how fucked is my p.c.?
Kindly tech-savvy b3tards,
Mrs. Tuque has just called me in a panic, because our system at home has an ``unmountable boot volume''error. the fix described here www.tech-recipes.com/rx/2605/fixing_the_dreaded_unmountable_boot_volume_error/ doesn't seem to be working. i've got a suspicion it's because the xp install disk is some bastardized version which came from dell and has a load of other crap loaded onto it. any suggestions? must we resign ourselves to reformatting? there are a host of photos, documents on there. we back up fairly frequently, but apparently not frequently enough. on another note, do you think this could have been caused by downloading shockwave?
(tuqueboy has been in a medically -induced coma since, Tue 9 Dec 2008, 1:52, 8 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

sympathy reply right here

( Gilgamesh gazed in wonder as Frampton came alive, Tue 9 Dec 2008, 3:02, Reply)

very fucked, then?
i take it that's the case from the sympathy? ta, anyway.

edit: never mind. i see from your reply to another question you're just being a twunt.
(tuqueboy has been in a medically -induced coma since, Tue 9 Dec 2008, 3:06, Reply)

'Tis
an easy fix if you've God-Like IT skillz.

But for the neophyte it might seem a bit daunting. However, rest assured that, unless you're a total fuckwit, you *can* get all of your data back.


Rule One. Don't fucking format it. Don't even *think* about formatting it.

The most likely cause is that a boot file is fucked up. This is not too serious and can be easily fixed. All of your programs and data are almost certainly recoverable as long as you obey rule one.

OK. Now the technical details. You need to get a hold of a copy of Hirams Boot CD or the Ultimate Boot CD for Windows. Either will do but I prefer the Ultimate which you can get here:

www.ubcd4win.com/

All of the instructions for downloading and burning it are there. If you're not sure how to make a bootable CD yourself and you can't follow the instructions then you're proper fucked and will need to find a mate or someone from work who can do this for you.

Once you have that, insert it and boot from CD. Then you'll find loads of tools that will fix your XP system.

But if you get stuck, ask here or email me for advice but remember rule 1.

Rule 2 is don't use the Dell disk if you want to save your data. It'll probably only have the option to restore the machine back to factory defaults and that means reformatting it which would break rule one.

Good luck and don't hesitate to ask for more advice.

Cheers
( Legless Mister Stabby - shanks for the memory, Tue 9 Dec 2008, 6:09, Reply)

It would appear that the IT God has spoken.
Good job Legless!
And good luck tuqueboy. One of my biggest fears is that I'll hit the wrong combination of keys and accidentally reduce my motherboard to swiss cheese.
( flirting with badgers What? It sounded good at the time., Tue 9 Dec 2008, 6:16, Reply)

thanks legless
much appreciated. after we bring it back to life, i'm thinking it's probably time to get a new system, or at least a decent back-up of some kind.

and to flirting with badgers, i too live in that fear. and the fear that my wife will call me terrible things because some of the photos on there were priceless -- our son being born, my brother's wedding. are we fuckwits for not backing up enough? hell yes.
(tuqueboy has been in a medically -induced coma since, Tue 9 Dec 2008, 6:59, Reply)

My friend has had that problem before
and the XP CD I had from Dell fixed it just fine. Mind you, make sure it's just XP and not SP2.

/chkdsk
(Himjim died a little more inside on, Tue 9 Dec 2008, 9:20, Reply)

yeah
what Legless said.

Though if you can't be bothered/don't know how/don't want all the hassle of making a bootable disk - you could reinstall (but NOT REFORMAT) XP, then in the windows.old folder, all your documents will be there. Then back them up, and then reinstall with a reformat (OK, it takes almost 3 hours, but you know, thats XP for ya)
(bamboozled Can hear you getting fatter, Tue 9 Dec 2008, 10:36, Reply)

Legless is spot on...
But surely the rules go:

1) Did you try turning it off and on again?
2) NEVER format

etc.

:)
( snee held his breath since, Tue 9 Dec 2008, 11:24, Reply)