blue screen on dell inspiron 9400: unmountable_boot_volume - win xp - error code 0x000000ED

[suzanne1]

after trying to resize my system partition with a free program yesterday, i cannot start my pc any longer. only a blue screen appears with the above error code. when i press f8 on rebooting i invariably come to the safe mode screen for text input. but it is not possible to enter any text, such as chkdsk/r. the system does not respond at all. unfortunately, also my cd/rw drive is out of order (it has already been before). pls help me. what can i do? thanks a lot.
suzanne

 

[noidea_77]

M$ says, you need a recovery cd, but you can create a recovery stick instead, is your cd drive doesn't work: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_xp-performance/unmountablebootvolume-error-code-0x000000ed/0e5e6fd1-162a-4a87-9040-f9fb7b1df1d0

 

[suzanne1]

Thank you for your fast reply. I went into the bios and changed the booting order to cd/rw disk drive. However, there is no option for a usb stick. Would it work anyhow, or do i need to buy an external cd drive?

 

[noidea_77]

Found the following on a Dell support forum: Start the sys and press F2 to enter the bios.Use the up and down arrow keys and find an option which says "USB Emulation" and If this is disabled you will not be able to boot from usb drives. So make sure this is enabled in bios. Also go to boot sequence in Bios and set " USB" as first option and "HDD" as second in the list. save changes and exit.This must resolve ur issue.Please update if not.Will find a resolution.

 

[suzanne1]

The USB emulation is enabled. In the boot sequence it says that only devices preceded by a number are bootable. And the usb storage device there does not have a number. Nevertheless, I set it as first option. But i am afraid it might not work. The boot sequence now is the following:
usb storage device
1. internal hdd
diskette drive
2. cd/dvd/cd-rw drive
onboard nic

 

[noidea_77]

There are a number of tools on the net to create bootable sticks. Just try it. The Microsoft toll can be found here: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool

 

[suzanne1]

I will give it a try. Hope my USB Sticks are big enough (max. 8 GB). If it should not work, may I come back to you? or should I buy an external dvd drive?
Thanks a lot for your help.
Suzanne1

 

[noidea_77]

I will give it a try. Hope my USB Sticks are big enough (max. 8 GB). If it should not work, may I come back to you? or should I buy an external dvd drive?
Thanks a lot for your help.
Suzanne1

Better create a new thread, if it doesn't work.

 

[suzanne1]

unfortunately, it did not work.