BSoD - Unmountable_Boot_Volume

[Synergy]

I have a Dell Inspiron 9300 Laptop. Running WinXP. A few months back I got the Unmountable_Boot_Volume blue screen. I was able to fix it using chkdsk/p and fixboot. I have attempted to fix it again using the WINXP setup disk. It gets about 75% through the process and fails. I have tried many times.

Is it time for a new HD? Can I save my data and copy everything over to a new drive? Someone local in the Sac/Rocklin area able to help me fix it?

[locosway]

WTF? I thought this was going to be a BSD question and I got all excited...

[lazyworm]

me too Too bad OP meant BSoD.

OP, you probably want to do something like this...
1) Go to Fry's, buy a new drive and an external drive caddy
2) remove the bad drive from your machine
3) install new drive and reload windows
4) put bad drive into caddy
5) plug caddy to laptop
6) transfer data

I can't tell how messed up your drive is, so good luck.
Please consider having regular backups in the future.

[Synergy]

My bad on the BSoD

I ran chkdsk /r and it actually completed. I then rebooted and it tried to start Windows
Windows booted and I get this:
Winlogon.exe - Unable to load component
-This app has failed to start because COMCTL32.dll was not found. Try reinstalling the app to fix this problem.

I click ok and next this error message pops up.

User Interface Failure
-The Logon User Interface DLL msgina.dll failed to load.

Lazy, your fix sounds easy from the hardware aspect...Software I am lost.

[d4v0s]

Could be that the xp disk you are trying to repair from is scratched. Another thing you can try; from the recovery console is sfc /scannow

This will check all of your system files and replace any missing or corrupted files.

And i second what lazyworm said, this is the best course of action, even if you get that hard drive working again, it doesnt sound very reliable to me.

[nick]

Buy another drive, image your drive onto it, and then extensively test the old drive. Chances are you have a physical drive problem.

[desertdweller]

Yes, your drive is corrupt and dying. Follow LazyWorm's suggestion and you'll be fine.

Loading Windows on the new hard drive is as easy as putting the Dell CD in and answering the basic questions. Where it gets a little more tricky is loading the drivers (small programs that tell Windows how to talk to devices, like your sound card). To get the drivers for your computer, use a good working computer and goto:

http://support.dell.com

Select drivers and it will ask you to choose your system or put in your service tag, the service tag is the easiest way. After you've saved all the "Drivers" (not applications and such), copy them to an external hard drive or usb drive and put that into your Dell and install all the drivers. Start with the chipset, reboot and then just install the others in any order.

Your next big headache is reloading all the programs, like Office. If you don't have the discs anymore, then you have to start asking friends.

[Synergy]

Your next big headache is reloading all the programs, like Office. If you don't have the discs anymore, then you have to start asking friends.

That was my next question. I have Photoshop on this laptop and I don't have the disk. Was hoping to salvage PS and a few other files.

[fadedsignal]

The drive is likely dying as a few have mentioned. You can however recover Windows by copying the .dll file that is missing using the recovery console.

Here is a link that provides step by step instructions on how to do this utilizing your Windows disc, and recovery/safe mode.

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/findbyerrormessage/a/comctl32-dll-not-found-missing-error.htm

I have done this numerous times when other dynamic link library files were missing. Most of the time, it is fixed. Once you have the issue resolved, get another hard drive and external USB connector for the hard drive and image the current drive to the new drive using something like Acronis TrueImage Home. The program is not too expensive, and saves your skin in situation where you cannot lose data or programs, like Adobe Photoshop in your case.

If you run into any major snags, shoot me a PM. I might be able to help you out some.

[JDay]

Did you try a repair install?

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/tips/doug92.mspx