The girlfriends computer has the following problem. Upon start up gets to the windows xp logo, then gets a BSOD with the message 'UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME' This drive has a lot of important work/photos that she really can't loose. I've tried safe mode/last known goodconfig etc, from the F8 screen, but still the same result. I know its probably an 'OH POO' hard drive moment, but would like to know if its possible to recover. If i cant do it myself then would professional data recovery be an option (Ouch that could be expensive!). Any help would be appreciated.
The easiest way would be to get it out and put it in to another machine, thats way you can access all the things you need ,just remember not to try and boot from it. But before you try this have a little read up on this page http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/2605/fixing_the_dreaded_unmountable_boot_volume_error/
+1 on this ^. Once you have it connected to another machine you should be able to access it to copy anything you want.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/297185 they recommend a repair.. I wouldn't do the chkdsk myself- it tends to go crazy if the file system isn't right and you end up with a bunch of useless files.. makes a mess the easiest way to recover the files with the least amount of damage.. plug that boot drive in as a secondary on another machine- copy the files you need over onto that rig I could recover all of that externally here.. there's software like GetDataBack for NTFS you could run on it too if you have problems.. other option is a live cd and copy the data to a usb stick but seeing your data is corrupted from something in that rig, it's probably better to try and get it all from another machine the thing with microsofts solution is.. if it's a hardware error- you might do more damage than good oops bulldog beat me to it =p
Leave the HDD in the original machine > use hirens to recover data > reinstall OS at least that's what I would do.. hope this helps
done the MS fix on this exact problem and it has never fixed it once. looks like a corrupt bootsector in which case its probly a faulty/dying HDD. remove the drive and put it into a another machine for the best way to get the data off. ooo additionally if its an XP machine you may need to boot into safe mode and change the permissions on the documents and settings from the old drive otherwise you wont see crap.
Like the others say, disconnect it from the laptop and access it via another computer. Get the files from the laptop immediately and in order of importance; i.e., don't start with stuff you can easily re-download. Then, consider making her write "I will maintain a proper backup regime" on a blackboard five hundred times. Professional data recovery is an option. When we had a RAID0 config installed by Dell (without my parents ever realizing it) which detonated after about 18 months, and wished to recover work that had been done after the last backup, we had them recovered. It cost something like £700 and all we got back was my brother's porn collection; it's not a guarantee you're going to see her work again.
Had a strange experience with this. Put the drive into my computer( Win7 64bit) to transfer the data. On startup it automatically ran checkdisk on the drive, and repaired it Put it back in her computer, everything is fine, she is well impressed with my repair skills (Not gonna tell her what really happened). The outcome is no broken computer, no lost data and a very greatful girlfriend, if you know what i mean. Thanks to everyone who gave advice on this one.
Or you could always use Spinrite - http://www.grc.com/spinrite.htm It has fixed so many disks that have boot errors I consider it a must have piece of software!!
Make a weekly USB memory pen backup of the stuff she can't afford to lose! Or burn it off to a DVD so there's at least a partial backup of it! Also, you may want to look at replacing the hard drive, as it could be on the way out. Definitely do a backup now just in case!!
just cause it fixed itself does not mean you dont have a problem with the drive. run seatools on it and see if it kicks up some errors if it does you really shoudl change the HDD
its actually a good thing that it failed and you recovered it, now she will realise how close she came to losing everything, make sure she has a decent backup solution, or for hr next bday buy her an external hardrive to use (no more worrying about what to get her)
i wouldn't say never if it was only a system drive and didnt store anything important on there would be no problem in re-using it
For future reference, an Ubuntu live CD is really useful for extracting data from a half dead HDD, especially if you don't have another computer to hand. All you need is the machine in question, the live CD and something to transfer files onto. It's also good for people who don't have the know-how to take a drive out and install it in another machine, if you can't assist them directly.
