This is a very common issue, but is very easy to fix. There are in fact two ways that you can resolve this problem: The Quick Way, and The Long Way. Either one works.
The Quick Way
1.) Start your computer with the Windows CD-ROM if your computer can start from the CD-ROM drive.
2.) When the Welcome to Setup screen appears, press R to select the “Repair with Recovery Console” option.
3.) Select the Windows installation that you want to access from the Recovery Console.
4.) Type the administrator password when you are prompted to do so. NOTE: If no administrator password exists, just press ENTER.
5.) At the command prompt, on the drive where Windows is installed, type CHKDSK /P, and then press ENTER. Your hard drive is then scanned for File System errors. This process shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes.
6.) At the command prompt, type FIXMBR, and choose YES to all the scary warnings that you see regarding rebuilding the MASTER BOOT RECORD.
7.) At the command prompt, type EXIT, and then press ENTER to restart your computer.
8.) When the system reboots, choose “Go to windows”
9.) If the Windows Advanced Startup Menu appears, choose NORMAL MODE.
10.) Remove the Operating System CD.
11.) When you reach the desktop you can be assured that your issue is resolved.
The Long Way
1.) Start your computer with the Windows CD-ROM if your computer can start from the CD-ROM drive.
2.) When the Welcome to Setup screen appears, press R to select the “Repair with Recovery Console” option.
3.) Select the Windows installation that you want to access from the Recovery Console.
4.) Type the administrator password when you are prompted to do so. NOTE: If no administrator password exists, just press ENTER.
5.) At the command prompt, on the drive where Windows is installed, type CHKDSK /R, and then press ENTER. You can now go take a break for about 45 minutes or so while your entire hard drive detects & repairs all file system errors.
6.) At the command prompt, type FIXMBR, and choose YES to all the scary warnings that you see regarding rebuilding the MASTER BOOT RECORD.
7.) At the command prompt, type EXIT, and then press ENTER to restart your computer.
8.) When the system reboots, choose “Go to windows”
9.) If the Windows Advanced Startup Menu appears, choose NORMAL MODE.
10.) Remove the Operating System CD.
11.) When you reach the desktop you can be assured that your issue is resolved.
This worked for us in most cases, and we are sure you will also benefit but if the problem still persists please contact your Computer Vendor.
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Worked 1st Time – fantastic instructions Cheers
Excellent, just fix my friend pc after he attempt to update windows on his sister PC,
JD is on the way..~~
This was amazing. I am not great at fixing my own computer, and this helped me. Thank you SO SO much! I was literally jumping around the house exclaiming “I fixed my computer myself!” over and over.
My blue screen of death or whatever happens before I can even get to the welcome screen or am I doing something wrong help please you can email me at Francisco.gwapo@yahoo.com
You guys ROCK!!! Worked like a charm, thanks.
THANK YOU!!!! I always thought the blue screen was the kiss of death. I’ve never tried to fix it in the past – this morning I was NOT going to be defeated! Your instructions made fixing this SO EASY! Thank you so much!
This is an oooold post, but your way of saying thanks, made us smile
! Happy to hear from you.
Cool! SHort way – i got my windows working! Thanks a lot!
Great TUT. Fixed My Problem. I tried the Short fix but it did not work. BUT Long fix DID
I have an Asus netbook with windows XP and don’t have a cd drive. The UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME error comes up about halfway through the windows start up screen. It basically puts it into an infinite startup loop. Please help.
If you don’t have a CD drive then it’s pretty difficult to assist you. But we have three suggestions for you. First: If you have a floppy drive and your Windows XP startup disks, insert the Windows XP startup disk into the floppy disk drive. When the “Welcome to Setup” screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.
Second:Booting the Windows Recovery Console from a USB Drive. Check this article if that helps. http://blog.emptycrate.com/node/386
Third:Purchase an external CD drive and do all the procedures above.
If nothing works.1. You could do a system restore to reinstall but you would loose your all your documents, photos etc from the C: drive if your XP is loaded in C. To do a system restore restart your computer and hold down the R key until “system restore” comes on, before the windows symbol comes. Then click “full system restore with no back up”.
2. Get an UBUNTU(linux) USB disk to retrieve all your existing documents from the corrupt hard disk. Send the laptop for repair to your local systems provider or ASUS. Please Note: Delete all personal files etc. before you give the laptop for repair.
My computer is not recognizing the cd drive… I am so helpless with technology but I don’t want to lose all of my documents. Is there a way to make it recognize the cd while it’s starting up?
Go to your computer bios as soon as it starts. Please select and change the boot device priority in a new order there. Select the CD/DVD drive as your first boot device and your hard disc as second boot device. Now restart your computer and select “press any key to boot from CD”. For more help you can check this link.
It worked thanks!
Great
Thank you for your post. I tried chkdsk /r first and it keep telling my I had an unrecoverable error, so then I tried the chkdsk /p and it worked. I then ran a chkdsk /r, and it completed. Followed the rest of your suggestions and I am up and running. Thanks again!