UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME (Windows 7)

[GinaW7]

Hi everyone,

I'm having problems with my HP Pavilion g6-1331sf laptop. My OS is Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bits.

I've had 3 BSODs recently:

• 
  ■ one about 2 weeks ago, code 0x0000007A: "KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR".
  ■ then another, the same "KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR", a few days ago.
  ■ then a 0x000000ED, "UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME", later that day.

I have this about the second BSOD:

Signature du problème :
Nom d’événement de problème: BlueScreen
Version du système: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.768.3
Identificateur de paramètres régionaux: 1036

Informations supplémentaires sur le problème :
BCCode: 7a
BCP1: FFFFF6FC500E5180
BCP2: FFFFFFFFC0000185
BCP3: 00000001B06BC880
BCP4: FFFFF8A01CA30000
OS Version: 6_1_7601
Service Pack: 1_0
Product: 768_1

Fichiers aidant à décrire le problème :
C:\Windows\Minidump\033117-29172-01.dmp
C:\Users\Me\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-1823324-0.sysdata.xml

And some stuff had happened between the 2nd and 3rd BSODs:

• 
  ■ it did a CHKDSK with only 3 steps; when I looked into the Event Observer later, the log was truncated, stopping halfway through a word ("Répara"...) in the middle of step 2
  ■ when my session opened, I was informed that Comodo couldn't start, the install was damaged. Seven's own firewall wouldn't start either, with an error code 0x80070422
  ■ I restarted the laptop, everything was normal until the login screen, then it stayed on "welcome" for ages, then showed a "neutral" session, said something about not being able to access user profiles, that the identity was incorrect... The LED was lit continously for about an hour, and then when it finally went out, I was able to display the Task Manager, close that session, and open my own, which looked normal. I planned a CHKDSK on C:, and ticked both boxes in the hope of fixing the firewall problems
  ■ I restarted the laptop, but it did not do the CHKDSK, and again, took a while to open a neutral session; I had to wait one more hour to redo the whole thing (log in to my own session, plan a CHKDSK)
  ■ I restarted it again, and this time, it displayed the "Windows" screen longer than usual and then: UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME!

It kinda felt like it had been going worse and worse with every restart, so I have not booted on the drive since.


****************************************************************************


The laptop has a dual boot (Windows 7 / Ubuntu, though I'm not sure I can remember the Linux password...) and a bunch of partitions:

• 
  ■ sda1 SYSTEM 200 MB
  ■ sda2 C: (Windows 7 and some data too) 70 GB
  ■ sda3 extended partition (sda5, 6, 7,8)
  ■ sda4 E: (HP_TOOLS) 3,97 GB
  ■ sda5 Ubuntu (boot) 500 MB
  ■ sda6 Ubuntu (root) 40 GB
  ■ sda7 Ubuntu (swap) 3,91 GB
  ■ sda8 D: (my data) 348 GB

All I have handy currently is:

• 
  ■ a SystemRescueCD from 2009, which I used to copy all the data from D: to an external hard drive
  ■ the old XP laptop I'm typing from, which I fear is compromised, so I'm not sure I can download/burn ISOs from it
  ■ a Windows 7 repair disk which I hope works, I've never had to use it so far

While in the SystemRescueCD session, Gparted displays warning signs next to sda2 and sda8:

• 
  ■ About sda8 (D: ), it says: "This software has detected that the disk has at least 7 bad sectors". I was able to copy all my files but 2 to the external hard drive.
  ■ About sda2 (C: ), it says: "Failed to calculate number of free clusters: input/output error. Failed to mount /dev/sda2: input/output error. NTFS is inconsistent. Run chkdsk /f on Windows then reboot TWICE!" (it may say more stuff, but I can't scroll all the way down)

I haven't tried the other tools included on the live CD yet ("Show Filesystems" and "TestDisk"). Should I?

Any idea of what the issue is, first? I hope it's a Windows problem and not a hard drive failure... There's some data on C: I'd like to be able to save too...

And then: is the next step booting on the Windows 7 repair disk? Will that be okay with my dual boot, it won't mess things up even further? And it will preserve all the data too?

Thank you...

 

[ebm9000]

Windows works like this: When your PC turns on, the BIOS (basic input output system) on your motherboard hands control to the Hard Disk/SSD, which in turn sees the Windows Boot Manager as the first OS (you may be using Grub since there is an ubuntu install present, but similar in fashion); this is different than Windows itself. The boot manager, depending on what you select, tries to load a special file (Windows: winload.exe or winload.efi) from the volume. In this case, the boot manager has an entry for Windows, but when you go to select it, the boot process runs only partway. When it snags, a BSOD is displayed.

*this next part assumes /dev/sda2 and /dev/sda8 are different partitions on the same drive. Correct me if I'm wrong

The part about the /dev/sda2 partition having bad clusters is more than likely (in your case) due to the bad sectors. At least some of those bad sectors happen to lie right where the boot files for Windows are (not the bootmanager, but winload, etc). My guess is that a few of the other bad areas are where the winlogon service lies, hence the inability to access your profile sometimes. The other bad sectors are those 2 files that failed to copy. That being said, you should load Ubuntu off either a liveCD or otherwise, then open the disks menu and run a SMART scan on the drive.

A manual scan should push the drive to remap any of the bad sectors to reserve, and allow you to use the drive again. However, a re installation of Windows is PROBABLY going to be necessary. From the Windows 7 repair disk, you can run CHKDSK from its built in command prompt (this may also remap those sectors, although ive never had it find any errors in any scenario in the past, even on a failing drive with 2000+ bad sectors). Note that your Drive C may not be recognized as drive C on the repair disk, so try different letters (Hint: It won't be drive X, A, or B)

Will it be ok with your dual boot? That depends. Since the repair disk can't read the file system that Ubuntu is on, it can't CHKDSK that part and alter anything in that fashion. If your PC uses the Grub (ubuntu) bootloader, then reinstalling/CHKDSK repairs shouldn't affect it, although you may need to remap the other OS from the one that's left intact. It is possible a pointer may be lost (this doesn't mean your data from that OS is gone, just that the bootloader doesn't know it's there)

Hope this helps!

 

[GinaW7]

Thanks a lot, ebm9000! It does help, although I'm afraid quite a bit of it went over my head...

Some more possibly irrelevant information:

• 
  ■ SYSTEM (sda1) is the bootable partition according to both Hardware Lister and TestDisk (which I ran very quickly).
  ■ Hardware Lister says "state: clean" for sda1 and sda2 (it doesn't say anything for the FAT and Linux partitions, and just says "state: mounted" for sda8).
  ■ Back in November, I had had another BSOD (the first in 3 years) and CHKDSK had said I had 8 KB in bad sectors on C: and 28 KB on D:. So Gparted seems a bit optimistic talking about just 7 sectors on D:...

you may be using Grub since there is an ubuntu install present

In my notes from 2012, I wrote that I installed EasyBCD and added an entry in it: Linux, Grub 2, UbuntuEasy12, "Partition 4 (Linux - 476 Mo)". So... yes? Distant memories...

*this next part assumes /dev/sda2 and /dev/sda8 are different partitions on the same drive. Correct me if I'm wrong

You're entirely correct.

you should load Ubuntu off either a liveCD or otherwise, then open the disks menu and run a SMART scan on the drive.

A manual scan should push the drive to remap any of the bad sectors to reserve, and allow you to use the drive again.

I'm afraid I don't understand that part. When you say "a manual scan", you mean the SMART scan? And what do you mean "to reserve"? To put aside so they're not used anymore?

And when it does that, I'm assuming the info the bad sectors contained isn't salvageable, is it? It's just lost?

I see on Wiki that SystemRescueCD is supposed to have Smartmontools, but my old version doesn't seem to have it. I think I'll have to burn a new CD. Any recommendations? SystemRescueCD is fine, but I'm not married to it. (I would prefer something not too complicated though.)

From the Windows 7 repair disk, you can run CHKDSK from its built in command prompt

After I'm done with the SMART scan, correct?

If your PC uses the Grub (ubuntu) bootloader, then reinstalling/CHKDSK repairs shouldn't affect it, although you may need to remap the other OS from the one that's left intact. It is possible a pointer may be lost

I don't quite understand the parts in bold. Is that something I need to understand/do now, or can it wait until after? (again: I may not be able to remember the Ubuntu password, I've installed it and then never really used it, so if I need to edit the boot menu from Ubuntu to get Windows 7 to start - remap? -, that's gonna be an issue...)

Sorry to be such a noob... You've helped me understand a lot already with those winload/winlogon details!

 

[ebm9000]

SMART data is collected automatically by the drive, but using Ubuntu's Disk Manager you can force it to do so by running a scan. You can run the Windows 7 repair thing at any point, and the aprt about losing OS pointers is something that may or may not arise. If it does arise as an issue, you'd go ab out solving it afterward. If Windows remains you can use EasyBCD. Not sure about how to do it in Ubuntu. The possible issue with the bootloader can arise from if you need to reinstall the operating system.