[ShaimingLong]

Hi,

A couple of days ago I got a rather frequent blue screen about IRQL, I've more or less narrowed that down to being related to my ATI drivers, but I don't know how to fix the problem there.

But anyway, after one such blue screen, loading back into windows, I found I was greeted with the Unmountable_Boot_Volume blue screen moments into the windows logo.

I've attempted to use a Windows CD but I can't either reinstall or load up the recovery console due to no hard drive being detected. It's a SATA drive and I saw in a different post here that there's a driver 'fix' or it's possible to set the bios to treat a SATA as IDE, but neither of those is applicable to me.

I have no floppy drive and the guide to setting up the bios doesn't fit with my bios options.

So for the moment I'm stuck. I'm trying to get a replacement hard drive, at least just to see if I can at least load up the hard drive from windows being run from a different drive and backup everything and fully format to start over.

Any suggestions and assistance would be most welcome.
I'll answer any questions as best as I can.

 

[joeten]

Re: Unmountable_Boot_Volume error and more

Hi try using ubuntu and see if you can access the drive and save any data ie pics,music text files Use Ubuntu Live CD to Backup Files from Your Dead Windows Computer - How-To Geek
you could also see if a hdd diagnostic can see your drive Redirect and test it

 

[Michael_Larsen]

Re: Unmountable_Boot_Volume error and more

Hi ShaimingLong,

SATA drives and their connectors can be very finicky. Try reseating the connectors. Many of them don't have positive locking control and so they "float". Vibrations and quick movements can often cause them to move just enough to make you want to tear all of your hair out. Give that a shot first and see what happens.

Good day!

Mike

 

[joeten]

Re: Unmountable_Boot_Volume error and more

Good call

 

[Michael_Larsen]

Re: Unmountable_Boot_Volume error and more

Thanks! I hope it works! :4-zap:

Good day!!

Mike

 

[ShaimingLong]

Re: Unmountable_Boot_Volume error and more

I should have mentioned before, I've tried unplugging everything and examining the hard drive, nothing externally obvious is wrong with it. I've used a brand new and unused SATA cable and the result is unfortunately the same. If I were so lucky, I'd be much happier I assure you!

I'll have to look into the Ubuntu and hdd diagnostic. On my backup laptop, doing even this reply is a major strain on the old system. Thank you for your very quick and helpful suggestions, I'll keep you updated on my progress!

 

[spunk.funk]

Re: Unmountable_Boot_Volume error and more

You can pull the HDD out of the computer and attach it to a USB Adapter and plug that into a working computer to access the files to backup. you also can run Check Disk on the drive.

 

[ShaimingLong]

Re: Unmountable_Boot_Volume error and more

Okay, update time. Haven't been able to get around to checking the HDD Diagnostic yet, with the only other computer I have, I need to set aside a lot of free time to do even the basic of things. Over an hour to open hotmail and copy paste an email? That's my laptop...

Anyway, I have Ubuntu up and running from the disc just fine, as per the linked guide. It's nice to be on my PC again. Alas, trying to force a mount fails.
This is the error I get:
"[email protected]:~# mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sda2 media/disk -o force
$MFTMirr does not match $MFT (record 1).
Failed to mount '/dev/sda2': Input/output error
NTFS is either inconsistent, or there is a hardware fault, or it's a
SoftRAID/FakeRAID hardware. In the first case run chkdsk /f on Windows
then reboot into Windows twice. The usage of the /f parameter is very
important! If the device is a SoftRAID/FakeRAID then first activate
it and mount a different device under the /dev/mapper/ directory, (e.g.
/dev/mapper/nvidia_eahaabcc1). Please see the 'dmraid' documentation
for more details."
Not sure what to do from there.

With the USB adaptor, I really wish I could get that one from Amazon, it seems fantastic for the price, but they don't ship that product to the UK and the only equivalents over here, seem much more basic for a considerably higher price.
Now that I can browse the web with Ubuntu, it shouldn't take me too long to find something affordable to try.

Thank you for your help and suggestions so far! I just wish it were easier getting my stuff backed up, I swear I should have fixed the permission rights issue I had before to back up before all this happened~ Ah well, teaches me not to procrastinate, right?

 

[ShaimingLong]

Re: Unmountable_Boot_Volume error and more

I just tried using the ntfsfix in ubuntu and this is the message I got:

[email protected]:~$ sudo ntfsfix /dev/sda2
Mounting volume... Attribute $VOLUME_INFORMATION was not found in $Volume!
ntfs_volume_write_flags(): Failed.
FAILED
Attempting to correct errors...
Processing $MFT and $MFTMirr...
Reading $MFT... OK
Reading $MFTMirr... OK
Comparing $MFTMirr to $MFT... OK
Processing of $MFT and $MFTMirr completed successfully.
Setting required flags on partition... Attribute $VOLUME_INFORMATION was not found in $Volume!
FAILED
Error setting volume flags.

Then, even with the failures, I tried to force a mount again as per the first guide and this messages comes up instead now:

[email protected]:~# mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sda2 /media/disk -o force
$VOLUME_INFORMATION attribute not found in $Volume: No such file or directory
Failed to mount '/dev/sda2': No such file or directory

So, have I flamingoed up?

 

[ShaimingLong]

Re: Unmountable_Boot_Volume error and more

I've still had no luck getting anywhere. Although I'm not exactly hopeful, I've ordered a cheap USB converter from eBay. If that doesn't work, is my only other option to format and then attempt (if possible) to a data recovery if said format is only a quick pass to fix the file system?

 

[Daifne]

Re: Unmountable_Boot_Volume error and more

With the adapter, you want to plug it all into the drive first, including the power. It works better if the drive is actually spinning when you attach it to the USB port. When you are connecting the power to the drive, make sure you move it as little as possible. I set it on the receiving computer and plug it all in there.

 

[spunk.funk]

Re: Unmountable_Boot_Volume error and more

It sounds like your HDD is dying. So, backing up your data is paramount. You can try reformatting, but I would be prepared to purchase a new HDD

 

[ShaimingLong]

Re: Unmountable_Boot_Volume error and more

It's been dying for quite some time. My problem for most of the time is that I would try to copy things, and then the original file would suddenly become unable to be accessed due to permissions and I did look around for help with that, but I didn't pursue it as much as I should have done.
I'm okay with getting a new hard drive, I'm growing to accept the idea of losing all my data now too, I have a lot I don't want to lose too, which is the most frustrating thing.

 

[spunk.funk]

Re: Unmountable_Boot_Volume error and more

If you want one more shot at backing up your data, try taking ownership of the files. All you really need is under Documents and Settings\[username] My Documents, Favorites and Desktop. And if you created any other files you want to backup. Do not backup Programs.

 

[ShaimingLong]

Re: Unmountable_Boot_Volume error and more

Even the folders and files in my documents would become locked. I'm sure that it was happening because of corruption I could unlock their permissions, but they would just relock again.

At the moment though, I can't load Windows and Ubuntu can't mount the drive, so I'm stuck with temporarily using Ubuntu via CD to get by.

 

[Daifne]

Re: Unmountable_Boot_Volume error and more

One last try. Burn a Ubuntu Live CD, boot with if from the CD (do not install) and see if you can get the files from there. Linux sometimes works where Windows fails. Download | Ubuntu

 

[ShaimingLong]

Re: Unmountable_Boot_Volume error and more

Sorry to say Daifne, but the Ubuntu Live CD is exactly what I'm posting here with right now. I get the error as mentioned before when I try to mount and I've tried using a guide to try fix drives in Ubuntu, As far as I can tell, the 'hardware' is functioning, it's just the state of the software seems to be corrupt to high hell.

"Error mounting: mount exited with exit code 18: $VOLUME_INFORMATION attribute not found in $Volume: No such file or directory
Failed to mount '/dev/sda2': No such file or directory"

 

[Daifne]

Re: Unmountable_Boot_Volume error and more

Ah, well. It was worth a shot.

Have you tried something like GetDataBack installed on another machine? I've had pretty good luck with it. It's free to run the initial scan which tells you want can be recovered. To actually recover, you need to go with the paid version.

 

[ShaimingLong]

Re: Unmountable_Boot_Volume error and more

No, I can't say I've tried that. I'll have to see if I can get my drive to a friend's and have him get a hold of the trial for me. Thanks, it'll be good to know one way or the other if all's lost and I need to start over from scratch, or if maybe my important documents and items can be recovered.

 

[Daifne]

Re: Unmountable_Boot_Volume error and more

GetDataBack has two versions. One is for NTSF and the other for FAT. Be sure you get the correct one.