Meaning of UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME status code

  • Thread starter Thread starter Michael (TDG) Soyka
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Michael (TDG) Soyka

I have an XP Media Center PC with SP2 that currently fails to boot,
displaying a blue screen with the UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME bug check (0xed).
It displays two additional hex values: 0x8980_dc08 and 0xc000_0006 (I have
added the underscores here to improve readability).

The MSDN Bug Check Codes web page states that the second value is the reason
why the mount failed. I would like to know what my code means so I can
determine whether or not the disk contents are salvagable. So far, I've been
unable to locate this information on MSDN.

Also, I cannot run Microsoft Recovery because it fails to load due to the
same error.

Thanks!
 
Michael said:
I have an XP Media Center PC with SP2 that currently fails to boot,
displaying a blue screen with the UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME bug check
(0xed). It displays two additional hex values: 0x8980_dc08 and
0xc000_0006 (I have added the underscores here to improve
readability).

The MSDN Bug Check Codes web page states that the second value is
the reason why the mount failed. I would like to know what my code
means so I can determine whether or not the disk contents are
salvagable. So far, I've been unable to locate this information on
MSDN.

Also, I cannot run Microsoft Recovery because it fails to load due
to the same error.
Click to expand...

Dead Hardware is most likely cause.
 
Shenan Stanley said:
Dead Hardware is most likely cause.
Click to expand...
I can run diagnostics on the drive and most of them pass (I don't yet know
the meaning of the one failure) so the drive is not quite dead at this time.
What is it in the "status code" that tells you this?

My first goal here is to recover the data on the drive, however unrealistic
that may turn out to be. Nor can I say if it is even possible reinstall
Windows on this drive- there may indeed be an unrecoverable hardware failure
but I don't have conclusive evidence of that yet. This is what motivates my
question about the value of the "status code".

Thank you.
 
Michael said:
I have an XP Media Center PC with SP2 that currently fails to boot,
displaying a blue screen with the UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME bug check
(0xed). It displays two additional hex values: 0x8980_dc08 and
0xc000_0006 (I have added the underscores here to improve
readability).

The MSDN Bug Check Codes web page states that the second value is
the reason why the mount failed. I would like to know what my code
means so I can determine whether or not the disk contents are
salvagable. So far, I've been unable to locate this information on
MSDN.

Also, I cannot run Microsoft Recovery because it fails to load due
to the same error.
Click to expand...

Shenan said:
Dead Hardware is most likely cause.
Click to expand...
I can run diagnostics on the drive and most of them pass (I don't
yet know the meaning of the one failure) so the drive is not quite
dead at this time. What is it in the "status code" that tells you
this?

My first goal here is to recover the data on the drive, however
unrealistic that may turn out to be. Nor can I say if it is even
possible reinstall Windows on this drive- there may indeed be an
unrecoverable hardware failure but I don't have conclusive evidence
of that yet. This is what motivates my question about the value of
the "status code".
Click to expand...

Your query: "What is it in the "status code" that tells you this?"...

Nothing other than "UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME" on a machine that - given what
you have - had no changes to it what-so-ever and now has ceased to boot.
The additional infromation that, "I can run diagnostics on the drive and
most of them pass..." --> *most* should be *all*, or there is a problem.
;-) In other words - this is me assuming you left nothing pertinent out...
;-)


Error Message when you restart your computer or upgrade to Windows XP: "STOP
0x000000ED UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/297185


Want to copy stuff off (you didn't/don't have a scheduled consistent backup
regime in place...) now?

Boot with something like a "BartPE" or "UBCD for Windows" CD and copy what
you want to an external location OR use some imaging application to make an
image of the drive contents in their entirity and use the utility from the
makers of the software you used to make the image to explore the image and
copy stuff out of it (example: Symantec/Norton Ghost and Symantec/Norton
GhostWalker.) ( Google. ;-) )


You could also try an repair installation (if it happens the hardware is not
damaged and you have verified this with the hard disk drive manufacturer's
diagnostic utility - usually available for download from their web page.)

How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315341
 
Gerry,

Following Microsoft web site advice (Article 297185), I had earlier tried
"chkdsk /r" and "fixboot" but neither repaired the drive. Running "fixmbr"
was on my list of things to try but did not have chance to run it.

However, what did fix the drive was connecting it to a working XP system as
a secondary drive. The other XP system detected the drive, noticed something
was wrong, and automatically ran chkdsk. The disk now boots error free and
apparently no data was lost.

I still have no clue what went wrong or why, oh well!

Thanks for the advice.

Mike
 
Shenan Stanley said:
Your query: "What is it in the "status code" that tells you this?"...

Nothing other than "UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME" on a machine that - given what
you have - had no changes to it what-so-ever and now has ceased to boot.
The additional infromation that, "I can run diagnostics on the drive and
most of them pass..." --> *most* should be *all*, or there is a problem.
;-) In other words - this is me assuming you left nothing pertinent out...
;-)


Error Message when you restart your computer or upgrade to Windows XP: "STOP
0x000000ED UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/297185


Want to copy stuff off (you didn't/don't have a scheduled consistent backup
regime in place...) now?

Boot with something like a "BartPE" or "UBCD for Windows" CD and copy what
you want to an external location OR use some imaging application to make an
image of the drive contents in their entirity and use the utility from the
makers of the software you used to make the image to explore the image and
copy stuff out of it (example: Symantec/Norton Ghost and Symantec/Norton
GhostWalker.) ( Google. ;-) )


You could also try an repair installation (if it happens the hardware is not
damaged and you have verified this with the hard disk drive manufacturer's
diagnostic utility - usually available for download from their web page.)

How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315341
Click to expand...
Shenan,

As I mentioned in another reply, I was able to repair the drive by
connecting it to another working XP system and letting XP repair it during
boot up. Everything is now (apparently) as it was before the problem
occurred.

Also, the drive diagnostic utility I ran reported a failure in one of the
tests. Unfortunately, the meaning of the test is not documented and so its
failure provided no useful information. It's like going to the doctor,
saying you're sick but not revealing where it hurts. Not at all helpful.
This comment also applies to the status code I originally asked about.

Thanks for taking the time to provide those links. I had also found them as
I searched for the meaning of my error.

Mike
 
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