Reference number: CH000630

Unmountable boot volume in Windows XP.

Question:

Unmountable boot volume in Windows XP.

Cause:

1. This issue can be caused by a corrupt boot.ini
2. This issue can also be caused by a bad hard disk drive

Answer:

Corrupt boot.ini file

1. To resolve this issue you will need to boot into the recovery console, additional information and help with getting into the recovery console can be found on document CH000627.
2. In the recovery console type chkdsk /p to check to see if the disk drive is bad or marked as dirty. See our chkdsk command page for additional information and help with this command. If errors are located during the check skip to the next section.
3. If after performing this check it is unable to locating anything wrong with the hard disk drive, reboot the computer.
4. If after performing this step the computer still has the same issue, reboot the computer and load back into the recovery console.
5. Once back into the recovery console type chkdsk /r to locate any bad sectors and recover any data. If errors are located during the check skip to the next section.
6. Once completed reboot the computer to determine if this has resolve your issue.

• Additional information and help with the boot.ini file can be found on document CH000492.

Note: If after running either of these chkdsk commands your computer is able to successfully boot into Microsoft Windows XP make sure you have all the latest updates for your computer. Additional information about running Windows update can be found on document CH000545.

Seriously corrupted or bad hard disk drive

If while running the above steps you encounter errors with the hard disk drive and/or the above steps do not resolve your issue it is likely your hard disk drive is failing or has already failed. To determine if this is the case it is recommended you run the Windows XP setup, delete all partitions, recreate the partitions, format the hard disk drive, and reinstall Windows XP. Additional information and help with re-installing Windows XP can be found on document CH000647.

If errors are encountered during the creation of the partitions or the format process it is likely that the hard disk drive is bad and it should be replaced.

• Hard disk drive buying tips can be found on our hard disk drive buying tips page.
• Additional information and help with installing a PC IDE/EIDE hard disk drive can be found on document CH000413.