is this the end?

[Oliver21]

I keep getting the "blue screen of death" which I've had before but it eventually boots up. Not so anymore.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Is it curtains or can some of my data be saved. Thanks

[BJG145]

If the computer only has one drive on it that holds both Windows and data that you want to recover, and it's failing to boot with this error, with no backup, I'd be thinking of pulling it out and connecting it up to another working PC to try and copy the projects over. Depending what kind of disk it is, and what other machines are available, you might be able to find something like a SATA/USB adaptor. Personally I just tend to pull open another machine and connect it up to a spare SATA port. The drive won't be completely dead; it just has some corrupted startup files.

Once you've got the data off, you could try repairing the drive to see if it can be made bootable, but depending what hardware and software you're running it might be time to start over with a new SSD. What's the OS?

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/unmountab ... e-windows/

[MOF]

I keep getting the "blue screen of death" which I've had before but it eventually boots up. Not so anymore.

Why didn’t you back up the drive the first time you saw the blue screen?!!!
Is that really the only drive containing your projects’ data?!!!
I hope for your sake it’s not or that this drive is recoverable.

[tea for two]

That message on the bsod is written in a way to induce anxiety, stress.

They could change the wording to say

"Ooops just a hiccup. We hope you made a backup of all your important data.

For now we would suggest running
your Windows install disk, threafter running Windows Automatic repair, thereafter Chkdsk.

If these didnt repair the Boot Volume then we would suggest removing the hard drive, connecting it to a working Windows, saving all your important data from this hard drive."

[Oliver21]

I'm running Reaper on XP and I back up to an external USB drive but hadn't for about three weeks so potentially lost that work.

[Oliver21]

I don't have a Windows install disk as it came preloaded on the machine

[ef37a]

"Another fine mess you have got yourself in...." (sorry, CNR)

Now, some years ago I tried putting the 'C' drive from one W7 computer into another. Would not boot. IIRC Windows said there was "a hardware mismatch"

Good luck. Oh! Have you tried booting in Safe Mode?

XP. A look online should find you sources of install discs. They might not actually allow you to do a fresh install but might get you to the Repair function. Or give you access to a Recovery partition on the old drive. Many later XP machines did this rather than give you a Windows disc. As you have found out, not so useful!

Dave.

[The Elf]

Is it curtains or can some of my data be saved.

If you aren't backing up your data after every session, then you really have been walking a tightrope - and maybe this time you've missed your footing. Lesson learned I hope.

I would get that drive into another computer and try to get the data off it. And then back it up in at least three places!

[ef37a]

Do you have anything valuable that you know won't run in W7? If not I suggest you buy a W7 disc. Go for 64 bits and then you can have a shedload more memory.

I would get a new hard drive and install 7 on that, preff an SSD.

Dave.

[Rockrooms]

Does the BSOD give a clue as to which driver is causing the problem?

If you have another machine available you could try creating a bootable Linux USB stick and see if that boots, to try and rule out a serious hardware problem. Can you boot into the BIOS? Some manufacturers such as Dell / HP often have a diagnostic boot option that will do a hardware check.

Is it a desktop or laptop? Sometimes removing any expansion cards can help get the system booted. Likewise if you have multiple ram boards installed, try removing one / swapping them over.

But as mentioned, your priority right now is pulling the drive out and connecting it to another machine to see if you can pull the data off.

Joe

[OneWorld]

I don't have a Windows install disk as it came preloaded on the machine

Get hold of a linux boot dc/dvd

If you don't have the option of downloading the requisite files to a cd/dvd go buy a Linux magazine, the cover disk will almost always have several Linux distros and many of them will boot. Once booted you will be able to access folders, and thereafter transfer files to a working disk, be it USB whatever

As for the fault itself, best scenario, an internal connection has been lost - make space on a table, get a desk lamp, with the pc unplugged, open the case, make sure all cards are properly seated, make sure all connections are pushed home, especially the HDD

worst case scenario, the HDD is duffo'd, but if you can get it connected to a working PC, there is the possibility that data can be salvaged and transferred to another disk. There are very useful disk caddies/docking stations that can be bought from the usual places about £20.00 and you can plug in sata drives, usb, micro sd etc

Even worse - the motherboard is dead

If and when you get set up and running again, along with other posters here, I too will advise about establishing a back-up and imaging regime, it is an absolute must. There are many options, and there is excellent freeware that does the job. I would strongly advise buying a NAS (Network Attached Storage) drive. Not only do they hold your data, backups etc, but many work as media servers.

As for backup, I have a spare HDD with a copy of my current Windows installed. Like many, I have a second HDD for data. If I had a bust c:drive, I can slide it out, replace it with the backup system drive, and I am up and running again by the time I have nipped downstairs and made a cuppa

[ef37a]

Just a point on borked HDDs..We had an external one fail and tried the freezer trick. Thought it was a load of old urban bllx but it did actually work and gave us a 20min window for son the rescue some songs.

Dave.

[merlyn]

Does the BSOD give a clue as to which driver is causing the problem?

The image Oliver21 posted was visible earlier and the error was

UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME

You may be able to shed some light on that.

[Rockrooms]

Does the BSOD give a clue as to which driver is causing the problem?

The image Oliver21 posted was visible earlier and the error was

UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME

You may be able to shed some light on that.

Well, as you might expect, this isn't something you want to see. Pretty much as it says, the master boot record on the current boot drive that the bios is pointing at is invalid, either due to physical sector damage, or is readable but invalid or is just plain missing.

If the drive is a spinning rust one and there's no obvious clicking, or start stop noises of the motor and you can hear the drive start up, it's possible that the data is still intact and you might be able to repair it. This is going to need a windows XP disc however and Oliver mentioned he didn't have one.

It's worth a check in the bios to see if it still recognizes the boot driver, but it sounds like the best bet is going to be getting the drive mounted on another machine.

The other remote possibility (and this doesn't normally happen without some deliberate intervention) for a very old machine is that there is a mismatch between the bios SATA config and a driver needed to access the drive, i.e you installed in ATA IDE mode and now it's trying to use ACHI with no driver on the partition, but this isn't something that would just happen, compared to a disk going bad.

Joe

[James Perrett]

One other thought as this is an XP era machine - if the machine has a CD or DVD drive you could always try the Ultimate Boot CD for Windows. I can make you a copy if you need it.

[BWC]

For problems with old spinning disk drives, there's also always: https://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm