Help, " 0x0000007B: INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE" bsod error!

[SAJ]

Really need some help here, Im at my wits end.
Yesterday I started to get the dreaded "0x0000007B: INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE" bsod message, each and every time I boot up (straight after the windows loading screen comes up).
Im running windows 2k, ide hd 160gb (five months old) with two partitions on it (aprox 120 and 40 gig each) larger bootable and a small one for junk , all on fat32.

Ive tried putting the HD into my gf's xp box(the one Im using now), the main partition isnt even recognised as being formatted, but the smaller one is and can be used as a normal slave drive. The bootable partition not being recognised could be due to the xp box using ntfs file system I suppose, but if thats the case then surely the smaller partition ought to have been unrecognisable also.

I tried booting from the win 2k disk and running chkdsk , but that just came back with "this disk has one or more unrecoverable errors on it" which wasnt much help.
I dont have a repair disk, and as I dont have a spare HD (or xp pro) I dont see anyway of making one.

Im really desparate here, any help/advice gratefully received

 

[Elston]

Have you changed any drivers or installed new hardware recently? Had this error a couple of times and its been the IDE controller drivers that have corrupted on me. Could also be a dodgy stick of RAM, running memtest86 for a few hours should answer that one.

The XP box should have no problems reading the main partition even tho it is in FAT32.
When you say you have tried the Win2k disk do you mean the CD? If so have you tried the recovery console to try and repair it? Could be a boot sector problem / virus.

 

[SAJ]

Have you changed any drivers or installed new hardware recently?

Thanks for the reply Elston, the answers no and no. Same old drivers and hardware for a while now.

The XP box should have no problems reading the main partition even tho it is in FAT32.

Yeah, I thought so to, that part has got me really worried. Until I put the drive into the xp box, my worst case scenario was a full re-install of the OS, but now...... 3yrs worth of lost data *gulp*

When you say you have tried the Win2k disk do you mean the CD? If so have you tried the recovery console to try and repair it?

Yep, I meant the 2k CD. The recovery console -I believe- only gives me the option of "FIXMBR".........

FIXMBR
fixmbr device name
Use this command to repair the master boot record (MBR) of the boot partition. In the command syntax, device name is an optional device name that specifies the device that needs a new MBR. Use this command if a virus has damaged the MBR and Windows cannot start.

WARNING : This FIXMBR command can damage your partition tables if a virus is present or a hardware problem exists. Using this command can result in inaccessible partitions. Microsoft recommends that you run antivirus software before you use this command.

(Emphasis added) So if I do have a virus in the boot sector, then FIXMBR could do irreversable damage.

Could be a boot sector problem / virus.

Well if it is a virus, how can I get to it when the xp box wont even see the drive to virus-scan it and I cant load win 2k even in safemode?

A bit of a fix, no ?

 

[SAJ]

Anyone ? ...............

 

[AWPC]

Little late now but always use NTFS for W2K as faster + more reliable + wastes less disk space due to cluster size.

If you say chkdsk does not fix it then it could well be that the partition has become corrupt and TBH easiest fix is to copy all of your critical data to another device then delete the partition and reinstall windows again. Failing that just try to reinstall W2K onto the same partition but DO NOT DELETE the partition just let it reinstall over the exisiting Windows folder. It will do this automatically and call it Windows.000 or similar. You do not lose hardly any data this way and it also repairs the W2K boot environment. If it cannot do so then you have a hardware failure issue either HD cables need replacing in case they have broken apart (happens sometimes due to heat buld up in case) or just plug them in again and make sure they are fully in both the mobo + HD sockets.

With regards to the issue about not being able to read the HD in your gfs PC that could be security related as XP & W2K look for security signatures depending on how they are setup may not be able to read the HD.

Find & launch the computer disk management admin tool within XP then check to see what it is saying for this HD it cannot detect. If it does not even appear then the HD may be dying. Also check in the bios on startup to see if it even detects the drive as again that can tell you whether or not it is a hardware/cabling issue or just a corrupt MBR.

Sometimes installing the recovery console on W2K can cause this error message especially if you have applied SP4 but your original install was on a lower W2K build it corrupts the boot environment due to file version differences (thanks Microsoft!).