Any Windows XP users?

My friend is running Windows XP on her computer. It crashed and has an error code that basically says that it can't reboot due to an error.

I've searched that particular error code on the internet and the solution is to use the Windows XP Installation CD to boot and then type in a code to repair the corrupted code.

The problem is that she no longer has the Windows XP CD. Does anyone know if I am able to find another friend using XP who does have the CD can I borrow that to help my friend?

Or will it recognize that it's on a different computer and just stop.

Or another way to ask this question I suppose is...is there any way to fix a reboot issue when you have lost your original XP CD or are you just out of luck and have to get either another computer or another operating system?

hmm... I'm not 100 percent sure. But, I think when windows did all their genuine updates several years ago it will now recognize if the windows oem numbers do not match.

Did they get some sort of virus that corrupted some registry files or something? What's the error code?

Hopefully you can get it going.

As long as the disc is not a OEM repair disc you can use the windows recovery console to repair the problem computer (windows licensing is tied to the registration code or KEY not to the computer). If you can not find one,
You can go to a local shop and they can burn you a copy for a small fee. Lastly you could send me a blank DVD and I can burn you a copy. I have every version of Windows on disc since I repair computers. If you run into more problems you can head over to a site that I volunteer at www.bleepingcomputer.com (its totally free) or respond to this thread..

How to Use the windows xp recovery console

What's the error code?

Any advice given until we know what the specific error is is just plain old guessing.

The error code was:
unmountable_boot_volume

Her computer crashed and then she got that message.

We've tried F8 and all of the options there but eventually we get the same message.

It seems that we need the CD and then we change the Bios to boot from CD and then use the chkdsk/r command (or something like that).

Without the CD the specific really aren't important though.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

A quick question: Did this computer use AVG for its Anti-virus? If so, do you know if it uses a SIS ATA/SATA Controller?

A week ago AVG released a version of their definitions database that incorrectly detected the file sisperf.sys as a virus, and moved to to the vault. This caused the exact error you're now having. It can be repaired by using the AVG Rescue CD. Contact AVG for more help if you think this is the case.


Failing that, my advice would be to download the latest Hiren's Boot CD. You can find it at all of the reputable torrent sites. There is a website, but it's only available through torrents.

When you boot from that disk, you'll get a boot menu. Choose "Mini Windows XP" (it might be called something slightly different, but I'm sure you'll find it)

Once booted off the CD, you will be able to launch a command prompt.

Run "chkdsk c: /r" (without quotes, obviously)

If it doesn't boot normally after this has completed, you'll likely have a failed drive.

Unmountable boot volume means the BIOS, the hardware on the motherboard, was doing its usual startup routine, and everything on the board checked out, so it went to the section of the hard drive that has all the Windows file system info, the boot volume, and it wasn't readable.

This means some data on your hard drive has become corrupted - maybe just the tiny little section where the boot volume is, or maybe something worse, all the way out to a hard drive that's pretty much fried. As mentioned above, get the system disk and see if it can rebuild the boot volume, as long as the hard drive is still somewhat functional, it should be able to do it. Either way, your hard drive is losing data; if it's old, it's time to replace.

You can use someone else's CD as long as it is the same version of XP. So if you are repairing an XP Professional computer, you must use an XP Professional CD.

The best way to fix it is to boot to the XP CD and when it comes up to the screen if you want to install XP by pressing Enter or if you want to go to the repair console by pressing R, press R for the console.

When in the console (after pressing 1 to choose your Windows directory) type fixboot. Then type exit to reboot. If fixboot doesn't work, do the same thing and type fixmbr.

Good call Lumenz, But I'd be trying a chkdsk before messing with fixboot. The system is booting, it's just unable to load the controller drivers.

If there were an issue with the boot sector or MBR, you wouldn't be getting a bluescreen, you'd be getting "no bootable disks" or whatever your bios says when it's saying there's no HDD.

Try reading up on this: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ very helpful when I had to reset my MBR to go back to windows.

If all else fails, you can remove the hard drive from her computer and install it as a secondary drive on another computer running 2000/XP/Vista/Windows7. The first thing you should do at that point is backup any critical data.

If it's a problem with the disk controller drivers (SATA or AHCI), going into the BIOS and setting the disk controller mode to "Legacy IDE" or "ATA" (from SATA/AHCI or similar) may allow Windows to boot using slower 'compatibility mode' drivers. Then you may be able to reinstall the chipset drivers and reset to the high-speed mode afterwards.

mvyrmnd is correct-- Unmountable boot volume is a Windows STOP message, therefore the machine would have had access to the HD. It's just when the control of the 'system volume' portion of startup is handed over to the 'boot volume' (which requires the ability to communicate with the disk with the "higher level" drivers), those drivers fail to communicate.

Several off-topic posts have been removed.
Please keep in mind the OP's question about a Windows XP issue.

2 things to check.
go into the advanced section of the bios and turn smart monitoring on.if its a drive failure it will warn you on the next start attempt.
the other thing i see often is a malware attack.have to update your antispyware/antimalware/antivirus tools on another machine,move the drive to that machine,and scan it.remove anything found and try it .

If it's malware and damaged a critical system file to the point the drive won't mount then scanning with an AV program likely is a waste of time. I highly doubt it's the problem though.

Friendly reminder to any remaining Windows XP users, your operating system will be out of service next week; that means no more Microsoft support, and no more updates (so any bugs or security vulnerabilities from here on out will not be fixed.)

StarHalo said:

Friendly reminder to any remaining Windows XP users, your operating system will be out of service next week; that means no more Microsoft support, and no more updates (so any bugs or security vulnerabilities from here on out will not be fixed.)

Click to expand...

Indeed. There are rumors of a few Zero-Day exploits waiting for End of Support to be released to the wild. If you are using XP, you are in grave danger.

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+

If you don't upgrade, you'll have a tax penalty for 2014 returns.



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