[SOLVED] Unmountable Boot Volume- how to fix with Hirens?

[osp001]

I'm getting a BSOD with "Unmountable_Boot_Volume" error in Windows XP; I don't have the recovery disks (Panasonic Toughbook CF-48 laptop, if that helps), but it was suggested to me that the Hirens Boot CD might help.

After downloading and burning that, I am bewildered with the options. I have no idea where to start. Right now I'm running testdisk 6.12 WIP, but it seems to be stuck and going nowhere.

Any suggestions which features on Hirens might help, and how to navigate to these respective options? TIA.

[spunk.funk]

First start off with the Mini-XP. Now click on the Command Prompt icon and here type C: and hit enter. The X:\> prompt should now turn to C:\> if not, your HDD might have failed. At the C: prompt type chkdsk /F/R and hit enter. The Check Disk utility will try and fix any file errors. You can also try the HDD Regenerator from the DOS programs.

[osp001]

I think the hard drive is toast; it was booting into Mini-XP, but now it's not.

So- I'm due for a new hard drive, I suppose. I found a website suggesting it's an ATA-6; does this mean any SATA drive will work? Never swapped out a laptop hard drive before. I get all confused about parts.

[ImWrecked]

Most laptops have a built-in partition they can use to recover Windows, should anything go wrong. Can you access this?

[dai]

the message usually means it cannot see the hard drive

is it listed in the bios ok

d/load and run the h/drive makers diagnostic utility on the h/drive

http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287

if you don't know the brand run the hatachi one

[osp001]

I wanted to provide a quick update, and thank everyone for their help.

I bought a used hard drive for about $26 at a local university surplus facility, slapped it in there, and (with considerable trepidation) installed Ubuntu. Never even used it before, so I wasn't sure how it would go.

It installed flawlessly, and within 15 minutes of dinking around, I got the wireless to work. So, I have a computer that does everything I used it for previously (surfing the web, doing email, using OpenOffice), and I'm looking forward to exploring Ubuntu more.

The old hard drive is probably toast, but it's not so big a problem as one might think because I've always treated this laptop as a junker- keeping nothing of value on it in case it got stolen or DIAF'd.

Thanks to everyone for their insights- I appreciate it!

[dai]

glad you have it sorted