Blue screen with warning UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME: what to do?

Probably, it is not necessary to explain how all users of computer systems based on Windows are not only annoying, but also frightening the appearance of the "death screen" (BSoD). And if there is still a line UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME, this is what causes the user to be shocked. But let's find out if everything is scary, and can we fix the situation without formatting the disk and reinstalling the operating system? Looking ahead, we note that this is done quite simply. It takes only a little patience and time.

What does the message with UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME mean?

Let's start, perhaps, with the definition of the nature of the failure. First of all the message UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME should be simply translated from English. Then everything will become clear.

This failure indicates that the system does not recognize the boot volume, and if verbatim - it can not mount it. As a consequence - the impossibility of starting "OSes" from the section where it was originally installed. How to deal with this?

Troubleshooting UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME Windows XP

In fact, everything is simple. In this situation, the user will need an installation disc or any other kind of Live CD, from which it will be necessary to boot up by installing the CD / DVD-ROM in the BIOS as a priority device for installation (usually Boot Sequence, Boot Device Priority or something else In this spirit).

If you are booting from the installation disk, you need to wait for the installation to start and go to the Recovery Console in the first window . To do this, you need to press R. If you have a Live CD, you can also use the specified transition, but there may be a special section (it all depends on which software package is recorded on the optical media). Next, the system partition is selected, on which the "operating system" is installed. After that, you will be prompted for a password, if any. Half the work is done.

Now to solve the problem, you should call the command line (cmd) and write the following in it: chkdsk c: / r (this is the case if the system partition is the C drive). After that, press the enter key and wait for the end of the verification process. By time it can take 30 minutes, or even more (depending on the size of the system volume).

In the process of error detection, which is very interesting, the damaged clusters will be converted to files (this is evidenced by the letter r specified in the verification command). And this also avoids the loss of user information. By the way, you can use the command without specifying the volume of the system volume, it will be determined automatically anyway. The same applies to requesting a password. In some cases, the console starts without it.

When the test is completed successfully, you can simply quit the console or issue the exit command. After reboot, the screen with the UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME line will not appear any more. In fairness, it's worth noting that the chkdsk command itself, in various variations with the addition of a particular letter, is capable of correcting a huge number of errors, so it is worthwhile to study them (how little it can be useful).

Error correction in Windows 7 and higher

UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME failure Windows 7 is eliminated in much the same way.

The only difference is that you can use the combination Shift + F10 to quickly call the command line when navigating to the system restore menu, although there is a corresponding section in the console main menu. Then everything is done exactly as described in the first case.

Conclusion

That, in fact, and everything that concerns such an at first glance impartial failure and the appearance of a blue screen. As you can see, you should not be frightened. Here you just need to pay attention to the tools that will be needed to fix the situation: the presence of a bootstrap or flash drive, as well as pre-settings in the BIOS. In the rest everything, as they say, is elementary simply - just one team. Actually, the above procedures can be performed not only by an unprepared user, but even by a child.