Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Hi all! We have been experiencing an issue on site where threads have been missing the latest postings. The platform host Vanilla are working on this issue. A workaround that has been used by some is to navigate back from 1 to 10+ pages to re-sync the thread and this will then show the latest posts. Thanks, Mike.
Hi there,
There is an issue with role permissions that is being worked on at the moment.
If you are having trouble with access or permissions on regional forums please post here to get access: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058365403/you-do-not-have-permission-for-that#latest

Unmountable_boot_volume no xp disc!

  • 06-11-2010 6:47pm
    #1
    cycocycle
    Registered Users Posts: 507 ✭✭✭


    I have an issue with my girlfriends desktop. I have the blue screen with the unmountable_boot_volume notice. The XP disc is nowhere to be found. She has a lot of notes and projects which need to be saved so a re-format is not the way to go.
    I saw one article where a guy used a windows 98 disc to repair XP. I have a Vista disc if thats of any use.
    Any suggestions?


Comments

  • #2
    CiaranC
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,300 ✭✭✭CiaranC


    cycocycle wrote: »
    I have an issue with my girlfriends desktop. I have the blue screen with the unmountable_boot_volume notice. The XP disc is nowhere to be found. She has a lot of notes and projects which need to be saved so a re-format is not the way to go.
    I saw one article where a guy used a windows 98 disc to repair XP. I have a Vista disc if thats of any use.
    Any suggestions?

    Download and burn Ubuntu to a cd, boot from it. If the XP partition is still readable it will be automatically available in Ubuntu. Connect your external HD and copy the files over to it.


  • #3
    cycocycle
    Registered Users Posts: 507 ✭✭✭cycocycle


    Thanks for the quick reply. While Im reasonably comfortable using a computer I am not familiar with the nuts and bolts so to speak. The potential for me to cause a lot of irreparable damage is huge.
    I have no experience using ubuntu or any linux applications. Are there any online idiots guides to performing this? Otherwise I might be better off giving it to someone with a clue about what they are doing.


  • #4
    CiaranC
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,300 ✭✭✭CiaranC


    Its very straighforward.

    You need a cd burner and a blank cd.

    Heres how to download and burn ubuntu:

    https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BurningIsoHowto

    Next put it in the laptop and power it on. It should boot from the CD youve created. If not, have a look at this guide:

    https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BootFromCD

    Once it boots, its simple. Both your XP partition and your external drive/usb stick will appear on the desktop. Navigate to the said files and drag and drop.


  • #5
    MarkR
    Moderators, Regional Midwest Moderators Posts: 11,150 Mod ✭✭✭✭MarkR


    It is VERY easy to retrieve files once you have ubuntu running.

    Download and either burn ubuntu onto a disc, or a flash drive. Google if you need help, but pretty easy.

    Put ubuntu disc into drive, and reboot pc you want to get data off. Tap F12 to get to the one time boot menu, and choose to boot either from cd or usb, whichever you chose.

    Choose to try ubuntu (default option)

    Let it start up. Once it gets to it's desktop, it should automatically mount any partitions (xp) as a folder on the desktop. Just enter the folder as you normally would, attach your usb hard drive and get copying.


  • #6
    cycocycle
    Registered Users Posts: 507 ✭✭✭cycocycle


    Can the computer be repaired and run either through windows or ubuntu afterwards?


  • Advertisement
  • #7
    cycocycle
    Registered Users Posts: 507 ✭✭✭cycocycle


    No luck unfortunately. It gets so far and then nothing. getting the message
    Can not mount /dev/loop0


  • #8
    MarkR
    Moderators, Regional Midwest Moderators Posts: 11,150 Mod ✭✭✭✭MarkR


    When did you get that error message? Did ubuntu start up to it's desktop? Ubuntu doesn't even need a hard drive to start, so even if the hard drive was screwed, you should be able to boot.


  • #9
    cycocycle
    Registered Users Posts: 507 ✭✭✭cycocycle


    When I chose the option to try ubuntu the purple screen with the ubuntu logo would appear. Beneath the logo were 5 white circles which I assume are progress indicators. When 2 of the five turned to orange every time it would crash and give the error message.
    In the end I booted it from a Vista disc I found. I allowed it to load and then cancelled when it asked me to install. When I restarted the pc it booted up no problem.I left it on while Im transferring all my girlfriends files. Once i have that done I will try it again.


  • #10
    mihau
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 133 ✭✭mihau


    Just take out the hard drive and put it on another computer as a secondary hard drive and copy all your stuff. it's that simple.:)


  • #11
    humaxf1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 865 ✭✭✭humaxf1


    mihau wrote: »
    Just take out the hard drive and put it on another computer as a secondary hard drive and copy all your stuff. it's that simple.:)

    If the OP is not comfortable with Ubuntu and the like, you hardly expect him to be able reef the HDD out and slave it into another PC (no offence OP)

    Unless the OP is really unfortunate and the drive is IDE, you have to mess about with jumpers and possibly boot device sequence...messy

    On the subject of Ubuntu, i have seen 8.10 unable to mount a HDD, whereas 9.04 has no problem whatsoever. So, in some circumstances, you really have to know what you're doing and have previous experience under your belt. It's a case of try it and see what happens.

    To the OP, what stage are you at now?


  • Advertisement
  • #12
    cycocycle
    Registered Users Posts: 507 ✭✭✭cycocycle


    As I said earlier I had read about someone booting an XP PC from a windows 98 disc. After not having any luck with ubuntu I decided to try a Vista disc that I found. It booted up ok after that. I transferred everything with a usb key and it seems to be back the way it was before.
    It was infected with a fairly serious virus and we got it sorted but it was never right since. I know someone who can take a look at it. The main thing was we could retrieve the files.


Advertisement