I have a Dell Dimension 8400, 1gb RAM, 160gb ROM, running Windows XP Home SP2....

Windows media Player kept not responding while I tried to play a video file, so I used Divix Player instead. Halfway through the movie, I paused and when I came back Divix played needed an update. So I updated and it needed a restart...

When I restarted I encountered a horrifying blue screen!

<blue screen start>
A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME

If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed. If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacturer for any windows updates you might need.

If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware or software. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing. If you need to use safe mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options, and then select Safe Mode.

Technical Information:

*** STOP: 0x000000ED (0x86781930, 0xC0000185, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)
<blue screen end>

Also know that I've searched google and found nothing but crap solutions including safe mode. I am on my roomate's PC right now. I can NOT boot my PC in ANY mode. No safe mode, normal mode, last mode that worked. All of it gives me the same blue screen. I'm not sure if it's the divix player, windows media player, or maybe the movie I downloaded had a virus?

I'm searching through my computer disks right now to find my Windows XP disk.(not even sure I have one) I'll check with my roomate as well to see if he has his(or even has one). As his PC is nearly the same as mine.

PLEASE HELP! I can't afford to pay microsoft to help, dell's support sucks.



Alik

The 0x000000ED suggests the following software recoveries whereas the 0xC0000185 is more indicative of hardware failure: either a drive or its' connection. I would first off see if you can access the recovery console from an XP disk.

If your Dell XP was OEM I am not certain if an XP disk will work but it is worth a try:

Damaged File System

If this is the case, restart the computer to the Recovery Console, and then use the chkdsk /r command to repair the volume. After you repair the volume, check your hardware to isolate the cause of the file system damage.

To do this, use the following steps: 1. Start your computer with the Windows startup disks, or with the Windows CD-ROM if your computer can start from the CD-ROM drive.
2. When the Welcome to Setup screen appears, press R to select the repair option.
3. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the Windows installation that you want to access from the Recovery Console.
4. Type the administrator password when you are prompted to do so.

NOTE: If no administrator password exists, press ENTER.
5. At the command prompt, on the drive where Windows is installed, type chkdsk /r, and then press ENTER.
6. At the command prompt, type exit, and then press ENTER to restart your computer.For additional information about how to use the Recovery Console in Windows XP, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
314058 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314058/EN-US/) Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console
If this procedure does not work, repeat it and use the fixboot command in step 5 instead of the chkdsk /r command.

Otherwise:

Using Dell PC Restore by Symantec
Use Dell PC Restore by Symantec only as the last method to restore your operating system. PC
Restore restores your hard drive to the operating state it was in when you purchased the computer.
Any programs or files added since you received your computer—including data files—are
permanently deleted from the hard drive. Data files include documents, spreadsheets, e-mail
messages, digital photos, music files, and so on. If possible, back up all data before using PC
Restore.
NOTICE: Using PC Restore permanently deletes all data on the hard drive and removes any applications
or drivers installed after you received your computer. If possible, back up the data before using PC
Restore.
To use PC Restore:
1 Turn on the computer.
During the boot process, a blue bar with www.dell.com appears at the top of the screen.
2 Immediately upon seeing the blue bar, press <Ctrl><F11>.
If you do not press <Ctrl><F11> in time, let the computer finish restarting, and then
restart the computer again.
NOTICE: If you do not want to proceed with PC Restore, click Reboot in the following step.
3 On the next screen that appears, click Restore.
4 On the next screen, click Confirm.
The restore process takes approximately 6–10 minutes to complete.
5 When prompted, click Finish to reboot the computer.
NOTE: Do not manually shut down the computer. Click Finish and let the computer completely reboot.
6 When prompted, click Yes.
The computer restarts. Because the computer is restored to its original operating state, the
screens that appear, such as the End User License Agreement, are the same ones that
appeared the first time the computer was turned on.
7 Click Next.
The System Restore screen appears and the computer restarts.
8 After the computer restarts, click OK.
Enabling System Restore
If you reinstall Windows XP with less than 200 MB of free hard-disk space available, System
Restore is automatically disabled. To see if System Restore is enabled:
1 Click the Start button and click Control Panel.
2 Click Performance and Maintenance.
3 Click System.
4 Click the System Restore tab.
5 Ensure that Turn off System Restore is unchecked.

http://support.dell.com/support/edoc.../U70350LRs.pdf

it should have came with a full xp cd, my DELL computer did (about a year ago)