Unmountable boot volume

NexusNexus
edited January 2006 in Hardware
This morning I tried to turn my computer on, and got the dreaded blues screen of death labelled "Unmountable boot volume". I've tried booting in safe mode, I've tried using the last working version, and I've tried booting off a floppy. Nothing.

Looking around on the net, I see there's some tips for fixing this but they all require that I have an XP CD. Well, I haven't got one. My stupid Dell came with XP installed, but no CD. The Indian chappy I rang from Dell tech support confirmed that I was supposed to get one with the box, but when I asked for a replacement he reckoned I was just trying to scab a free copy of XP for a mate or something. Of course it is totally impossible for Dell to make a mistake and not include everything they should. My reponse to that was scathing and cannot be reproduced in print.

Anyway, given that I have no access to a Windows XP CD, is there any way to get my machine up and running again?



Thanks,

Nexus the foul-mouthed and angry Aussie.

Comments

  • Dingos_KidneysDingos_Kidneys
    edited January 2006
    Unfortunately, your Indian pal is right(as far as I know). Seems that when XP first came out, there were some bugs (as usual), one being a safety setting that would lock up Windows if there was a power surge, ect. Service Pack 1 corrects this problem, the problem is Windows XP needs to be re-installed(again, as far as I know). I had to do it when I first got my old puter 4 years ago. But I had a Recovery Disk. You might be able to contact Microsoft and get one, the serial # to you old XP should be on the front or back of your tower on a little sticker. If you know someone with a Dell, you might be able to beg and pleade with them to borrow their recovery CD(or CDs) if not, you have to wipe the drive manually and either find a bootleg or shell out for a new XP CD.
  • NexusNexus
    edited January 2006
    OR... I could smash my computer into hundreds of tiny bits, buy a new one and install Linux on it. If Dell want to sell me a **** box of a computer that breaks down after a year and a half and expect me to fork out for another copy of XP that should have come with the computer just so that I can fix it, they can forget about ever selling me anything again.

    :rant:

    Ah well. Thanks for your advice, but I think my computer's a goner.

    Cheers,
    Nexus.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited January 2006
    You should be able to borrow any WinXP disc (even non-Dell) and do a Repair Install. just make sure to get whatever matches what you (sort of) have now regarding Pro vs. Home, and have your Windows CD Key handy.

    I believe that Dingos_Kidneys is correct when he says that MS will also send you a replacement disc. I don't know what they charge currently, but it used to be $10US.

    If you need help on the Repair Install part just yell. :)
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