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Question

How can I fix this?

Oct 15, 2013 2:49PM PDT

As of yesterday, my laptop is dead I think. By dead I mean the blue screen of death has come.. I get the error "unmountable boot...something (can't remember sorry)" and it would restart. I can't even put it into safe mode!! I don't have a CD and I cannot make one. Is this the end of my laptop or is there hope? I need my laptop for emails and job searching..

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Make, model?
Oct 15, 2013 3:20PM PDT

I can cause that to happen with laptops with SATA drives. Please don't forget the details.
Bob

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Oh..
Oct 16, 2013 1:46AM PDT

The make and model of my laptop:

Lenovo IBM ThinkPad R51

The laptop was used prior to my own self using it but the previous owner had no problems with it and it was running fine when I began using it. It only did this yesterday which I find weird.

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Also!
Oct 16, 2013 1:48AM PDT

Also, I cannot get it to boot onto safe mode or any modes. It won't go past the blue screen and restarting.

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Ignore the SATA comment.
Oct 16, 2013 2:37AM PDT
http://www.cnet.com/laptops/lenovo-thinkpad-r51/4505-3121_7-30847902.html shows a NINE year old laptop.

My advice is to reinstall the OS from the maker's restore media.

-> But there is another choice here. Given the age of the laptop you could attempt repairing the OS if you have the background to try that. Most of the time I find folk that are using the PC and not into much else.

You may want to try running a Live OS (google that) such as Hirens to see if the machine is still OK.
Bob
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What now?
Oct 16, 2013 4:19AM PDT

If I cannot boot the laptop into any mode, how can I fix it without a CD? Like I said, I am unable to get a CD..

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Strange comment.
Oct 16, 2013 4:26AM PDT

Getting a CD today is done on the internet with another PC. Then we burn it to the CD media and set the machine to boot from the CD.

If the machine's CD drive has failed we look at getting that fixed or trying some USB DVDRW.

Once in a while you encounter folk that really don't want to get into PC repairs. If you encounter that, you send them to the repair or sale counters.
Bob

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Helpful but..
Oct 18, 2013 12:23PM PDT

I do not have a blank CD and I can't get a hold of a USB.

You have been very helpful. Thanks.

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Answer
Sounds like
Oct 15, 2013 11:30PM PDT

Sounds like a dead or corrupted HDD. The error you got was likely "Unmountable boot volume". You can replace the HDD with relative ease 99.99% of the time, but on a unit that came with XP you'll probably have a hard time finding restore media. You could always slap a copy of Linux on there to breathe a little extra life into the unit, but without the original restore media, installing Windows tends to be beyond the average person, especially if we're talking about installing XP on a system with a SATA HDD.

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Answer
As others have said, replace the hard drive
Oct 16, 2013 1:57AM PDT

If you have a full system backup, you can replace the hard drive and restore from the backup. If you don't have a backup, well now you've learned via the school of hard knocks why you need to. Also as has been said, you could get hold of a live CD like Ubuntu, boot from it, and possibly retrieve any data you don't want to lose. This would work only if your hard drive is not completely dead, so it's not guaranteed but worth a try.
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Good luck.