access faulty hd

[pablo]

I recently recieved a B.S.O.D stop error Stop OxOOOOOOOOED (Ox81F819EO, OxCooooo32,Oxoooooooo,OxOOOOOOOO) Unmountable_boot_volume After browsing various sites I could see the problem was either corrupted files or hardware I,m sure it is not hardware because I fitted a new hdd and reinstalled Xp Pro I also have spare hdd,s with linux which run without any trouble. I cannot boot up with the faulty hd it returns to the bsod and will not go into safe mode or any other option when pressing F8 Now for the interesting bit...I discovered that if I fitted the bad hd as second hd (slave) I could access all the data on it. I tried to get into Restore to roll back a week or so but although I could see Restore "sitting there" I could not get to the correct page to activate it . Using my new hd I made a set of boot up discs also the A.S.R floppy but to no avail . Surely it should be possible to correct the fault either by cleaning the registry or by removing loads of software which are conflicting. I have got data on there which I need otherwise I would just reinstall Xp . Any advice would be apreciated .

[Panama Red]

I'd recommend a three pronged approach. First, copy all the critical files to your new hdd. Second, download the drive manufacturers diagnostic utility and test the drive. It may not be a hardware problem. It may be a corrupted Boot file. If the hdd tests ok, follow the guide for a Repair Installation in our Tips and Tricks forums area. A repair install will fix XP without harming files or installed software. However, you willl have to visit Windows Update afterwords and run all the updates again. Hopefully, your XP disk is one with SP2. If not, you'd be better off making a Slipstreamed XP copy to include SP2.

[pablo]

Thanks Panama Red . I will try those things you suggest as a start Pablo

[pablo]

Hello Panama Red . I carried out a repair installation to your instructions. It worked perfectly !! Many thanks