unmountable boot volume

At the moment im trying not to pull my hair out because im frustrated.

A few minutes ago my Dell latitude D600 was working fine and then i shut it down, a few minutes later i tried to restart it and got the above error, i googled it and found out it maybe cause by a corrupt boot.ini file and saw that i can use the recovery console to fix it. So for a moment i was happy because i'v use the recovery console b4 and it was quite easy to use and fix a porblem on another computer. So my dell has sp2 on it, and the only os cd i have is on for a computer i bought that came with sp1. so i pop the cd in and it boots form cd up until I get the error

File \i386\"a file name (it varies each time i retry it) could not be loaded
Code error 4

Now im angry and frustrated.

Anyone know what i should do? Can a sp1 cd used for recover console on a computer that has sp2?

Or do i need a OS cd that came with sp2?

Or is there another way to get the recover console to work on a computer with sp2.

Oh i tried safe mode but same blue screen comes up with unmountabel boot volume.

Any help will be appreciated.

You should not (and most likely cannot) use a Microsoft XP CD on a Dell computer.

If Dell did not supply you with a CD then the Recovery options are on a hidden partition unless Dell advised to create a CD and one was not created when first started.

Anyway Dell support:

http://support.dell.com/support/topi...pport_central?

There is this possibility:

To run the PSA diagnostics Short Drive Self Test (DST), perform the following steps:

Press and hold the <Fn> key, and then press the power button to power the system on.
Release both buttons.
The PSA diagnostics sequence begins.
Follow any on-screen instructions.
Record the sequence of beeps and make note of any error codes that may appear on the display.


Again accessing the Dell Recovery media is what you are after.

The cd im using is form my dell desktop dimension 2350, that came with sp1, I'll try what u suggested and post back.

there is a god in this world, im happy again. So this is what i've done.

First download this http://www.thecomputerparamedic.com/files/rc.iso

This 7Mb .iso will give you a bootable Recovery Console rather than using the 6 floppy set. Unzip and burn the .ISO file to disc using nero or another program (burn it as an image). You can boot the CD and run the Recovery Console.

Pop in the CD and boot from it.

When you see the Welcome to setup press the letter R
You will get a dos prompt
Then type "chkdsk /p" without the quotes and hit enter
When that is done type "fixboot" and hit enter
"Y" and enter at the prompt
Then type "exit" and hit enter
The system will now reboot into Windows

If for some reason that don't work for you, you can boot to the recovery console like above and...
Type "chkdsk /r" then enter
When done type "exit" and hit enter.
This will take longer, but the system should boot back into Windows.

Cool!

Thanks for the update and the major tip and link!

It will undoubtedly help others in the future.