Unmountable Boot Volume

[Jacksmoon27]

How to fix the “Unmountable Boot Volume” error.

I have a Gateway Laptop Model MX 6121 that’s quite a few years old (I’m not sure exactly but it’s definitely more than 7 years old).
Recently I have encountered the error screen “Unmountable Boot Volume” that prevents me from booting my computer.
I’ve read numerous solutions and the closest I’ve come to solving the problem involved downloading a Windows XP ISO and creating a boot disk. I boot from the disk and once the program has finished loading I get a screen that says this:

The following list shows the existing partitions and unpartitioned space on this computer.

Use the UP and DOWN ARROW keys to select an item in the list.
   To set up Windows XP on the selected item, press enter.
   To create a partition in the unpartitioned space, press C.
   To delete the selected partition, press D.

38155 MB Disk 0 at Id 0 bus 0 on atapi [MBR]
C: Partition1 [Unknown]                         38146 MB <38146 MB free>
Unpartitioned Space                                8 MB

I choose “C:” and I hit enter. Then I get to a screen that says this:

An error occurred while Setup was updating partition information on:
38155 MB Disk 0 Id 0 on bus 0 on atapi [MBR].
Setup cannot continue. To quit Setup, press F3.

There are no other options so I press F3 and I get to one final screen:

Windows XP has not been installed on this computer. If there is a floppy disk in drive A:, remove it.  To restart your computer press enter.

Windows XP has been installed on the computer so I don’t understand that final message. Do I need to buy a hard drive repair program? Should I buy an actual Windows XP installation disc? Or are there other ways to fix the problem?

[Salmon Trout]

Do I need to buy a hard drive repair program?

You probably need to buy a new hard drive, as the messages you have been getting suggest the existing one has failed.

[Geek-9pm]

38155 MB Disk 0 at Id 0 bus 0 on atapi [MBR]
C: Partition1 [Unknown]                         38146 MB <38146 MB free>
Unpartitioned Space                                8 MB

This cool suggest hat the XP partition was damaged and the file system can not be read. It  might be repairable  with a partition recovery tool.
You need a working computer to create a bootable partition repair CD.

http://www.partitionwizard.com/partition-wizard-bootable-cd.html
http://www.ptdd.com/bootablecd.htm
Bethe of the above I recommend.
The links below are uncertain for me.
https://www.ultimatebootcd.com/
http://www.boot-disk.com/programs_partition_recovery.htm

These programs attempt to repair the damaged partition and make it bootable. YKou might  have to use the XP disk again to recover  and fix  the MBR and Boot areas if the data therein was lost.

[Allan]

This cool suggest hat

For the umpteenth time - if you are going to offer support, proofread your posts. The idea is to make it easy for others to follow your advice, not hard to read it.

[Geek-9pm]

Sorry.   

[Geek-9pm]

Here is a summary of this thread.
The OP wants to boot XP from a USB
Somebody else posted that XP does not boot from a USB device.T
The XP install is 'hard coded' to read from a drive controller,  but not a USB controller. 

So any error message maybe s bogus. Providing meaningful error messages in a boot  loader is a low priority. In other words, the boot loader does not really do diagnostics and will throw any error message it can.

In short, doing a  boot from USB is not feasible with XP.
No, not impossible.  But not worth the effort.

No need for any more about this.