Lalo

Well, we had a blackout yesterday, and the computer was on at the time.
Now it doesnt want to work!
When you turn on the computer, it goes straight to the selection screen where you choose , safe mode, normal mode, etc.
When you pick any of the modes it goes to a blue screen that says:

"unmountable_boot_volume"

0x000000ED (0X86387820, 0XC0000006, 0X00000000, 0X00000000)

and that I have to restart the computer on safe mode, but I've tried and the same screen pops up!

What can I do?

G.T

sounds like your hard drive may have developed some errors which i hope are recoverable.

at the moment your best bet is to scan the disk using the Windows Recovery Console.

assuming this is XP, boot the computer with the XP installation CD in the drive, and on Welcome screen, press R to get to the recovery console.

once in the console command prompt (C:\Windows>) type fixmbr and hit enter.
you might get a few prompts to which the answer is yes (in most cases)
once done.. run fixboot ..
and finally run chkdsk /r to perform a full disk scan.

there's a good chance this will get you back up and running, but there's also a chance the damage is a bit more than we're all hoping for.

let's see how far this goes, before worrying about that for now.

good luck

Lalo

Let's say that we purchased the computer but didnt receive the installation disk (didnt think of asking for it because we didnt know)...
than am I royally screwed?

GottaHaveIt

if its a say legal operating windows you should be able to get a reinstall download from micro soft ? Nat has that every now and then and the F1 key seems to let ot boot up and then maybe do a system resore to an earlier date that you know was a good time ?

neil07gt

It's a problem that can sometimes occur with IDE drives and the way they cache data and sometimes write it to disk out of order. If a power outage occurs during this critical moment, it will corrupt the files that you need for booting. Do as "G.T" (Louie) said in the post above (chkdsk /r). It should be able to repair crucial files so that you will be able to boot again. If you don't have the install CD for XP, borrow one from a friend, or download one. When you get it fixed, put that machine on a battery UPS, to prevent it from happening again.

Lalo

Alright... thanks guys! Gonna have to download it from Microsoft

GottaHaveIt

should not be a problem they will see if that copy has been dooped or not and if it ever was tellthem where you bought it.

Lalo

Oh no no, we bought it legit... We got it from Circuit City, and it was open box, so we got a great deal, but we didnt get the disc which we didnt know we were supposed to receive

scottie1113

Lalo, do you use a surge protector? Mine has saved me many times even when a nearby lightning strike fried my TV with VCR. Shame about the movie I was watching though.

Next time you buy I PC I'd recommend Dell. Great support 24 hours a day.

Lalo

Don't have a surge protector
we live in sunny southern california, we don't get that kind of stuff


I'll look for one... how much do they run for?

Knight

depends the quality....start at $10 go up to like $50 for nice ones. But it will protect from any surges in the lines. very good to have.

and if you do buy a computer in the future, pm me and i'll hook you up.

Lalo

Thanks a lot Chris!!
I'll make sure to contact you

Lalo

Thanks a lot guys!
I was able to get my hands on an installation disc, and was able to run it.
It's as if nothing had happened