Urgent Help --Laptop no booting

macgyver

Hi there,
My Dell Inspiron 1300 (1year old) stoped working tonight. I was on my computer for 3-4 hors in the evening, then I shut it down and when i started it after 30 minutes, after the initial windrows screen, it showed up a blue screen saying:
A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent Damage to your computer.
UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME

Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed. If this is a new installation ask your hardware or software manufacturer.
If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware or sofware. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing.

Technical information:
***STOP- 0x000000ED (0x8134AE30, 0xC000009C, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)

I had not installed any software or hardware in the last few days.
I had installed a 512 MB memory about 10 days back and the PC was working fine after that. Anyway I have removed the new memory and still the problem continues.

Please help me as I am not too knowledgeable about computers.

Many thanks

everythingblogcast

Try leaving it for a hour or so, do you have lots of data on it?

macgyver

Thanks for your comments.

No there is not a lot of data. It has a HD of 60 GB and more than half of it is empty.

I kept it off for 2 hours but still the same problem persisits.

And I dont have any MP3 player or anything else connected.

everythingblogcast

If worst comes to it, use a Live CD of Ubuntu that is free, just serach google. Download it and burn it using software (ISO) then boot to it, this allows you to get the files off the system.

Good Luck.

j1mgg

got this off a site

1. Boot from your Windows XP CD. You might need to change the settings at the laptop's BIOS. Most modern BIOS nowadays support a "boot menu", where you can specify which device to boot from without changing the CMOS settings. It is usually tied to the F9 or F10 keypress before the machine boots.
2. I do not know if you have done a fresh Windows XP installation before, but if you haven't, what happens now is that the Windows XP installer will load the various drivers and system files in order for the installer to fully run. Initially it will ask you to press F6 if you need to install 3rd party hard disk drivers and F2 to run automated recovery. Ignore those and wait till you reach this screen:
http://www.simplyguides.net/images/g..._console/4.jpg
3. Notice the second option: "To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R." Do what it says; press R.
4. You will be asked to press Enter if you want to use a custom keyboard layout. Either wait for the 5 seconds to expire, or press Esc to get this following screen:
http://www.simplyguides.net/images/g..._console/6.jpg
5. Normally you should only see one installation as in the screenshot, which is usually at C:\WINDOWS. Press 1 as in the screenshot to select that installation.
6. There is an Administrator account built-in in Windows XP and is usually transparent to the end user unless he/she activates it and uses it. By default there is no password for the Administrator; just press Enter. If you are unable to log in without a password, you should ask who has set the password before, or call your laptop service personnel.
7. Now, type the following command, fixboot, as in the screenshot. This will fix your corrupted boot sector on your hard disk.
http://www.simplyguides.net/images/g..._console/8.jpg
8. Type exit and your laptop will reboot. Remove the installation disk and your system should boot as normal.
9. If your system still does not boot, you might want to try fixmbr instead of fixboot at item 7. If you have multiple operating systems installed in your hard disk, you will need to reconfigure them to appear as a choice in the boot menu again. You should only do this if fixboot really doesn't work.
http://www.simplyguides.net/images/g..._console/7.jpg
10. If these steps still do not work for you, or if the problem returns time and again, you might have a failing hard disk, or you have a virus in your computer that is corrupting your boot sector. Either scenario would justify sending your laptop for service, especially if you'd like to avoid all the possible headaches and possible voiding of warranty associated with fixing it manually.

Chippy_Minton

This thread from the Dell forums suggests it's the sign of a failing hard drive. Backup your documents asap and run the Dell diagnostics as stated.

macgyver

Many thanks for the suggestions.
But my worry is that I have lot of important data which I do not want to lose if I boot from a windows XP CD

Could anyone guide me how to save my data from the computer if there is a way as my computer is not starting at all, I have tried control Mode and all I I could try.

Thanks

Chippy_Minton

You could try Computer First Aid Using Knoppix to rescue your data.

macgyver

Many thanks

From where can I get the Knoppix CD as it mentions in the guide.
Also I read it is used for Linux systems..
Also as "Everything..." mentions to use UBUNTU, it also says that it is for Linux...

Sorry I am totally ignorant
I have windows XP home installed on the laptop.

Any help appreciated in this desperate situation

Thanks+

Chippy_Minton

macgyver wrote: »

From where can I get the Knoppix CD as it mentions in the guide.

The second sentence of the guide tells you where to download it from. To save you being confused by all the different downloads, click the following link to download the latest Knoppix:

http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/ftp.uni-kl.de/pub/linux/knoppix/KNOPPIX_V5.1.1CD-2007-01-04-EN.iso

(700 MB file, so will take a couple of hours to download depending on your internet speed)

This is a .iso image file which means your CD burner program must be able to burn images. If it is, double-clicking on the downloaded .iso file should open the CD burner in the correct mode and then you can burn it to a blank CD-R.

Also I read it is used for Linux systems..
Also as "Everything..." mentions to use UBUNTU, it also says that it is for Linux...

The Knoppix 'Live CD' that you're about to download runs a version of Linux from the CD drive without touching your hard drive. It is able to 'see' files on a Windows hard drive and therefore a safe way of rescuing data from it - but only if the hard drive is not physically damaged, as the guide warns.

Are there any clicking noises coming from the hard drive when you switch the computer on?

everythingblogcast

Ubuntu is a Linux operating system that can be used as a resuce cd aka live cd. you can download ubuntu from http://www.ubuntu.com/ and its free. I used it to get files off my vista hard drive after vista wouldnt load.

Ubuntu is easy to use and its newer then Knoppix