Unmountable Boot Volume error, can't boot from OEM CD

[StarStuff]

I have a Dell Dimension 4600 PC running Windows XP with Service Pack 2 installed.

Yesterday I was doing some folder-by-folder defragging using a free program (Auslogics? (not sure of name) Disk Defrag). I was doing this one folder at a time because I was trying to see if I liked this program better than Tune Up Utilities, and didn't want to tie up my system for hours doing a full drive defrag.

Anyway, after several uneventful defrags of various folders, I tried to go online using my regular Firefox, and the system popped up an error message saying it couldn't find it. So, since I hadn't restarted in a while, I figured something had glitched and a restart would clear it.

Instead, I got the BSOD and this message:

A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME

[yada yada yada....]

Technical information:

***STOP: 0x000000ED (then in parentheses four other similar number/letter combinations which change every time I try to boot up).

When I tried to go in via safe mode, I got the same BSOD and message. I retrieved my OEM CD and tried to boot using it and the "R" key to get into restore, but it doesn't work. I just keep getting the same BSOD and error message.

After a few tries, now when I try to boot up here's what I get:

We apologize for the inconvenience, but Windows did not start successfully. A recent hardware or sofware change might have caused this.

[Yada yada yada...]

Then it gives me these options:

Safe Mode
Safe Mode with Networking
Safe Mode with Command Prompt

Last Known Good Cnfiguration (your most recent settings that worked]

Start Wndows Normally

Then under all this a dotted bar appears along the bottom of the screen, and slowly it fills in until the bar is completely solid. Then the Windows XP window comes up, just like it's about to start normally, and then up comes the BSOD with the UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME message.

I have no other boot disc available (I know, believe me, I'm black and blue from kicking myself in the butt). To make matters worse, I'm only able to access the Internet now with my old iMac running OS 9.1. I tried downloading boot files for XP S2. I unzipped the file and out came an .iso, I burned this to disc off the Mac onto a hybrid disc, then tried to boot up the PC from it with still no luck.

I'm at my wit's end. I'm on disability on a budget so tight I can barely afford my Internet connection. A new system is out of the question, even a repair shop is out of my reach.

My sister also has a Dell Dimension 4600 but it only has the original Service Pack 1 installed and she has no Internet access. Is it possible to create a boot disc on her computer that will work on mine? I've seaeched for info on how to do this but apparently you have to "slipstream" SP2 into it? I don't understand at all what to do.

Do you have any suggestions at all? Thanks so much for any help.

[glc]

It's quite likely that your hard drive is failing. Immediately upon powering the computer up, press F12 to go into the Dell boot menu, and boot it into diagnostics.

[StarStuff]

Originally Posted by glc It's quite likely that your hard drive is failing. Immediately upon powering the computer up, press F12 to go into the Dell boot menu, and boot it into diagnostics.

It says:

Primary SATA
Drive 0: No device

Secondary SATA
Drive 0: No device

Primary IDE
Drive 0: Maxtor 6E040l0 - Fail. Return Code: 7
Drive 1: No device

Secondary IDE
Drive 0: PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-109 - Diagnostics not supported
Drive 1: No device

Test complete, Press ,ENTER. to reboot

So, I'm totally screwed? Even if I somehow manage to procure a new hard drive, will I be able to reinstall XP from my OEM CD? And will I be able to recover any of the data from the old HD (as in, are there any utilities that can read a bad hard drive)? The only things I'm really concerned about are my saved emails, and it would be nice to retrieve my Firefox data (as in saved passwords and all the bookmarks and scrapbook files I've collected over the years).

We really need a smiley for Sobbing Uncontrollably.

[glc]

Yes, you can reinstall XP with the Dell Reinstall CD, along with the drivers on the Dell Resource CD.

When this is done, you can reconnect the bad drive as a second drive, and there is a good chance you will be able to recover your data without having to use data recovery software.

Hard drives are cheap these days - brand new ones much bigger than that one start at about 35 bucks.

[StarStuff]

Originally Posted by glc Yes, you can reinstall XP with the Dell Reinstall CD, along with the drivers on the Dell Resource CD. When this is done, you can reconnect the bad drive as a second drive, and there is a good chance you will be able to recover your data without having to use data recovery software. Hard drives are cheap these days - brand new ones much bigger than that one start at about 35 bucks.

I've long wanted to get a larger hard drive but was too afraid of mucking everything up and not being able to use the computer at all. Well, now that's no longer an issue, is it? So I guess there's a silver lining to this dark cloud.

Thank you so much for your input. Do you have any advice regarding the brand/type of drive? Do I need a specific type to work with a Dell motherboard?

[glc]

Well, I'd recommend a SATA drive, but that may involve more expense because you would need a SATA data cable - and a power cable adapter if your power supply doesn't have a SATA power connector.

Cheap SATA drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136195

Cheap IDE drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136457

Most capacity for the buck, SATA:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136074

SATA data cable:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812123159

SATA power adapter:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812198010

Service manual for your computer:

http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...i/sm/index.htm

[StarStuff]

Originally Posted by glc Well, I'd recommend a SATA drive, but that may involve more expense because you would need a SATA data cable - and a power cable adapter if your power supply doesn't have a SATA power connector. Cheap SATA drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136195 Cheap IDE drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136457 Most capacity for the buck, SATA: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136074 SATA data cable: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812123159 SATA power adapter: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812198010 Service manual for your computer: http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...i/sm/index.htm

Wow, thanks so much for doing the "legwork" for me! I was searching Newegg for hard drives but couldn't figure out what I could or couldn't use in my Dell. I take it the hard drive doesn't have to be specially made for a Dell, the way the replacement power supply I bought last year was?

I'm not sure I understand the difference between an IDE drive and a SATA drive, but I take it the SATA drive is better/faster. I can't find anything in the documentation that says my Dell can use a SATA drive. Is this a possible issue, or does a SATA drive just require a few adapter cables? They're certainly cheap enough.

This is the power supply I have: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817703014
It apparently has 2 SATA cables.

I think I can manage a bit more, maybe $100 or so (an early Christmas present from my family, God bless them), and would like to get as much capacity as possible. I don't want to go through all this hassle for just a bit more space. I've already got a 300 GB external hard drive full to bursting. A 1 TB drive or larger would be wonderful. I see some different speeds too, and I'm wondering, is there any limit to what my old PC could handle when it comes to hard drive specs? I'm referring to the RPM and also cache sizes.

[glc]

Your motherboard has two SATA connectors - read the documentation I linked you to. Connectors J8G1 and J8G2.

You want a 1 TB drive?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136317

You might want to email Dell to confirm that the machine can handle it. I'm almost positive that it can. HOWEVER - if your XP CD doesn't have at least SP1, it will only see it as 128gb. There are ways around it that don't cost money.

[StarStuff]

Originally Posted by glc Your motherboard has two SATA connectors - read the documentation I linked you to. Connectors J8G1 and J8G2.

Oh, I was looking for something with SATA in it! I didn't realize ATA was the same thing. *duh*

So, if the power supply has two connectos and the motherboard has two connectos, I don't need any other cables, is that correct? And whatever the bad IDE drive connected to, doesn't have to have anything connected to it?

I'm also assuming that the two ATA connectors means I could at some point install a second SATA drive?

You want a 1 TB drive? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136317

I did see that one when I first started searching Newegg, but the SATA thing made me question whether I could use it (hence my questions about it). You keep steering me toward Western Digital products, is that because you personally like their reliablity and performance, or because they're more in my price range? Some of the reviewers are enthusing over Western Digital, so I just wondered what your take would be on that brand (or any other).

You might want to email Dell to confirm that the machine can handle it. I'm almost positive that it can. HOWEVER - if your XP CD doesn't have at least SP1, it will only see it as 128gb. There are ways around it that don't cost money.

My confidence in Dell tech support is about as low as it's possible to go. Emails to them in the past have invariably resulted in canned responses that bear little, if any, relation to my questions. Phone support is even worse. They've given me horrendously wrong advice in the past and don't even seem to know their own products.

As for the XP CD, it does have SP1a according to the label. I'm assuming that, once I'm back in business, that my first priority should to download and install Service Pack 3? Would I have to install SP2 first, or does SP3 handle whatever fixes were included in SP2?

I'm also assuming that the failure of my OEM XP CD to go into the Restore mode was because the hard drive was bad. I've read that some people's OEM CDs wouldn't do restores, but all the references to the Dell CDs said they worked.

I can't tell you how grateful I am for your advice. This has been a really lousy week, capped by losing the use of my computer, and being able to come here and get so much help, so quickly, has helped my frame of mind more than I can say.



**UPDATE**

I just got back from a conversation with Best Buy's Geek Squad guy, and he told me that from what I was describing (particularly the fact that the PC won't boot from the installation disc) that he suspects it's not a hard drive failure but a bad motherboard. He also said that the mobo might not be able to handle a new HD higher than 400 or so MB, but then he went online to Dell's parts center and they do sell the 1 and even 3 TB HDs for the 4600, and he said they wouldn't sell it if the 4600's mobo couldn't take it.

Surprisingly, the same Western Digital 1 TB drive Newegg is selling for $84.99 is available from Dell for $89.99. Of course, with Dell I'd have to pay tax and shipping, plus deal with Dell. But if I do need a new motherboard, I'm going to have to deal with them, anyway. It's starting to look like it's going to cost almost as much to repair this thing as it would be to buy a new system entirely, which is simply out of reach.

I'm very depressed.

[glc]

I don't think you have a bad motherboard, but it's possible. The diagnostics are telling you that the hard drive is bad. HOWEVER - the CD drive might be bad too. You have to take one thing at a time. Run diagnostics again, but this time run them ALL, not just drive diags.

Disconnect the hard drive and see if it will boot to your reinstallation CD. If it won't, clean the CD. You can also try to boot with the Resource CD - it's bootable.

Word to the wise - the Geek Squad doesn't know what they are talking about.

You are going to need a SATA data cable to use a SATA hard drive. I linked you to one at Newegg in a previous post. The drive has 2 cables - a data cable and a power cable. SATA = Serial ATA. IDE = PATA = Parallel ATA.

SP3 has all the SP2 fixes. No need to install SP2. However, FIRST priority is reinstall all the drivers. They are on the Resource CD.

You can disconnect the bad drive - and you should do it to install Windows on a new drive. THEN you can reconnect it to get your data. Again, 2 cables - a data cable (the big wide ribbon) and the power cable (standard 4 pin).

Western Digital drives seem to be the most reliable at this point in time.

[StarStuff]

GLC, you are a freakin' genius!

I did as you suggested and disconnected the HD from the motherboard, then started up from the CD. It worked this time, going right into the recovery option. Then I turned off the computer and unplugged it, plugged the HD back into the mobo and started it up again. It booted from the CD and once again gave me the recovery option, which I took just to see what would happen. It's now running a chkdsk operation on the HD. It's going very slowly but it is going.

I can't tell you how relieved I am that at least the motherboard isn't fried! And I'm also grateful for your assessment of the Geek Squad's skills, which would appear to be as you described. To give the guy his due, he was working just from my description of what was going on, but then again, so are you.

What do you think of his suggestion that the motherboard may not be able to handle a big (1 TB) HD? Do they take all that much more juice? The Western Digital Caviar Green HD you recommended has this description:

"This hard drive incorporates WD’s GreenPower technology, which yields lower operating temperatures and low acoustics, best for ultra-quiet PCs and external drives use. The IntelliPower delivers a fine-tuned balance of spin speed, transfer rate and caching algorithms; IntelliSeek Calculates optimum seek speeds; and IntelliPark automatically unloads the heads during idle. All the features help the drive to operation in lower power consumption and reduced noise environment."

So it would seem that if it consumes less power, it would be less of a drain on the motherboard. Or am I missing a point here? What I don't want to risk is burning out the mobo, obviously. Also, I have a 450W power supply, is that going to pose a problem?

Finally, it says it's a "bare drive." What does that mean? **EDIT** Nevermind, I was reading some of the reviews and some people referenced the term as meaning that it comes without cables, documentation or installation software of any kind. But, I thought I'd leave my stupid question here in case someone else having the same issues stumbles across this post.

Thanks once again!

[glc]

You will not have a power issue with *ANY* hard drive. The only issue I was referring to was a possible CAPACITY issue. Your power supply is considerably better than stock, NO problems unless you try to install a high end video card.

You realize that the recovery option may delete all your files, right?

Correct - a bare drive is a drive in a bag, no cables, hardware, or documentation. As I said, you will need a SATA data cable. The documentation from Dell I linked to will show you how to physically install the drive.

[StarStuff]

Originally Posted by glc You will not have a power issue with *ANY* hard drive. The only issue I was referring to was a possible CAPACITY issue. Your power supply is considerably better than stock, NO problems unless you try to install a high end video card.

Good to hear, thank you!

You realize that the recovery option may delete all your files, right?

Yeah, but almost everything is already backed up and/or I have the original program disks to reinstall. The only thing I'd really be concerned over would be my saved emails and Firefox bookmarks. But, not the end of the world.

The chkdsk program got to about 25% before it stopped and said there were unrecoverable problems, or something like that. Confirmed your diagnosis that the HD is kaput.

Here's what I'm thinking of doing. For the sake of time, I'm going to get the cheapest drive Best Buy has in stock just to get back up and running. In the meantime, I'm going to order a 1 TB HD from Newegg as you suggested. When it arrives, I'll install it as the secondary drive and basically just boot from the cheap HD, running programs and such from the 1 TB drive. That way if anything does go wrong I'll have a backup to go to rather than being stranded for days.

The reason I'm thinking of doing this is that I've read several reviews of several hard drives on Newegg, and many of them report that the drives either were DOA or went bad after a few weeks or months of use. Newegg was always great about returns and replacements, but even so, it all takes time that can stretch into weeks, especially if they're out of stock or you're past the return window and have to deal directly with the manufacturer. Everyone has praised Western Digital's customer service, but even so, you're still dealing with lost time. Not to mention the frustration level.

Let me ask something else. The WD Caviar Black is only about $25 more expensive and it's 7200 RPM, where the Caviar Green doesn't report any RPM figure. Many of the reviewers say that because of its energy-saving features it takes longer to respond, and should be used more for storage than actually running programs from it. I'd like to run programs as well as store content on my HD. Would you say I'd be okay with the Caviar Black? Would you say it would be worth the extra money, with the system I now have? I've run many programs including Sims 3 from my external HD over a USB cable and it's run pretty good, and that's about the most graphics-intensive game I run.

Again, thanks!

[glc]

Honestly? With a machine of that age, ANY hard drive would be plenty fast enough. I doubt you would see ANY speed difference between a Black and a Green. Heck, even a Blue will be fine. I would be VERY CAREFUL about buying a cheap drive from Best Buy.

Looks like Best Buy has both the 1 TB Black and 1 TB Green for 100 bucks. They also have SATA data cables, but they are 20 bucks. Can't you wait a few days for a Newegg shipment? The odds of you getting a damaged drive are very slim, I've ordered tons of OEM drives from them over the years and have yet to have a DOA.

[StarStuff]

Hi GLC, sorry I didn't reply sooner. I've been tied up getting back up and running.

I bought a 1 TB Seagate Barracuda SATA drive, 32 MB cache, 7200 RPM, at Best Buy for $80 (plus tax). It had the same specs as the WD Caviar Black from Newegg, so I figured, why not? Got it home, installed it, heard a horrible, annoying grinding noise coming out of it and my computer wouldn't recognize it. So, I hotfooted it back up to Best Buy and they tested it and found it was a bad drive. At least I could get another one the same day, not having to wait to RMA it and then get another one back in the mail. That was the main reason I decided not to go the Newegg route this time, but for a secondary drive it wouldn't matter so much.

The Best Buy geekette I wound up with told me that she didn't think XP would be able to handle a 1 TB drive anyway. She also said I might have a bad SATA connector and so recommended an IDE drive. I remembered your advice about Best Buy's Geek Squad's expertise, but to tell you the truth, by this time I was so frizzed out I would have taken another 40 GB Maxtor if it would just boot up and give me back my machine. I also read somewhere in my search for advice that older mobos might have trouble reading the new SATA drives that all are 3 MHz (I may be getting my terms mixed up) and you have to install a jumper or something that takes them back to 1.5...

Anyway, my eyes were crossing and my blood pressure was spiking, so I just said, "Give me the highest capacity IDE drive you have in stock that you think will work with the equipment I have and the OS I have." So she pointed me toward a WD Caviar Blue 7200 RPM 8 MB Cache 320 GB IDE drive for $70 (plus tax). Again, not much more than I'd pay at Newegg, though I was seriously disappointed at getting less than a third of the storage I thought I'd have, for only $10 less.

But, hurray! I got it home, didn't even have to fiddle with the little jumper doohickey, it was already in place. I popped it in, stuck the installation CD in the drive and the computer booted right up to the restore menu.

I've been spending the past two days sifting through all my software and reinstalling my programs. The good part about all this is that it's forced me to clear out a lot of crap that I didn't even remember I had, and in a lot of cases can't figure out what it's even supposed to do! I did think the computer would respond a lot faster without all the accumulated junk of six years, but it's not really appreciably faster. I guess I can't complain, I know how antiquated this PC is but for now, it's running and doing what I need it to do.

I understand there's a USB connector you can buy that hooks to your old hard drive and lets you read the data from it? What's the thing called? I don't want to have to pull out the new hard drive to install the bad one behind it, only to have to unhook everything again once I've retrieved what I want off the old drive. If it can be retrieved. The ribbon that connects the hard drive to the mobo has two HD connectors, I guess I could use that but the old drive is buck naked and the ribbon won't reach outside the computer. Also, I'd have to hook it to the power supply, but I'm going to have to do that anyway, aren't I, even with a USB connector? Gah!!! What a hassle!!!

Have you heard anything about the Spotmau Power Suite 2009? Supposedly, you can boot from it and it can read anything. Would it be worth the investment?

Big thanks for your help!

P.S. Said geekette also told me they would be happy to install the hardware for me for $50, and for $130 they would install all my system software for me and optimize everything, whatever that means. So I figure I saved $180, with your help.

Originally Posted by glc Honestly? With a machine of that age, ANY hard drive would be plenty fast enough. I doubt you would see ANY speed difference between a Black and a Green. Heck, even a Blue will be fine. I would be VERY CAREFUL about buying a cheap drive from Best Buy. Looks like Best Buy has both the 1 TB Black and 1 TB Green for 100 bucks. They also have SATA data cables, but they are 20 bucks. Can't you wait a few days for a Newegg shipment? The odds of you getting a damaged drive are very slim, I've ordered tons of OEM drives from them over the years and have yet to have a DOA.

[glc]

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=2020&cat=HDD

It comes with a power source, the only connection to the computer is through USB.

You shouldn't need any software to be able to read the old drive. If you do, there are free options. This one installs in Windows.

http://www.pcinspector.de/Sites/file...htm?language=1

[StarStuff]

Thanks so much for the info and the links!

I'm having a few other piddly issues which I won't bother you with on Thanksgiving. But I will ask about them in an appropriate thread, or start a new one, so keep on the lookout for me, won't you?

Originally Posted by glc http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=2020&cat=HDD It comes with a power source, the only connection to the computer is through USB. You shouldn't need any software to be able to read the old drive. If you do, there are free options. This one installs in Windows. http://www.pcinspector.de/Sites/file...htm?language=1