I have some problems

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[$m] Steele Muffins
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Today when i came back from the city i went on my computer, everything is normal, but then about 1sec after the windows xp screen is loading it flashes a blue error screen then restarts. This keeps happening, so i choose to boot in safe mode, it doesnt work. I got my camera and took a photo of the blue error screen because it flashes so fast i couldnt see it, it says windows has to shutdown your computer to protect it and so on, the error message says UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME. I am a bit confused because it started booting windows then quickly when to that message(kindof like its half booting, or somthing). My dad (who works for the IT department in the government, but isnt in melbourne so i cant really show him) says it could be a virus has screwed up your boot files because your hardware is fine and this is a random problem. I dont have a recorvery disk and my dad says to repair or reinstal windows. This is ok but last time i reinstalled windows and chose not to delete all the current files (because i only have half backed up), it put them in a folder i could not access, i am worried it will do this again.

Does anyone have any ideas on what i should do instead of reinstall windows, but if so how do i overcome the problem of it putting all my files in a access denied folder. ?????? helpppppppp
 
i think it is somethin to do with your hard drive but dont quote me on it. i think that you should try to reinstall windows xp but im not sure what you are try to say about it but thts what i would do. i dont think it is any other hardware but i think it will have somethin to do with the hard drive. You shouldnt need a recovery disk just your disk to install windows xp with as this can do a repair system files etc
 
possibly harddrive problem. how old is the harddrive?

you can download drive fitness test Support - Downloads and Utilities

you can get the version that burns to a cd so you can boot off it , or I believe they have one you can put on a floppy as well.

boot off that. it will check your harddrive. pick the advanced test.

that will tell you if the drive is bad or not. anything red means you need a new drive.

one other thing. check your cables as well to make sure that nothing came loose. maybe swap an ide cable if you have a spare



you can also try to install windows on top of itself. as long as you dont format you wont loose data. but you mgiht have to reinstall some applications.
if windows fails install then that is another way to tell if the drive might be bad.

post back with any questions or any further info after either running the test or trying to reinstall
 
if you cant access a folder you can right click. properties. security , advanced tab at bottom, then click the owner tab. pick your current user name and click the button that says "replace owner on subcontainers and directories"

click ok. it will do some processing. this is known as "taking ownership"

you change the permissions so that you can access the files. what happened is the user when you installed again is different then the original. this fixes the access denied error usually
 
But he cant get into windows really well not for long until he gets restarted thou networkgeek. i think he should try to reinstall windows or get a new hard drive but he will still need the installation disk either whihc i dnt think he has got it, he hasn't worded it very clear
 
But he cant get into windows really well not for long until he gets restarted thou networkgeek. i think he should try to reinstall windows or get a new hard drive but he will still need the installation disk either whihc i dnt think he has got it, he hasn't worded it very clear

hmm didnt realize it wouldnt even go into safemode.

yeah a reinstall would be the best option , then taking ownership of the file directories after the reinstall

I would still recommend the drive diag though. something corrupted the OS in the first place. it might have bad sectors.

if he has a xp cd key anywhere then I believe he can call microsoft and explain that he never received a cd of windows with the computer , give them the cd key to verify that he owns it and they will ship a cd to him

every user has a legal right to have a cd of windows if they have a cd key.
 
Okay, what really really annoys me is i got a corrupted hardrive about a month ago and bought an new one and im not int he mood of doing that again so recently. Also, so when i reinstall windows ontop of the old one it is normal for it to make all the old files in a locked folder?, and this is when i have to do the taking ownership thingy is right?
 
Okay, what really really annoys me is i got a corrupted hardrive about a month ago and bought an new one and im not int he mood of doing that again so recently. Also, so when i reinstall windows ontop of the old one it is normal for it to make all the old files in a locked folder?, and this is when i have to do the taking ownership thingy is right?

yeah that access denied issue does happen sometimes when you install ontop of windows. and yes that is when you take ownership .

I think I described it pretty well, I was describing it as I was doing it basically , just to make sure I got all the options right.

feel free to ask any more questions if something isnt clear
 
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