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"Unmountable Boot Volume" to "Operating System Not Foun


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#1
Sincere03

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I'll really appreciate someones help with this because i'm thinking that my laptop is done for, but hopefully not. Sorry if this is long but I just wanted to rely the entire problem so that whoever helps me would fully understand. :whistling:

So, I have an Acer Aspire 3000 notebook computer that runs Windows XP Home Edition with SP2. Last week my computer froze and I was forced to reset the computer by pressing the power button. I think that it froze because I accidently tripped over the AC plug and yanked it out of the wall. I'm not sure if that is relevant to why the computer froze or not (which it shouldn't be since the computer would have just started running on battery power), but I decided to mention it just in case.

Well, the computer kept trying to reboot, but it would get stopped after the Windows screen, a blue screen of death would flash for a split second and the computer would restart. It just kept doing this. I googled some things and found out that I should take off the auto restart because of an error message. Well I did and it turned out that the blue screen said "Unmountable Boot Volume". So, again, I googled information on that and majority of people used the recovery console to solve this problem. Acer gives out four recovery CDs with the factory settings on it, but I couldn't get them to load, so I burned a Recovery Console CD (I downloaded it from one of the googled forums) and used it to get into the recovery console on my laptop. When I got there, I went to repair and the first thing I put in was chkdsk /r. When I did that it said something about unrecognized something. Sorry, I don't really remember what it said. It may have said unrecognizable hard drive or volume. Well, after that I decided to do chkdsk /p because that was another way people solved the problem. When I did that it ran some things and I restarted the computer when it was done.

When the computer began to restart, I noticed that it was taking a lot longer than usual. It would stay on the Acer splash screen for a lot longer than it usually would. After it leaves the Acer screen, a blinking underscore is displayed in the upper left hand side of a black screen. It stays here for about 1 minute and 30 seconds. Then it moves on to trying to find a network, then it displays "Operating System not Found" at the bottom of this screen.

When I put in the Recovery Console disk for the second time, I tried to go to the repair option again, but it said that it didn't find a hard disk drive. I tried it again this time, but I tried to reinstall windows and the same thing happened (no hard disk drive).

That is basically where I am now. I don't know what else to do. If anyone can help me, i'd really appreciate it. Thanks :blink:
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#2
happyrock

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when you tripped over the cord did the laptop fall to the floor...if so you may have done physical damage to the hard drive ..if you have data that you can't live without on that drive you should remove the drive and "slave " it to another computer and get your data backed up before trying anything else..
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#3
Sincere03

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No, my laptop didn't fall. And i'm not very good technically with computers, so I wouldn't know how to remove the hard drive.
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#4
The Skeptic

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At the recovery console type fixmbr and then press enter. If this doesn't help type fixboot and press enter.
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#5
Sincere03

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At the recovery console type fixmbr and then press enter. If this doesn't help type fixboot and press enter.


That's one of the problems. I can't enter the MSDOS repair section of the recovery console. Everytime I press "r" to go to repair it says that it doesn't recognized any hard drive disks and the only option I have is to restart the laptop.
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#6
ultimateslacker2

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It seems you may of have unplugged it by accident when you tripped.

Try opening her up, and make sure all cables are connected.
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#7
The Skeptic

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I wonder if another boot program will locate the disk. I would try the hard disk manufacturer's diagnostic software. create a bootable disk or floppy and boot the laptop with it.

Attached are links to such programs: Seagate, maxtor, Fujitsu, Samsung, Western Digital

Seagate's is most versatile and quite often I use it for other disks.

By the way, when you enter BIOS can you see your HD there?

Edited by The Skeptic, 03 January 2007 - 05:55 AM.

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#8
happyrock

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you can also try puppy linux...it will install from the cd drive...and run totally in ram...it does not need the hard drive...but after its running you can try to "mount" the hard drive and remove the puppy cd and copy your data to cd's or usb drives....
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#9
W1kpro

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Have you:

-Checked to see if your HD is in your bios? You do this by pressing a key during boot phase usually F6 or F8.
-Tryed Last know Good Configuration?
-Started in safe mode/ VGA mode?

This happend to my desktop PC and over the years i learnt a few tricks, my HD went bellie-up and wouldn't load my OS. While my PC was OFF. I lifted my pc up by about an inch or two a dropped it, turned my pc on and walla my HDD worked again.

I wouldnt reccomend this unless you know its your last resort before buying a new one. Also i dont know if this trick works on laptops. Infact i dont quiet know why it works on desktop PC's. I just know its worked for me on 3 or 4 times.

Edited by W1kpro, 03 January 2007 - 08:25 AM.

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#10
happyrock

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lifted my pc up by about an inch or two a dropped it, turned my pc on and walla my HDD works again. I wouldnt reccomend this unless you know its your last resort before buying a new one. Also i dont know if this trick works on laptops. Infact i dont quiet know why it works on desktop PC's. I just know its worked for me on 3 or 4 times.


I would not recommend this...if your computer is on and the drive is spinning at 7200 rpms for a desktop...5400 rpm's for a laptop...and the read write heads come in contact with the platters then YOU WILL do physical damage to the drive and the only way to fix that is to replace the drive....

Edited by happyrck, 03 January 2007 - 07:58 AM.

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#11
W1kpro

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Neither would i thats why i said its a last resort before buying a new one. Obvioulsy the PC needs to be off.

Happyrck- do you know why this trick works~? I would love to know i was told by a lecturer at one of my training weekends i go on, he never said why it work or how.

cheers mate
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#12
happyrock

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the only reasons this could work is there is a loose connection (IDE or SATA cable)... or a bad ground...

Edited by happyrck, 03 January 2007 - 08:32 AM.

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#13
Sincere03

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Wow. Thanks everyone for the replies. :whistling:

My hard drive is recognized. It gives me a model and serial number for the hard drive so i'm guessing that it knows it is there. It also shows up in the boot order.

The Skeptic - I would need more instructions about those programs. Can these programs be used for any hard drive or would I have to find out the manufacturer of my hard disk?

happyrck - That sounds like a great idea. I wouldn't mind getting more information about that. Would the amount of RAM that I have affect it in anyway because I only have 512MB of RAM.

W1kpro - I can't get it to go into safe mode or last good configuration. I keep pressing F8 (which I know is the correct button), but it never shows up. It just keeps loading as it is until the blinking underscore comes up again and it computer beeps when I press F8.
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#14
The Skeptic

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Don't you get the manufacturer's name in the BIOS? If you don't then google for the model and you may find who makes this HD. If you don't, start with Seagate. I used it on a number of different HD makes.
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#15
happyrock

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puppy linux only needs 128 Mgs to run...its only 50 or 60 Mgs total ...the link I gave you has video tutorials to show you what to do...
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