Fixing the dreaded “Unmountable Boot Volume” error

Contributed by tipmonkies

Tagged: Windows installation

One unfortunately common problem is data corruption on a hard drive and the dreaded “Unmountable Boot Volume” error. Many people feel they are forced to format the drive and start from scratch in this situation. However, frequently there is a better way of save your installation, as long as you have the installation media available. Directions for both XP and Windows 7 included.

If you receive the “unmountable boot volume” error and have an installation disk, you still have a chance to save your system.

This error is frequently caused by unfortunate wear and tear corruption of the data on the hard drive. By using the following utilities, you often can repair the damaged hard drive and prevent a complete reinstallation of your system.

XP Directions:

1. Insert your XP installation disc into an optical drive and boot up your computer.
2. When you see a welcome screen, hit the R key on your keyboard. This will enter you into recovery mode with a DOS prompt.
3. Now type chkdsk /p and hit Enter. This will launch a utility which will check for errors on your hard drive.
4. After the process is done, type fixboot and hit Enter to repair any damaged boot files which may have become corrupted. When asked to say yes or no, type the Y key on your keyboard.
5. Type exit and press the Enter key to reboot your computer.

Windows 7 Directions:

1. Boot from the Windows 7 DVD.
2. Select Repair my computer.
3. Select Command Prompt
4. From the command prompt enter the following command: Chkdsk /R C: where “C” is your boot drive.
5. Answer Y to check the disk the next time that the system restarts.
6. Reboot the system. After the reboot, Windows will check the hard disk and try to repair the damaged area.
7. If you still get the error after this process, repeat the process but try rebuilding the master boot record at the command prompt with the following command: bootrec /fixboot and then rebooting

If your system can be saved, you should now be able to boot back into Windows without a problem!

236 Comments -

Paul said on October 16, 2008

That fixed it!! Wonderful!! Thank you!!!
Ashley said on October 27, 2008

Okay. My laptop keeps saying this, so I followed these instructions, to which I got the response, 25% unrecoverable…blah blah blah. When I entered the fixboot command, it says ‘the target partition is C: Are you sure you want to write a new bootsector to the partition C:?’ then it says it cannot open the partition. Any ideas?
davak said on October 27, 2008

Sorry, Ashley. It sounds like the hard drive is toast.
Sebastian said on October 27, 2008

Thanks – it worked and saved me for a lot of trouble!
anon said on November 3, 2008

Thanks,

The BSOD itself was a little hard to see, it flashed up so fast that I had to capture what it said with a camera.

Anyway, thanks, I though my computer was done for until i read this
Rob said on November 5, 2008

This process worked exactly as documented. The chkdsk took a while (20 minutes or so) but the reboot ect was flawless.

Thanks!!!

BTW, first thing I did when I re-booted???? yep, backed up my Quciken files and address lists….
Sue said on November 5, 2008

I can’t get into recovery mode. Just keeps going back to that damn blue screen. Any other ideas?
Anonymous said on November 7, 2008

I’ve got this exact problem, but there is one small problem that’s keeping me from saving the files on my computer. My computer (Sony Vaio desktop) didn’t come with a windows xp cd-rom. Is it possible to use anyone else’s windows xp installation cd to fix my computer?

Thanks
danitz said on November 8, 2008

On your bios change the firstt boot to your disk drive
tom said on November 11, 2008

i get to the chkdsk /p part and it gets to 75%
and stays there
Juan said on November 11, 2008

i do everything perfect exept after i press “r”… i go to a black screen and it says: Which

1:F:minint

Windows installation would you like to log onto
(To cancel, press ENTER)?

and it only lets me press one letter… so i cant type chkdsk /p….

what do i do??
James said on November 14, 2008

I followed the above directions. But, I still got an “unmountable boot volume message on my laptop. What do I do next?
ME said on November 15, 2008

THANK YOU!!!!!
:):) :)
xyz said on November 19, 2008

press 1
James Resti said on November 25, 2008

I did exactly what you recommended and I was able to get the machine to boot up. Unfortunately I did not know enough to stop the process and I apparently repartitioned the hard drive, losing (I think, a lot of files and programs.

I could reload the programs and do a file recovery, but I seem to be locked in a viciaous cycle. The windows icon at the bottom of the screen says that the version of windows is no longer secure, suggesting that I download service pack 2 or 3. When I try to do that (through automatic update) nothing happens. When i tried to manually download service pack 3, I couldn’t because I need Internet Explorer 7.0, which I can’t get because I don’t have SP 2.

I went to control panel and found many of the programs that I thought I lost (including SP 2) but they are not on the desktop or program list and I don’t know how to update them. I bought Search & Recover but I can’t use it because you need IE 6.0 or higher, which I can’t get – HELP
J said on November 26, 2008

I everything you said and everything seemed ok until “fixboot”.
When I typed it, it said, “Are you sure you want to write a new bootsector to the partition C:?”
Do I enter “Y” or “N”?
THANKSSSS said on November 29, 2008

OMG THANKS tipmonkies!!! :):) IT WORKED :)

wow unbelievable for computer noobs like me haha. I thought it was all over when my laptop crashed onto the floor (sry for the pun) and the blue screen appeared – scary and chilling moments.

Hey J (the poster above me) enter Y. but i’m sure u must have done it anyway :)
Jim said on December 5, 2008

Worked like a charm! Thank you so much.
webreviewer said on December 5, 2008

Perfectly worked fine! Thanks for the posting.
Only Me said on December 5, 2008

This worked for me but, I had to get to recovery mode with DOS prompt differently….
My computer kept automatically rebooting, like a broken record, causing me to not be able to access the welcome screen. Even to disable automatic reboot did not help. So…
I pressed F2, and went into the setup. From the first section I used the “arrow down” to BOOT SEQUENCE…hit enter… then highlight Internal HDD…enter and follow prompts.. this took me to recovery mode.. and from there I followed the above directions and was able to repair my boot drive using my XP Installation disk….
It was scary, and I have no training at all…
But it worked. And I hope it works for someone else!
Good Luck
Deb said on December 6, 2008

Thanks this worked for me :)

If anyone is trying to do this on a Dell laptop – I had to press F12 twice really quickly immediately on start up to get to the “boot from disk” option menu. Once you’ve pressed that option it works as above.

Thanks again
Shotaro said on December 7, 2008

thanks XD all worked well
Shotaro said on December 7, 2008

enter Y
Neil said on December 8, 2008

worked well thanks!
JOHN said on December 8, 2008

When I try to boot up with the XP CD in the DVD drive, I never get to the ‘Welcome’ screen. I just see the DELL screen and then the screen informing me of a problem and the choices of using the last configuration that worked, boot normally, safe mode, etc. Choosing any of them gets the blue screen with the UBV error message. How do I get into the system to run chkdsk, etc.

Thanks,
John
Mike said on December 12, 2008

If you get into Windows Repair and it won’t recognize the C: drive, forget the Windows XP Repair disk.

I’ve fixed this error several times using Seagate SeaTools for Dos, available from the SeaGate website. Run the short test, if it fixes at least one error, restart the machine. If the short test doesnt pick up the error, run the long test to completion and restart. Voila.
i need help said on December 21, 2008

I have dell with windows 2006
First i hit 12
Than i did boot from disk and hit enter
It loads a blue screen with a gray bar that says setup is load files ( with some stuff like host adapter and stuff
than is stays setup is starting windows
i get welcome to setup
i hit R
than i get
WIndows XP professional setup
======================

Examining 238418 Md Disk 0 at id 0 bus 0 on iastor…

Nothing happens from this point what am i doing wrong there is no administrator pass word.
Br. said on December 24, 2008

Thank you soo much !
My pc got this error now in christmas and this saved me :D
Fred said on December 24, 2008

thank you so much it worked. only addition to directions is to type “Y” when asked if c is the partition for fixboot. thank you thank you!!!!
Marion J. Stearns said on December 26, 2008

volume in this case mens that the “Volume with bars underneath” looks just like what you see on the television screen when you are turning up or down the volume. This sits onthe bottom of my laptop screen all the time, how do I get rid ofit?
Parkit said on December 28, 2008

Worked like a charm. Thank you.
Gerri said on December 30, 2008

If I own a Dell and install the disc will all stored data be lost, along with files?
Erika said on December 30, 2008

Thank you – this website saved my dell …I kept getting the blue screen – would not re-boot from cd-rom, to get into the recovery console. So with this site’s suggestions, I pressed f2, found how to disable the hard drive, to get the machine to boot from the cd-rom, and used the chkdsk /p command. I saw something that said the chkdsk /r command would erase data. After re-booting I re-enabled the hard drive and reset the order to what it was, and then re-booted again without the disk in the cd-rom, and everything looks great. Thanks again. One question: what are the implications of using the /p command instead of the /r command? What have I messed up or not fixed properly?
James said on January 1, 2009

thx soooo much omg omg omg omg omg this is the BEST, i love this fking site!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ShogunMMA said on January 2, 2009

Man thank god for this fix! Whew.. just got that unmountable boot error. Did exactly as said in this article and it worked like a charm!

Thank you!!
chad said on January 2, 2009

wow. absolutely perfect. thank you so much. 5-stars across the board.
Maaz said on January 3, 2009

Press F5 on bootup and select disable automatic restart, when it crashes, it will stay on the bluescreen until you manually restart.
anna said on January 3, 2009

thankyou soooooooooooooooooooo much!!!!!! worked absolutely perfectly. you are an absolute LIFESAVER
Amanda said on January 3, 2009

I can’t find my XP installation CD, but have Vista from my other computer, will this screw everything up if I use my Vista CD? I think so, but i’m out of options at this point. My other computer does not have a floppy drive in order to download the boot disks since I don’t have the XP CD. I’m assuming my HD is done since i’ve had a ton of other problems, all I want to do is to be able to boot up so I can dump all my info off the hard drive before I install a new one.

THANKS!
ZK said on January 4, 2009

Great advice tipmonkies
Norbs said on January 5, 2009

thanks for the tips guys, worked for me. i did have to follow the advice of a previous poster – hit F2 immediately upon startup to get to a menu where i could arrow down to “boot sequence”… had to adjust this so that “boot from CD/DVD etc” is first on the list. from there the steps listed above worked as billed. success!
Ace said on January 5, 2009

Thanks, That worked great!
jon said on January 5, 2009

thankyou so much!! quick and easy and too the point.
Zonda said on January 5, 2009

I tried this but without success then found this text on another site.

If for some reason that don’t work for you, you can boot to the recovery console like above and…
Type “chkdsk /r” then enter
When done type “exit” and hit enter.
This will take longer, but the system should boot back into Windows.

And it did!!
So thanks to this site and another I now have my Dell desktop back. Hurrah!
mark said on January 6, 2009

had no other pc/laptop, so had to use my PSP to browse the internet. after waiting a decade for pages to i came across this page and it has saved me heaps of trouble. excellent Advice, really helpful… thankyou.
rob said on January 7, 2009

Great job. It worked
jjonajameson said on January 12, 2009

Thank you a kazillion!! I thought I was screwed until I followed the steps on your website. I have a Toshiba laptop and like one of the contributors, had to press F2 really quickly to get the process startedl. thaks again. Your website was a huge help to me!! :)
Stayce said on January 12, 2009

I got the same thing. Anyone know what to do now?
jeff said on January 18, 2009

thanks a lot… this worked perfectly
Colin said on January 19, 2009

Thank you,Thank you, Thank you, GREAT POSTING………….I owe you one.

C2ent69
Nicholas said on January 20, 2009

I have dell with windows xp
First i hit 12
Than i did boot from disk and hit enter
It loads a blue screen with a gray bar that says setup is load files ( with some stuff like host adapter and stuff
than is stays setup is starting windows
i get welcome to setup
i hit R
than i get
WIndows XP professional setup
======================

Examining 152587 Md Disk 0 at id 0 bus 0 on iastor…

Nothing happens from this point what am i doing wrong there is no administrator pass word.
steve said on January 21, 2009

worked cheers
Joeblow said on January 21, 2009

Will a windows xp pro disk work if I have xp home on the computer
Benjamin said on January 21, 2009

I’m not a tech person, and I’m also not trying to promote Linux or anything. I got the unmountable boot volume error about 10 days ago. I did NOT have a CD or anything to reboot it. I kept calling around, asking friends if they had XP home, and I got tired of waiting. So I downloaded Ubuntu, the Linux operating system. I burned it on a CD, then booted my laptop from the CD and installed it. It asked me if I wanted a dual boot system, and I said yes. It allowed me to select the amount of hard disk space to partition for the new operating system, all the while keeping Windows XP as well. I only let Ubuntu take up 5gigs, and let it install itself. Well, I was happy, because I was back on the internet! Ubuntu seemed to work fine, even used it’s own software to locate my wireless router (I was worried about getting that to work). Anyway, long story short, now my laptop asks me if I want to boot Ubuntu or XP. So, this morning I went ahead and selected XP to show my friend what the error code was, and XP booted right up!! So, I’m sure a lot of you will slam what I just said, but for those without a CD who need to get back online, it might be worth a try. Now I have a backup operating system ready to go whenever XP crashes again, if I don’t end up using it regularly. P.S., the Ubuntu operating system comes complete with Open Office, which let me view powerpoints and look at my Word documents. I’m not sure yet if I can actually create a new Word document or anything though.
sheree said on January 22, 2009

thankyou thankyou thankyou. it didnt work first go, but i tried it again and worked fine. you saved my life!!
poul said on January 25, 2009

You just saved my day!!!! Thanks a lot
LD said on January 25, 2009

hello,

i followed the steps above, but when i type chkdsk /p or chkdsk /r or even just chkdsk, my laptop doesnt understand the command, I have tried others too as per some other threads I have seen, but nothing works and I am at my wits end, has anyone got any other suggestions?

many thanks
Keith said on January 27, 2009

brilliant!!!!!! it worked a treat
Espio said on January 29, 2009

i presume you are running windows and not linux or mac?

if you are running windows, then its something i havent had before, maybe a format c: helps?
anonymous said on January 29, 2009

Hi. I am using an Acer TravelMate 2300 with XP. Just got the unmountable boot volume screen, but no matter what I do I cannot stop the comp from rebooting itself the instant the blue screen appears. Also, the XP system came already installed, so there is no disc, though I can borrow one from someone else. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
edward said on January 29, 2009

replace your hard disk,the boot sector is corrupted.
Murat Kaya said on February 5, 2009

thanks, it works…
rhia said on February 8, 2009

oh my gosh thanks so much it worked fine!
Andy said on February 11, 2009

done all the above and still does not work. Help please!!

Andy
Tim said on February 12, 2009

Wow it worked, thank you so much. That fixboot part is the most important thing to do. Time for me to backup my files then i can format this thing…
Skatu said on February 19, 2009

Hello,

I recently got the ““unmountable boot volume” on my Toshiba Satellite A100.I tried to download a windows XP OS from a site online. It download and i burnt it off on a cd.I tried to run it on the laptop and changed the boot sequence to boot from CD-ROM but it wouldn’t boot.It kept going back to blue screen.It doesnt even boot from safe mode.I dont know what to do.Please help me.Do i have to get the original XP CD to fix it or use an Original Vista CD?Please help me ….

Thanks
Abbs said on February 23, 2009

Thanks for the info!!! But wouldn’t this cause you to lose all the saved files on your hard drive? Or not?
melfin said on February 26, 2009

thank you a lot!!!
gadgetman37 said on February 26, 2009

There is a typo in this article. chkdsk has no such parameter as /p. It should be /r as onfirmed on the Microsoft site. For a full list of parameters type chkdsk /?
elistuy said on February 27, 2009

Thank You

Worked PERFECTLY!!!
rjp said on February 27, 2009

I tried this fix and chkdsk /p resulted in: “the volume appears to have one or more unrecoverable problems”. So I ran fixboot , it created a new bootsector. I typed exit and rebooting brought up the screen to start in safe mode. I tried that and got the orginal Unmountable Boot Volume. Any more suggestions?
rjp said on February 27, 2009

Also, its appears the be the 0xc000009c error code version. This appears to be caused by a UDMA hard disk controller but I cannot seem to this explicitly stated anywhere. How do check if I have this UDMA thing?
annie said on February 28, 2009

Thanks, very useful post! I’m still shopping for a new computer but at least now I can back things up.
Jon said on February 28, 2009

regardless of the typo this here’s a life saver. thanks!
Dgourd said on March 1, 2009

Before you buy a knew hard drive, try doing a clean install. Before you install though format the hard drive with the installation cd. You will lose all your data, but it beats getting a knew hard drive or not using your laptop at all.
nanaof4 said on March 4, 2009

at chkdsk /p after 27% it says volume appears to contain 1 or more unrecoverable problems…….this is a dell inspirion 5100……….any ideas?
Andrew Ahrendt said on March 4, 2009

Thank You SOOOOOOO Much For This!!!!!!!!!!
Sahil said on March 6, 2009

Worked perfectly and when i was all rejoicing i get “IRQL not less or equal” blue screen error upn startup.
Someone help!
J said on March 8, 2009

Thanks tipmonkies! It worked!!!!!!
lgcc said on March 10, 2009

thank you very much. I have learnt a big lesson and have backed up all files from the hard drive.
Alex said on March 12, 2009

Okay, originally my computer just booted up in an infinite loop (got to the loading screen, then went back to the beginning), but a different help guide online told me to disable automatic restarts on errors and I did, now I get this.

The problem is, I don’t have an XP installation disk. Does anyone know what I can do to fix this without an installation disk?
Jesus E. Medina said on March 19, 2009

Really really! Thank you. The problem is fixed!
ritrits said on March 24, 2009

What can one do if the CD-ROM don’t detect the CD and have stoped functioning
James said on March 26, 2009

Thank you so much!! It worked! Flawlessly. I was so scared I had lost all of my information since I didn’t do any backup beforehand. The comments left by others were especially helpful! I’ll describe my experience below so that it may help you.
I have a Dell laptop inspiron 700m, working fine until it gave me the blue screen with the unmountable boot volume. I didn’t have any “Windows XP CD-ROM” but I did have a “Dell Laptop Windows Operating System CD” which I created for backup years ago (Thank God!). I inserted the CD, right on the startup screen I pressed F12. It then says “boot menu”. Choose the IDE CD-ROM and not the IDE HDD, because you want to reboot from the CD, not the hard drive, since your hard drive is in trouble. Then it takes me to the Welcome Screen (be patient!) and then I followed the exact directions as above, and it worked fine. One thing to remember is not to type in any command until you see the “C:/>” prompt. And the “chkdsk /p” has a SPACE in it. Good luck y’all! I’m hella happy my computer is back.
hopeless23 said on March 30, 2009

I have a Dell Laptop. I was able to get into setup to disable the interal hdd as someone else mentioned. I then hit boot from cd. It stated that it loaded files. Did I overwrite my other files? Are my pictures that were stored on my harddrive gone forever?
SDC said on April 1, 2009

It worked for me on the 2nd time! I had to do both the chkdsk /p and the chkdsk /r before I saw any improvement but it worked! Thank you!!!
b said on April 2, 2009

ok this is it on a normal xp pc clcik del to enetr setup on startup inster our disc into the cd/dvd drive and click advanced bios settings. next turn whichever boot device which is hard drive to cd/dvd drivr and follow on thru
Kareema said on April 9, 2009

Thank you very much for the advice.. I tried it and it works wonderfully.
Gautam said on April 10, 2009

I went into the BIOS and changed the First Boot priority to CD ROM but the screen says Booting from ATAPI CD ROM … and then the blue screen error(Unmountable Boot Volume) appears again. What could be the reason. Should i attach my hard disk as a slave to another machine and then format my drive and install Windows XP again?
Paul said on April 10, 2009

Hi Benjamin,

did you manage to recover all your files with Unbutu?

Paul
Paul said on April 10, 2009

Did not work first time, but after two tries took PC apart, wiggled all conections etc, then tried procedure again (with /r) and then it worked! Bril!! Doing full backups now and going to PC world to buy a new hard drive, they are only £60,- The old one can become a slave drive.

Thanks for the extremely helpful tips and all the comments!

Paul
Lori said on April 13, 2009

Thanks for making note of the SPACE in “chkdsk /p”…I missed that and couldn’t figure out why this wasn’t working for me.
After I read your post, I went back and it worked PERFECT!
Lori said on April 13, 2009

Works PERFECT!!
Paul said on April 17, 2009

You are the best, my wife and i thought that we would have to but a new computer. this worked great the first time.
Anon said on April 17, 2009

Thanks! I can’t believe it, but this worked perfectly. So much for buying a new PC….
Lin said on April 26, 2009

I use this fixed my computer problem. Thank you very much!
scott said on April 27, 2009

I also have done all of the steps but when I get to the selecting the R for repair, it locks up at
WIndows XP professional setup
======================

238418 Disk 0 at Id 0 on bus 0 on iastor…

it has also gone past this to the next page but I don’t get a prompt to type in chkdsk or fixboot. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!
uzo said on April 29, 2009

thanks very much for your advice. it worked. there is a little error,
when your are in DOS prompt type chkdsk (chkdsk/p is wrong), other steps are correct.
Ross said on April 30, 2009

worked for me…thanks!
K73 said on May 4, 2009

Does it have to be an XP install disk you originally used or can you use any one else’s XP disk?
George said on May 5, 2009

omg. thank you sooo much. it got it to work again!
NickBoy98 said on May 13, 2009

u are the best now my computer is a liitle laggy but working
Ash said on May 17, 2009

At last, the solution to the dreaded error that I am experiencing. However, does anyone know if I follow these steps then will it let me into Windows normally and keep all my files or will it wipe them off as part of this process?
fixed! said on May 29, 2009

Thank you! I have used this fix on three occasions so far!
Spaz said on June 7, 2009

Your a supastar. Fixed it first time. Many many thanx.
Desperate said on June 10, 2009

Hi i am having the same issue, i get a blue screen that says “unmountable boot volume” and i have two cd’s for windows reformat, but one of them does not let me get past the “press any key to boot from cd”, i pressed every key i could..but it wont load. Second cd brings me strat to ms dos..where ur chkdsk /p command did not work..

Please please please help..i dont even see the welcome screen.thank you.
pris said on June 18, 2009

This was very helpful. Once I was able to make a working bootable disk from the SeaTools ISO (I used the ISORecorder app from alexfeinman.com), I was able to boot the laptop with the unmountable boot volume error to SeaTools disk. It’s found one error so far on the long test, and I am hoping it’s able to fix my problem!
tamsin said on July 5, 2009

please help!!!! i got the dreaded unmountable boot volume message..tried all 5 methods to boot.. safe mode..etc and none of these worked it just kept going back to same message..then whilst trying to boot i pressed f10 for recovery mode and something called pc angel popped up i followed the onscreen instructions and it worked!!! my pc is now as good as new ( i even had to go through the start up like when i first got my laptop) all files and folders have been deleted,and my laptop is faster than ever..great! but pc angel has deleted all my photos (about 1000) and im gutted i can never get these photos back..please any ideas how to retrieve my photos????
TIFFANY said on July 22, 2009

ok i did this but must have done something wrong it ended up installing windows again and now i have lost everything on computer … including drivers and i cant get on internet to have the reinstalled … i have called dell and they told me which drivers i needed but when i installed them they sd they do not work ….GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR i need some serious help . I am so confused and cant not wait to have this sent back to dell for them to fix …any suggestions?
Name said on July 23, 2009

I have the same problem can I please borrow that cd rom
Anonymous said on July 25, 2009

Hi I’ve tried this, and other things, but it doesn’t work. I can’t even get to the DOS prompt. Recovery console doesn’t work and it won’t even let me reformat. I’ve got some really important stuff on the laptop and, very stupidly, have lost the USB drive I backed it up to. Is there anything else I can do?
PCTechGuy said on July 31, 2009

If you are at all famliar with burning images to a disc, then do a google search for Hiren’s Boot CD. Download that and burn the image to a cd. When you load the cd back in (after burning it) look for a program call Get Data Back NTFS. That program recovers data pretty good. Just follow the on screen options.
Stephen said on August 2, 2009

Dude, your tip saved me from unnecessary PC repair costs. Many thanks.

– XP user
Anonymous said on August 3, 2009

I got an ‘Unmountable Boot Volume’ blue screen error on my Gateway 700s, running Windows XP Home. I followed the instructions to run “chkdsk /p’ in Recovery mode and as well, ran ‘fixboot’. This worked for a few hours, then same failure. I then ran “chkdsk /r” and the fixboot again. The messages tell me that the boot sector was corrupted but that a new boot.ini was created. I tried to start up and (still in dos) was told I had a bad hard drive and to consult my ‘troubleshooting guide” – HA.

I selected start from ‘Last known good configuration’ and the machine is up and running…

Here is my question: do I now assume that everything is ‘OK’ or do I (while it is up & running): 1) save all data, do a clean install on the HD and put all the data back? 2) get a new HD and install it & move all data off the old one as it is going to implode again any day now, or 3) run some other repair software/command and try to segregate away the bad sector that is causing my problems.

I am afraid to assume this is fixed and can’t find any advice/solutions that go beyond the ‘chkdsk /p(r)’ and ‘fixboot commands, and am worried my problem is deeper than that simple fix.

Please help – - thnx in advance!
Anonymous said on August 4, 2009

I think you have been super lucky. If I were you, I would be running out and buying an external harddrive and backing up everything tonight. This may be your small window of oppertunity to save everything. Once you have your backup safe and sound, you can decide to continue using the drive as is… or replacing it.
Anonymous said on August 4, 2009

Thanks for our help. I highlighted HDD but the screen tells me that the hard drive is not installed. Any recommendation. Does this mean that the drive is toast?
appreciative said on August 9, 2009

If you are in recovery console, like it says to do, /p IS correct. There are different options depending on where you are running chkdsk at. Use chkdsk /? for your options.
Anonymous said on August 15, 2009

I had the unmountable boot volume error and have reinstalled Windows XP, is there any way I can recover my old files from the same computer?
Anonymous said on September 2, 2009

I have a Laptop that is runing Vista Home Prem.I can’t get the computer to reboot.
I have been sent to the BSOD and I can’t find a way out.
I have even tried using the recovery disc but,that hasn’t worked.I either get the BSOD OR I get nothing but a black screen after it tries to boot up.i have tried different boot squences but nothing has helped.
parm said on September 6, 2009

THANK YOU…God bless u…saved my computer !!
Very Pleased man! said on September 11, 2009

OMG yes ty, finally I got it to reboot ty ty ty.
Anonymous said on September 18, 2009

Thanks a ton !!!
Anonymous said on September 21, 2009

I dont know how can i get to the DOS prompt when I press F2 to run the recovery console it wants a floopy disk! I dont have a floopy disk, neithe a floopy drive? What am I doing wrong here, I dont see anyone talking about the old floopy shits!
Anonymous said on September 22, 2009

you then should try chkdsk /r and then fixboot. some bootsectors are different than others
Anonymous said on September 27, 2009

I have gotten as far as the recovery console from the cd even ran the chkdsk /r (unfortunately the first tech help I found said to use/r) the program never ran, just sat there all night at the command prompt. Now when I follow same steps to get into recovery console, I can get there, but no command prompt ever comes up, no cursor, nothing… any suggestions Thanks so much
Gmcmen said on October 2, 2009

You must go into the bios settings by pressing “Delete” at startup, change the “Boot” until the first boot device is “CD Rom”
Frank said on October 6, 2009

thank you verry much , worked perfectly:)
Nik said on October 7, 2009

cheers mate, worked like a dream. i am forever indebted!!! Nik
Anonymous said on October 9, 2009

I’ve tried doing this but when I got to 41%
it says the volume appears to contain one or more unrecoverable problems and the boot sector cannot be fixed…

does this mean I have to reformat?
nyays!!
Anonymous said on October 11, 2009

I get the same hard drive not installed msg. So I can’t boot from a cd and get to the screen with the chkdsk/r etc. Did you fix it? If so how?
Anonymous said on October 12, 2009

No, I could not fix it.
The head of the hard drive was gone.
Anonymous said on October 13, 2009

Any help if you try the abpve steps and it freezes on the blue screen after you hit r and it never makes it to the DOS mode?
Lee said on October 14, 2009

Just used this guide to save my computer from the blue screen of death, thanks very much brilliant stuff.
jenni said on October 15, 2009

Do the above steps delete personal files from the HDD?
Name said on October 16, 2009

No!
Anonymous said on November 3, 2009

many thanks for the guidance ,which was spot on took about 30 mins start to finish .after wasting a week with a live cd and hirens boot cd (not really knowing which tools to use )
thanks to the simple almost idiot proof instructions i could save my friends data
Anonymous said on November 12, 2009

I’ve hit the blue screen of death and wld really apreciate some help. I’ve got Windows XP. I can’t find the original installation disks, it came pre-loaded from Dell (I’ve got the receipt), although can borrow a friends copy. Would their licence codes work for my machine?
Anonymous said on November 21, 2009

Same thing happen to me. I tried it again and hit the r key immediately after the screen appeared and it went to the next step. I hope it works for you.
Anonymous said on December 3, 2009

1st type 1

then you type the chkdsk /p …

i hope that help you…
rj said on December 10, 2009

PERFECT !!! works great!
Thank you very much
Anonymous said on December 12, 2009

I love you :)

I used my girlfriend’s laptop XP installation disk on my PC and wasn’t asked for any code for those of you that have asked ;)
Anonymous said on December 17, 2009

Ok,
I am also gettig the blue “Unmountable Boot Volume” screen. However, when I follow the boot sequence, I never get the “Welcome to Setup” screen that is needed to get to the DOS promt and start this great fix everyone is talking about. Any ideas?
Anonymous said on December 21, 2009

THANK YOU, THANK YOU! Yes, I am yelling. I had the unmountable boot volume error and followed your instructions and am back up and working. Three calls to Dell did NOT even come close to fixing this problem. Ain’t the internet wonderful.
Anonymous said on December 21, 2009

I had to press a few different prompts to get there, but I did and it did work. As I said in my comment: I had callled Dell three times and they did nothing.
It did take me two tries to get it working.
Anonymous said on December 22, 2009

try a different installation disk if u can’t see the repair option. u may use any service pack version of xp. if fixboot won’t help for some reasons, try fixmbr instead and then hit “Y” when asked for an option. u guys might wanna try bootcfg /rebuild too
Angry said on December 23, 2009

When it gets to the option of loading up the console, pressing F3 or Enter to start Windows, it freezes, I press any of the keys and nothing happens. This is driving me crazy. Thanks in advance for any help.
Alex said on December 28, 2009

Thank you!!! I was ready to buy a new pc for this matter!!! Thanks so much!
anonymous said on January 7, 2010

Thank you so much, this worked for me perfectly, except I only used chkdsk instead of chkdsk/p. Thank you again!!!!!
Anonymous said on January 11, 2010

I have the restore CDs for my Sony Vaio. I put the CD in and boot my computer and it starts reading the cd and once it loads I get a blue screen with a larger than typical white arrow (my cursor because it moves with the mouse movements). Then it never changes. When I click F2 on boot I don’t get a Boot Sequence Option. Can anyone help or does this mean I have to replace my hard drive?
Anonymous said on January 19, 2010

I don’t have to much experience with computers, but you can try to hit F12 instead of F2 when you get your first screen. This worked for me when I had this problem.
neo said on January 19, 2010

great tutorial and help me fix my pc..
thnks so much and thnks god!!
i love tech-recipes.com
Anonymous said on January 28, 2010

Worked like a champ. Thanks for your help; this was a life saver.
Jim said on January 31, 2010

You need the AHCI driver for your Dell’s HDD available on thier website, and load it from a floppy disk. Press F6 when Setup asks if you need to install a third party driver. That is the only way Setup/ Repair will see your HDD…
Wes said on February 16, 2010

Used the chkdsk /r to fix my daughters dell with XP Home. Great article! BTW, I used my Ubuntu 9.10 disc to access her files and copy them to an external HD before attempting the fix.

Thanks for the write up!
Anonymous said on March 23, 2010

when i insert the xp cd, the computer wont even go to welcome screen.any ideas…
Anonymous said on March 23, 2010

after inserting xp installation disk, no welcom screen comes up. any ideas
Steel A. Jeeg said on April 15, 2010

I am currently having this problem with my HP PC. It’s an old system, but the hard drive is less than two years old. The computer is stuck in a boot loop between the gateway logo and the Windows XP screen. It won’t go into safe mode either. The one time I was actually able to get it to load to anything, using last working configuration, I got the blue screen of death with the unmountable boot volume error.

I only have 1 disc that was included with the PC, and it’s a restore disc. No XP disc, and no repair option. Only a format and install option. It does allow me to boot to dos, though. Any suggestions?
Anonymous said on May 3, 2010

dear all,

wish someone here could help me… I am now in Africa with my new Fujitsu netbook.
When I was editng a word file I suddenly got all the alphabet keys wrong e.g. a “0″ shows up when I press onto the “M” key…… and when i t, this dreadful message comes out. The problem is that I havem any photos in my HD and I don’t have any CD/floppy drives for the netbook. What should I do…
Red said on May 26, 2010

Thank you so much for sharing this information, after following these steps my laptop is working again,
:)
Dustin said on May 29, 2010

When I try to boot up with the XP CD in the DVD drive, I never get to the ‘Welcome’ screen. I just see the DELL screen and then the screen informing me of a problem and the choices of using the last configuration that worked, boot normally, safe mode, etc. Choosing any of them gets the blue screen with the UBV error message. How do I get into the system to run chkdsk, etc.
bendigu said on May 29, 2010

Thanks Thanks Thanks worked a treat quick and easy recovery from BSOD
Rebecca said on May 31, 2010

I put in the cd, and restart but get no welcome screen and just the damn blue one. Then again, I am cluless with computers and it might just be me.
guest said on June 12, 2010

hello, i want to try this step but i cant because when i insert my cd xp its automatic go to partition and no menu tu press R key. how can i get the R?

thank you
Dude200821 said on June 22, 2010

perfect resolution.
Mish said on June 25, 2010

THIS IS FANTASTIC!
I thought my system was done for, but this worked perfectly. The only hitch was that the XP installation CD refused to run, but all you have to do is click f2 if your on a DELL and make the computer boot from the CD. THANKS A BUNCH!
Stillnotworking said on July 6, 2010

Mine is doing exactly the same thing! Did you ever get it fixed?
aunt neen said on July 22, 2010

could be the best all time tip on the net! Thank YOU!
Admin said on July 26, 2010

If this doesn’t work for you, the problem is that the hard drive has crashed. My situation forced me to replace the drive ($65) since the drive could no longer be recognized on any other system. If your situation is similar, this means you probably can’t get the data off of it without sending it off to a data recovery company (unless you have a friend with the proper software to retrieve data from crashed drives). Usually around $400 for data recovery, or more if you have a drive bigger than 500Gb.
Bumming said on August 1, 2010

Hi,

Unfortunately I do not have my XP Install Disk (either lost or never received one with laptop). What I think I need is a Bootable CD but am confused by what I find when I search the web. Does anyone have a recommended way of creating a Bootable CD for a machine running XP Professional SP2.

Many thanks
Sos Wee said on August 1, 2010

when I get to command line: C:> chkdsk /r , I get a message saying “the volume appears to contain one or more unrecoveralbe problems”. I even tried “fixboot” which states successful, but problem continues…Any Idea’s?
Nikita said on August 2, 2010

I have a DELL inspiron mini, and it doesn’t have a cd drive-in. and I’m getting the unmountable bot volume error constantly.
what to do?
Anon said on August 11, 2010

Great article. Very useful. It fixed the problem on my laptop
David said on August 11, 2010

Thanks for that! I had a repair technician coming to repair my computer, but I was able to fix it myself with your advice. You saved me about some money.
Teresa_owlett said on August 12, 2010

Can’t get past warning screen that says memory adress falure
R_Ben_M said on August 19, 2010

Thanks to GOD, it works for my laptop. I didn’t type the fixboot c: command just chkdsk /p then type exit. Be Carefull if you type the fixboot c :, I suggest you try only chkdsk / p first. GBU
rob said on August 20, 2010

This process seems to have worked me as well. I am writing to just add a few details & confirmations others might find helpful if doing this for the first time (like I was):
– I had the issue that some have that, although I have an XP disk, the computer did not pay any attention to it during start-up. I got to the screen with various “safe mode” options, all of which led to the same Unmountable Boot Volume error. I was able to get to the BIOS by hitting F2; once there tab across the top to “BOOT” and choose the CD-ROM option; F10 allowed me to save and exit this part.
– It did start to boot up via the CD-ROM, but it took several minutes of CD activity (setting up a wide variety of processes) before it got to setting up windows, and then it finally asked me if I wanted to format the HD or repair it (hit “r”). I chose “r” and then after a brief delay it gave me the C:> prompt. I typed in chkdsk /p and hit enter.
– It took some time for CHKDSK to do its work, probably 10 minutes. It keeps track of the % completed, but it is not evenly spread, and a couple times I worried it had failed halfway through the process. Finally, when it was done, a message appeared that saiud “CHKDSK found one or more errors on the volume.” Then there was a brief delay and some HD use data was displayed, before finally giving the C:> prompt again.
– The type in “fixboot” and “y” in response to the question about partitioning. This was very quick for me — it said almost instantly that it had written a new boot sector and that it was successful.
– Then I typed “exit” and in the restart I hit F2 again, assuming that I would need to change the start-up back to the hard disk (HDD). I chosen HDD and F10, and then the machine started up like usual.
LOL! :D said on September 1, 2010

lol if it got bricked :D
ABC said on September 28, 2010

This process worked for me extactly as per directions. You saved my laptop, thank you very much.
Twillla_watts said on September 28, 2010

thanks that really helped alot
Guest said on October 4, 2010

TY SO MUCH
ngoj said on October 6, 2010

/p? to pause, what for? isnt that supposed to be /r?
Cweeks said on October 13, 2010

Hey, I thank you very much for this. without this i would have had to do a complete format and reinstall windows from scratch. Thank you again.
MumtoLily said on October 16, 2010

Fantastic, this worked a treat. Hubby doesn’t have to throw it through window now LOL !!!!! Thank you
1MOPARMAN said on October 27, 2010

i have the u-b-v blue screen on m,y latitude d410 but no cd rom drive in it. i don’t even have a floppy drive in it.all i have is a one-slot pmcia.

how am i supposed to perform any tasks to repair this ubv error?

thanx
frickrind said on October 27, 2010

just stays in 75% and then the blue screen returns
anonymous said on October 27, 2010

Everytime Setup finishes, it starts Windows, and then a damn blue screen! What do I do? I boot from the disk, but this happens!
Pe Donn said on October 30, 2010

How do you do this on a dell inspiron mini 10? It doesn’t have a cd rom player
Glkesq said on November 11, 2010

Thanks!!! Chkdsk /p was a bust but Chkdsk /r did the trick!!! You made my hubby a very happy man!!!
Zenith_zenobia said on November 23, 2010

Thanks. It works for me.

I just use CHKDSK /P without FIXBOOT, after the check the WinXP can be restarted successfully.
If only I had a disk :( said on November 28, 2010

Can you format without a disk?
Max said on November 28, 2010

i dont have the disk help
Gavin Williams said on November 30, 2010

Worked perfectly for me. Thank you so much!
Anonymous said on November 30, 2010

Awesome. I’m glad we could help.
Neha0687 said on December 4, 2010

doest effect the other partition??? am i gonna lose all d stuff or data???
Emt_aw said on December 5, 2010

I have followed the directions exactly – chkdsk /r, fixboot, installed a new HD, everything hat has been mentioned and still get the blue Unmountable Boot Volume error message. It worked for about 5 minutes when I installed XP on it then the blue screen came on. The hard drive works when I put it in another computer but won’t work on the one I want to use.
Dharweengusain said on December 11, 2010

thnaks for your help i was able to fix the problem
Erin R. said on December 20, 2010

Thanks for your help! Your directions combined with the site’s directions, saved our computer from this dreaded error. Once you are able to access “DOS,” the rest is pretty simple, (the boot drive files were corrupted and are now repaired). I am so happy the computer is back!! Thanks so much!!
Vinyeno said on December 21, 2010

OK, so I have the same problem as everyone else on here except my screen is completely unreadable. The entire screen iscovered in what only can be explained as a pixel explosion. Could my video card be shot? How do I perform these steps if I cant see anything?!?!
Anonymous said on December 21, 2010

Yeah, separate issue. Hopefully, it’s just your video card…
disney adventures said on December 29, 2010

Hey thanks for the information, i always use to format my drive when this happend!
Blackendowsthesky said on January 5, 2011

I lost my Windows XP CD, tried using other CDs but unfortunately it doesn’t read, is there any alternatives out there?
hyde said on January 13, 2011

THANK YOU! You just saved me from losing all of my pictures and tax files!
Polarrat1133 said on January 15, 2011

Will this delete all my photos and files off my computer?
ckuk said on January 19, 2011

Hey, used this fix successfully with my girlfriend’s XP laptop a few months ago and now I’m trying t fix her sister’s Vista OS laptop with the same ‘unmountable’ problem.

It won’t boot the disc, just hangs on a black screen with a blinking cursor. (I can hear it trying to access the disk, though I’ve left it for 2 hours with no luck!)

I’ve reset the boot order and even tried creating a USB version of the Vista disk in case the DVD drive is dead but neither work.

Anyone got any ideas? I’m starting to think the HDD is fatally damaged…

Thanks in advance!
Dragon250 said on February 3, 2011

Thank you so much! This worked perfectly! God bless you!:D
sKeLeTor_vs_He-man said on February 4, 2011

Very usefull info. Also if all else fails get a hdd surface scan bootdisc like Hiren’s boot or something similar and use the hdd regenerator prog or spinrite to fix possible bad sectors on your hdd. About 80% of all unmountable boot volume errors is caused by bad sectors and just this hdd scan usually fix that problem with not doing anything extra. Hope this is helpfull
Aukittyfan said on February 4, 2011

You saved my computer!!!
Debra Collins said on February 26, 2011

Thank you!
Halcyone said on March 1, 2011

Hello I,m using an Acer Travelmate Laptop with a windows XP installed. as soon as i get into windows xp loading screen, it throws me into “Unmountable Boot Volume Blue screen”. so i already read up all the post above, and i tried booting up with my Win Xp CD to get to the recovery page but while the cd is loading all the windows files, it throws me back into “Unmountable Boot Volume” i was never able to get to the recovery page and thus i’m unable to get into c prompt also, is there any other way for me to boot up my laptop and get into the recovery mode?
Geowolst said on March 4, 2011

I’ve tryed over and over again, but when I get to “do you want to boot from the CD hit any key” or something like that, I hit enter any it just goes to the windows XP loader then the blue screen again. I know I got the F2 setup correct, disabled every thing but the CDrom as the first drive. What could I be doing wrong? It sounds simple enough.
Brian said on March 5, 2011

Thanks a lot, this worked like a charm.
Expresscom2000 said on March 8, 2011

I have been experiencing the same problem for the 2nd time in 3 months.I think the problem is the microsoft operating system.I can’t afford to keep paying people to repair my PC nor can I continue to lose information.My next computer will be an apple because every apple user I know does not experience this nonsense.In addition, Apple stands by their product and microsoft lets it’s users go through this emotional and financial torment!
Guest said on March 22, 2011

NO THANKS , IT DID NOT WORK
Cory said on March 23, 2011

doing this recovery process and boot into widows xp. do you loose you files when creating new boot sector?
Jaleesa said on March 27, 2011

thank you so much.. this helped a lot. i was spending hours trying to fix it.
Mkddude8 said on May 4, 2011

Where can I find my “bios”?
MakeItWork117 said on May 6, 2011

Thank you very much this worked and saved us a lot of time!
joshua said on May 31, 2011

i have this problem on a mini inspiron i can only seem to get to the screen where if says it failed to boot options safe modes normal then i choose any of them and it takes a while to get to the windows welcome loading screen and i tried r f 12 and f 5 but they dont seem to do anything
Jjdaniels1 said on June 2, 2011

use a xp disk and follow the diretions..what are u talking about
Tom13uk1 said on July 2, 2011

Is it possible to fix this by using Ubuntu from a USB?
Josephine Rodriguez Hipolito said on July 25, 2011

how to put the installer of windows 7 in a usb ? because my laptop has no external cd drive..and i think i need to boot it. i got hp mini..i’ accidentally compressed my drive c and i cannot open it .. pls help me!
Jonathan Kushner said on October 22, 2011

When I hit ‘r’ in the windows installation session, it replies that it isnt the ASR disk. Any ideas?
Ebram said on October 27, 2011

I can’t enter ‘repair your compuer’. It says that it’s loading n then it totally stops without even showing anything. I can’t enter safe mode also. Windows installation wont work as well. It’s a HP laptop. I tried putting vista cd instead of 7 n that wont work as well. I have windows 7. Plz help….
fatorangefishgumball said on October 31, 2011

when I did this and got another error (I forgot what it said). I was in class and the teacher told me to use “chkdsk /r” and told me not to bother with fixboot. then I was able to boot into safemode to do a system restore. This is for win xp
Andy said on November 8, 2011

All goes smoothly for me but still goes to blue screen :(

Any idea why i get f:/minint instead of c:/windows?

Thanks
rip79 said on November 12, 2011

Thanks so much worked perfectly really thought the Dell machine was going to the bin with all my photos, thanks
bouno pache said on November 19, 2011

Fantastic it took 5 minutes……………really appreciate it…….keep it up so many of these so-called help sites dont address the question let alone give you an answer……..

Bouno
bouno pache said on November 19, 2011

to andy………………do you still have a cd/dvd in the bay or maybe a data usb that has a autorun ini logged in it?
bouno pache said on November 19, 2011

to Tom and Josephine……………..
you need to open the iso then copy all the system to your usb, then put ur usb in the usb drive and open it and click on setup.exe this applies to all OS systems, there are alot of FREE programs available to open a iso………..

Bouno
hang said on November 22, 2011

thx. u save the day once again.
fixed within five min.
Rob said on November 23, 2011

It worked!! Thanks! I just got another problem though. It takes about 20 minutes for my dell mini 10 to boot up now, thoughts?
Neil said on December 2, 2011

Excellent advice thank you so much! :)
Prakaz said on December 14, 2011

Thanks a lot worked for me!!!!!!
Joan said on January 3, 2012

I could never get the blue screen off to follow any directions, until I read and followed yours. Thank you so much. I was ready to order a new computer.
g drucker said on January 4, 2012

Followed this proceedure as stated got msg that “volume appears to contain one or more unrecoverable problems”. Hve prompt…no idea what to do…can anyone help ? I have a important photos and files I need to recover. Any suggestions would be great! Thanks.
Naj said on January 14, 2012

Many thanks this worked

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Fixing the dreaded “Unmountable Boot Volume” error

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