unmountable boot volume unrecoverable problems

melgfoster

I am a new member. My daughter has an EMachine that has crashed a few times because she keeps putting Limewire on it (at least, that is what I suspect). Last time it happened, I used a windows repair cd and fixed it. This time, when I run the disk and do chkdsk /r or chkdsk /p, it starts to load and gets to about 50% and then reads "volume appears to contain one or more unrecoverable problems." Don't know what to do now or how to do it. I have read on other sites about somehow connecting the hard drive from the affected to computer to a working computer, but I am scared to death of trying something like this for fear of then messing up the working computer! Am I SOL, or is there hope that I can get the computer running again?

profdlp

First: Is there data on the drive that you absolutely must save, regardless of potential cost? If that's the case, your best bet is to shut the computer down and turn the drive over to a professional data recovery service. The longer it (tries to) run in a possibly failing condition the lower your chances of recovery.

If you'd like to save the data, but not if it's going to cost an arm and a leg, try this:

Get the diagnostic program from the hard drive manufacturer and run both the Quick and Full tests. Write down any error codes you get. If you need help finding the program, tell me the brand of drive you have and I'll help you out.

Hooking the drive in question to a functioning computer for the purpose of transferring your data over and saving it is fairly straightforward. If it comes to that I will be happy to give you as much detail about that process as I can.

What I'd recommend is that you first of all decide on how critical the data is to you, then determine the physical state of the hard drive.

Good luck.

melgfoster

Thanks for your reply. My daughter would say that the "data" is VERY important (photos of her with her friends) but there really isn't anything critical on there. I'd like to try to save the pics though if it is not expensive to do so. I do not know the drive manufacturer. The computer is an EMachine we bought at Walmart. I will check to see if we kept the manual to determine the manufacturer of the hard drive. If we did not, how else can I determine hard drive manufacturer?

profdlp

Look on the drive itself for the brand. eMachines is not noted for including much detail in their user manuals. :o

Let me know that and I'll point you to the right place from which to get the diagnostic program. If the drive is physically OK, we can try to salvage the whole works via a Repair Install. If the drive is dying it would be time to consider placing it in another computer for data recovery.

A couple of things which would be helpful would be:

1) Is there a floppy disk drive in your daughters computer?
2) If not, is there a CD Burner in another machine you can use?
3) Do you have a regulation Windows XP CD matching the version (Home or Pro) in your daughters computers? I may be wrong, but I think eMachines only gives you a "Restore" CD with the Windows files embedded on it.

Thrax

<i>coughgetdatabackcough</i>

melgfoster

There is no floppy on the EMachine. And, unfortunately, I do not have a CD burner on another computer, but I can get access to one if I need to burn a CD. I cannot find any CD that EMachines sent with the computer, which is weird because I keep a file with all my computer stuff in it and I don't throw anything away. Last time, when her computer crashed, a friend's son was able to get the Emachine working by using the Windows XP from our Dell computer. That is the same CD I tried to use this time but it did not work. I am going to go open the computer now to get the manufacturer and serial/model number of the hard drive. Thanks so much for all of your help!