unmountable boot volume

[kidme021997]

I get the above message... after doing some research, i've found that you should do a chkdsk /r  i'm just afraid I will loose everything on my hard drive.  the discussion boards state my boot.ini file is corrupt.  Anyone have experience with this? 

[patio]

What flavor of Windows are you running as the recovery procedures are different...

[kidme021997]

windows xp home version

[patio]

Quoted from the Mothership:

CAUSE
 1.The file system is damaged and cannot be mounted.
 2.You use a standard 40-wire connector cable to connect the UDMA drive to the controller instead of the required 80-wire, 40-pin cable.
 3.The basic input/output system (BIOS) settings are configured to force the faster UDMA modes.

Back to the top
RESOLUTION
If it be the connector cable problem then replace the 40-wire cable with an 80-wire UDMA cable.
If it's a BIOS settings problem then  load the 'Fail-Safe' default settings, and then reactivate the most frequently used options such as USB Support.
 
If it's a damaged file system case then:-
1.Insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive, and then restart the computer.

Click to select any options that are required to start the computer from the CD-ROM drive if you are prompted.
 
2.When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.
 
3.If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you must access from the Recovery Console.
 
4.When you are prompted, type the Administrator password. If the administrator password is blank, just press ENTER.
 
5.At the command prompt, type chkdsk /r , and then press ENTER.
 
6.At the command prompt, type exit , and then press ENTER to restart your computer.

This takes a bit longer, but the system should boot back into Windows.