys! Enter will install XP, D will delete partition and F3 will quit….no other keys work!!
Or is my only resort now to reinstall XP?
HELP??
p.s. I got the CD from a friend since I cudn’t find my original.
@Suki
Are you sure it’s an XP Professional CD?
Ken, I am sure I know that much @ XP Professional! =)
Sorry took me while to respond..everytime I typed a reply, I prssed submit (w/o a name) and I would lose the whole text….happened 4 times!!
I suspect the reason I may not be getting the welcome to setup screen/dos prompt is because the XP CD I am using came from an image file off my friend’s laptop vs. an orig CD….. I was going to try a diff CD to confirm my suspicion, but I haven’t been able to get my hands on one. Perhaps, incompatinility with XP service packs bw my XP and the XP on the CD could also cause this. What do you think abt those ideas?
I just tried seein if I could install windows on a thumb-drive and backup files by loading windows from it….but that doesnt work =) I select the thumbdrive and it asked me to format C drive to proceed..baah! Eithrecase, in order to move on with my life, I am formatting the C and losing all my data right now.
BTW do you know of any ways one can back up the data when something like this happens? Some hard-drive swap I heard about….
Ken,
How r u? after reading so posts over here i thot you would help me fix my hard drive related problems.
Recently, my dell inspiron 700m was attacked by virus, i installed anti-viruses like AVG and Avira and scanned my machine but i guess they could not detect the virus. The laptop was still running fine but at times everything goes black on screen and gave me some memory address related errors, this thing happened many times, so i thot let me format the C: and re-install windows xp. Somehow, i got a CD from my friend and tried to install XP home professional. Initially, it formatted the C: drive where my previous windows XP home was installed. So, here is the sequence:
Issue 1:
- i insert XP Prof. CD in CD-ROM and boot the laptop from CD-ROM only
- it starts copying some hardware related drivers to my machine on C: drive
- then, it tries to start windows and it restarts again.
Issue 2:
- i insert XP Prof. CD in CD-ROM and boot the laptop from CD-ROM only
- it starts copying some hardware related drivers to my machine on C: drive
- then, it tries to start windows and it start coping files from XP prof. CD to my C: drive…but at 78% it restarts machine saying NTLDR missing!
So, this has happened so many times ..I ran the diagnostic test before booting and it says “DST Short Test Fail – Error Code 1000-0146″.
I don’t know how to fix these errors. It looks like its’ not allowing me to install windows, also, i have 40 GB data on my D: drive which is really really important.
I checked so many forums and i knew when I get the above error code it means the HDD is probably corrupted or broken and has to be replaced with a new one. I know, sometimes, this might be because of bad sectors on my drive but how to fix these errors?
Could you please help me fix this errors so that i can install windows successfully and do back up my data first?
Thanks,
Himanshu
Hello Ken, thank you so much for your post!! Its great and I made sure to read all the replys to your suggestions as well.
However, I still have one ITTY BITTY problem… Whenever I use the command promts it will not let me use chkdsk/r or p. It will however use chkdsk. After going through the steps, minus r & p, I succuessfully could start in safe mode. Will not using R or P hender the fix? And once in safe mode… should I close down the computer and restart it successfully or should I just restore to an earlier time.
Thank you so much, I know this post is over a year old but I found it to be the most help!
Thank you again!!!
@Christin
There’s a space between chkdsk and /r or /p
Every other forum just says “get into boot mode’ or some such, but only you gave precise directions about the F2 key. This enabled me to get around this problem. I THANK you very much for your information; I thought my hard drive had crashed for sure!
Ken
Does this fix work for Vista machaines?
My son has a 1501 and the warrenty is out. he called Dell and just like some of the others had mentioned, he was told the HD would need to be replaced.
He does not have any driver or OS disks that came with the machaine. the HD is partioned and the recovery data is in that partion.
his problen is that the laptop will boot up to desktop screen and then after a few seconds the BLUE screen pops up, but flickers, making it unreadable.
it will boot in safe mode just fine with no errors or blue screen, but will not give the option to restore.
and help would be greatly appreciated.
MP
Hi Ken,
I have same issues on my laptop Dell Inspiron 6000, however I do not have the reinstallation CD for XP Home Edition this laptop.
Can I use the reinstalltion CD for Dell Dimension 2400 for XP Home Edition that is with me? Will there be any problem?
Thanks,
Vicky
As other comments have proved, your advice is obviously great and seemed perfect for the problem I have. However, after following all the steps perfectly – using the purple disk, putting in commands etc – I still get the blue screen ‘unmountable volume’ screen. The laptop is a dell inspiron 6400.
I want to be able to thank you too for solving this crisis. Alas, the crisis remains…
Pls help I get the blue screen saying unmountable boot volume but I have no disks or anything war can I do
@Cameron – As per the instructions above, you’ll need to get your hands on a copy of the CD if you’re to access the repair tools.
@SamJ – If you’ve run the steps, try a few other hard disk checks if you can get into windows – schedule a scandisk, defrag etc. Re-run the steps after that.
@Vicky – You may need to get a copy of the XP Professional CD, not the Home edition CD. It shouldn’t matter what system it shipped with.
@Mark – Booting into safe mode, you can’t access the recovery information on the second partition? Have you tried booting with the Vista CD in the drive to see if you get access to similar options? I’m not a Vista user myself (now, primarily OSX), I tend to steer clear of anything Vista related having used the Beta release of the OS when it first surfaced.
@Charlie – You’re more than welcome, hope that helped
Hello Ken
I tried accessing the tools on the recovery partition which gave me the option to restore the laptop to the manufactures settings. It started the process but then stopped and said there was an error, but did not list what the error was. I noticed there is an auto run.ini file. Do you think if I copied the recovery partition to a CD or a portable drive it would work on reboot, if I change the boot settings?
I don’t know much about DELL, I have an HP and during setup for the first time I was required to make recovery disks. My son tells me that he does not remember having that option when he first set up his DELL.
hey i tried to get this pc to work dell. u know the error. i follow directions still wont work any suggestions
hi Ken,
so my dell is also giving me this horrible blue screen at a very very bad time – in b/w backups! I got so excited when I googled the problem n came across your page. Unfortunately, I don’t have the purple cd, but I do have an ultimate boot cd v3.0…I just can’t figure out which tools might be helpful and don’t want to risk erasing my data. any help would be great! thanks!
Hi!! well my problem is that i have no volume icon, i have no problem with the sound it wroks fine but i can control my volume in my desktop i check control planel is fine, i check the taskbar its fine i try everything already but nothing is workin also i try to install the audio again and nothing what can i do!!!!
Ken you are AMAZING!
I am so glad I found this forum…but I too have the “unmountable boot volume error” message and I followed all the steps….I pushed r to get fix the error and get to the recovery console. I says “examining disk configuration” and then gives me this message that doesn’t go away…”"Examining 305243 MB Disk 0 at ID 0 Bus 0 on iaster….” And it then doesn’t take to the prompts…so I can’t go any further. What do I do to get past this and fix this error? Thanks for your help.
I am so happy! In reading your posts, I was able to fix my sons computer with the dreaded blue screen. I couldn’t be happier, I was ready to toss it out!
)
You are amazing! Thank you so much for saving the day, I have a very happy boy!
Erin
Ken –
the dreaded blue screen has appeared on my desktop
i called my pc man who put his own cd in (as i havnt got xp cd) and after 5 minutes he showed me that my “c” drive had zero mega bites – it recognised all the other drives attached but c drive had nothing to show
is complete hope gone to try and get back my data????
Thank you!!! You r a LIVE Saver! I m going to ditch my laptop for mac now!!!!! THANKS!
opps sorry i mean LIFE SAVER!
Majstore ti si CAR!!!
i am from Serbia, and i just fixed my dell thanks to your advice
Maestro you are a KING!!!
Thank you!
Hi ken i have a dell inspiron e 1505 and its showing unmountable boot volume problem with a blue screen. i tried to follow your instructions but when i enter the “chkdsk/r” or “chkdsk/p” the system says : “the command is not recognised ….” can you please tell me what should i do now?
Ken! Thank you so much for the easy instructions. I turned on my laptop last night and this screen popped up randomly..I didn’t even do anything! I followed your instructions and now everything’s fine. I haven’t even lost anything. You’re a life saver!! Thanks a million!!
“John Saadi”,
you should be entering chkdsk /r with a space in between, same with the other.
Ken,
Thank you very much! I had the blue screen of death and looked all over the internet for a solution. Fortunately I had another computer I could use. My Dell Inspiron 1150 looked like it was dead in the water with the unmountable boot volume error. Your suggestions and advice saved the day! No one else told me how to access the dos screen and to change the boot order. Good thing I was able to find my original, still in the package installation cd. Also, when I got to the command list, it too didn’t recoginze the /r, so I just typed “chkdsk” and that worked. It found an error and I proceeded to the boofix command and it successfully overwrote it. I was able to reboot and launch Windows! Many kudos! Guess my next project is to back up everything. (oops, I don’t have it backed up yet?!?!)
Kathy
Still it’s not working. I got a new hard drive. But it would be a great help if I could recover some files from my old hard disc.
I too have had this problem with my Dell Dimension. I had fixed the problem by reinstalling windows about a year ago, it crashed again, I fixed it again. Now I have what seem like 1,000 error OFOO:0244 messages on chkdsk. I could create a new boot sector, AGAIN, and reinstall XP AGAIN, but wonder if it’s even worth it if I’ll go through this again in a month.
Hey ken I have the same problem as everyone else lol the dreaded blue screen and i dnt know what to do. The thing for me is im using an Hp so can the same steps you said b4 wrk for me as well?
Hello Ken,
I have tried all the options and everything went well with chkdsk /r, /p .. but when i typed fixboot i got this msg:
Are you sure you want to create a new bootsector…
[I typed Y and hit enter]
The filesystem on the startup partition is unknown
FIXBOOT is attempting to detect the filesystem type
The bootsector is corrupt
FIXBOOT is checking the filesystem type…
The partition is using the NTFS file system
FIXBOOT is writing a new boot sector
The new bootsector was successfully written
—–
Then I typed ‘exit’ and com restarted. I thought after restart it will be okay but I still have blue screen.
Please be kind enough to explain where the problem might be.
Thank you in advance!
Forgot to mention something… where it says
1: F:\WINDOWS
Which Windows installation would you like to log onto
(To cancel, Press ENTER)
How come its labeled as F if I know it was C ?
Please help!
Many thanks for your help.I have managed to clear the blue screen of death.Unfortunaely it keeps returning..do you know why this happens?
I am still waiting …plaese answer if you can help before I reinstall windows and just lose it all…
well i have the dreaded blue screen with unmountable boot volume and sadly i bought my laptop second hand therefore it doesnt have any boot disks how do i go about fixing it cheaply as im poor as anyone lol
Ken,
I wanted to express my appreciation for the information that you provide. I managed to get the ‘Unmountable Boot Volume’ on my Dell E520 at home and I would have been lost without you. Dell said reinstall Windows XP and so did the computer support where I work. I had too many family photos, videos, etc. just to give up. Anyway, I used your advice as a guide and I fixed my problem.
I learned that I had to be patient while I was fixing the problem. Once I finally got to the ‘recovery console’, I had to reboot and try several times before I got a dos-prompt. I typed chkdsk /r and it just sat there…nothing happened. I left it all night and nothing. The same thing with chkdsk /p. After three days of frustration, I finally tried fixboot c and it worked great, but when I rebooted I got the blue screen again. Then, I tried chkdsk /p and finally it worked. I exited and rebooted and everything is great now.
So, after rebooting and trying the commands over and over I finally had success. If anyone has this problem of nothing happening after typing a command, then the secret I found is to be persistent and patient….keep rebooting and trying again.
Thanks again for all your advice.
You are the man!!! I got the blue screen of death and followed your instructions and was back up in no time. This was on a Dell Precision m65….now, let me go back up the files before i have another scare.
Thanks Again
You Rock! You saved me! Followed your instructions and it worked.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share.
Add me to your long list of admirers. Saved me much time and agony.
Thank you sooooo much!! When I called Dell this morning, they told me that I needed a new hard drive. My life is on that hard drive and with your instructions, it worked!!!
Thanks again!
Erica
I Love u man
man you are a legiond,thought id lost everything mainly my pics..THANK YOU SO MUCH.. WOW WOW WOW
I have a laptop with no floppy disk drive and I don’t have the xp cd. I have another desktop with windows Vista….
If I have to borrow an xp disc from someone then I’m just going to get a new computer.
hey ken, help me on this one here. i bought a neww keyboard from dell right??well when i type with email to my friends there. the cursor goes all the way back to the start . isnt strange , and the keyboard is brand neww.checked out the viruses and found a ? exe2bin in the safe mode .what in the heck is an exe2bin virus there?. doenst look like the conflicker worm there.. thanks ..
This article saved my Dell computer. Thank God for the internet and smart people like you.
Much thanks
Sir, you are fantastic. Both my daughters belovd Dell inspiton 1501 laptops wre U/S and your clear , easy to follow instructions have saved them (and done no damage to my status in the houshold!)
Thanks
Hutch
I can’t thank you enough for fixing my computer. I thought I was going to have to get a new one. I’ve got over 20 gigs of precious memory stored on my computer. And with my dad not home at the moment, it would be nearly impossible to fix this hunk of junk I call a comp. Thank you so much.
Hey Ken, sorry this is going to sound rather stupid but you when you say type in “R”, do i type in R or “R”?
Just going through this at the moment and don’t want to do any mistakes:D
Thankyou so much, you saved my bacon:D Can i ask what you think will have caused this to happen and is there anyway of avoiding it happening again?