Creating a Windows Vista Bootable CD with other files on it

Wallrat · #1 June 25th, 2009, 06:39 PM

Vista Blue Screened with an UNMOUNTABLE_VOLUME error.
Not good I think.

I have the recovery disk etc and run repair. Same error. Try to reinstall and it can't find the drive so I'm thinking it's hardware on the WD 320 gig drive. Corrupt sector or something.

I get a new drive - reinstall vista and the new drive works great. There may be some data on the HD that was added between the last back up and the crash. Western Digital has a diagnostic tool here http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=608&sid=30〈=en

The tech tells me to burn the iso file using Nero as the Windows media player apparently doesn't do it. I do so and I can't get the disk to boot.

Here's my question, how can I effectively run a diagnosis on the HD to determine the problem? Is it best to slave it to the new drive and run it from Vista or does it need to be done from a boot disk? If so, how do I create a bootable Vista disk with the diagnostic utility on it? Or does it have to be a Vista boot disk - can I just boot to a DOS disk to run the utility?

Thanks in advance for your answers. Obviously I only know enough to be dangerous.

Terry60 · #2 June 25th, 2009, 08:41 PM

Hi Rat, welcome to NST.
Try picking up a free copy of Imgburn and use it to burn your ISO.

Wallrat · #3 June 25th, 2009, 09:05 PM

Thanks - I'll give it a go!

Coolname007 · #4 June 25th, 2009, 09:41 PM

This error message is usually due to having a corrupt boot sector on the "system" partition.

Boot from the recovery disk, access the Command Prompt, and run the following commands:

chkdsk /r X:

replacing X: with the correct drive letter of your "system" and "active" partition (which is probably your Vista OS's partition, but not necessarily) as seen by the recovery disk. And that should fix the problem.

Wallrat · #5 June 26th, 2009, 03:42 PM

Update: I downloaded Imgburn and successfully burned the ISO. I was able to run diagnostics on the disk. Thanks Terry

Not that these will mean anything because they're specific to WesternDigital hardware but the quick test reported error 0007 - Read element failure and the full test reported error 0225 "Too Many Errors Found".

I just love the fact that they have a code for too many errors. : )

Coolname - I didn't get to run check disk last night. I highly suspect it will show numerous bad sectors.

Moving forward to attempt data recovery. Mostly photos from a ministry trip. Last back-up was Sunday. Pictures transfered to the computer Monday. Crash was Tuesday.

*sigh*
<--- Hates HD failures.

Terry60 · #6 June 26th, 2009, 07:50 PM

I hate to sound like a stuck record (is anyone here old enough to remember those round disks that stored music as a wavy line ? ), but I'll repeat my endorsement anyway.
I'm a great fan of the freeware EZBackItUp, which I use last thing every day to copy any new or changed files in my User folders and my Mail folder. It's a doddle to set up, and apart from the initial run (which obviously has to copy absolutely every user file), it's lightning quick.
Recovery of a lost or damaged file is a simple drag back to the main disk. (my backup is a separate internal HDD for security, and I also use the same program for monthly backups to an external USB disk)
It's a bit late for you now Rat, but in future you might benefit.
Remember Parkinson's Law "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong".

Wallrat · #7 June 26th, 2009, 08:07 PM

Good Point Terry... And I'm new here so it's not a stuck record sound.
I thought weekly BU's were enough... and normally it would have been... but photos can't be recreated.
I'll check out EZBackItUp as I'm looking for something better than the clunker that came with Vista.

kairozamorro · #8 June 27th, 2009, 03:43 AM

Yeah, Vista backup/restores prone to many problems

Coolname007 · #9 June 27th, 2009, 05:54 AM

Have you tried my suggestion yet, and ran a check disk on the problem drive?

Wallrat · #10 June 30th, 2009, 04:42 AM

Coolname007

Here's what I'm getting:
File record segment 44352 is unreadable.
File record segment 44353 is unreadable.
File record segment 44354 is unreadable.
File record segment 44355 is unreadable.
File record segment 44368 is unreadable.
File record segment 44369 is unreadable.
File record segment 44370 is unreadable.
File record segment 44371 is unreadable.
2 percent complete....
File record segment 56724 is unreadable.
File record segment 56725 is unreadable.
File record segment 56726 is unreadable.
File record segment 56727 is unreadable.
4 percent complete...
File record segment 103240 is unreadable.
File record segment 103241 is unreadable.
File record segment 103242 is unreadable.
File record segment 103243 is unreadable.
8 percent complete
File record segment 177412 is unreadable.
File record segment 177413 is unreadable.
File record segment 177414 is unreadable.
File record segment 177415 is unreadable.
File record segment 177416 is unreadable.
File record segment 177417 is unreadable.

And on and on.....

Coolname007 · #11 June 30th, 2009, 04:52 AM

Did it fix those problems though?

Wallrat · #12 June 30th, 2009, 04:56 AM

Here's the more exciting stuff...

40 bad file records processed.
108 reparse records porcessed.
CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 5)...
10 percent complete.
Correcting error in index $SII for file 9.
Correcting error in index $SII for file 9.
An unspecified error occurred.

X:\Sources>

And it stopped... I'm restarting it now.

Hey - what's the dos command to browse the dirs on the disk?

I thought it was cd \ c: but that doesn't seem to work.

Coolname007 · #13 June 30th, 2009, 05:03 AM

Originally Posted by Wallrat

Hey - what's the dos command to browse the dirs on the disk?

I thought it was cd \ c: but that doesn't seem to work.

cd /d C:
dir

kairozamorro · #14 June 30th, 2009, 05:03 AM

dir /?

Wallrat · #15 June 30th, 2009, 05:23 AM

Thanks...
I'm re-running chkdsk and it's past the unexpected error and sorting indexes and correcting errors

*Crossing fingers*

Addendum:

chkdsk errored again but after much longer...
I'm going to try again.

In between runs though I did try cd /d C:
"The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error."

Restarting chkdsk.