HP Pavilion ze5500 won't boot

[avaland]

This morning my high speed was so slow that my laptop jammed up. I coud not unfreeze the windows and resorted to holding down the Power Button for 4 seconds until the entire system shut off.

When I came back 45 minutes later to do a fresh boot I got a screen telling me that the system was being scanned. Then it said a file had been found (3401 "I think was the number") and was being repaired. When that finished and the system tried booting up it couldn't.

The computer kept repeatedly trying to reboot. It would throw up a blue screen error for a second but I couldn't read it. Finally I read about using the F8 key to disable the automatice reboot.

Blue screen error says: Unmountable_Boot_Volume (0x000000ED).

Does anyone know how to solve this problem? I keep googling and reading various things but nothing is making sense. I do have the 5 hp quickstore system recovery cds. Do I use these and if so HOW? I put the first disk in the CD/DVD drive but the computer wouldn't read it.

I'm desperate, its Friday night, my LIFE is on my laptop and I desperately need to have access to all my files.

Any help will be DEEPLY appreciated! Ava

[barryt]

This morning my high speed was so slow that my laptop jammed up

i dont think so ... anyway

Unmountable_Boot_Volume (0x000000ED).

from microsoft website "If you receive this error message when you restart the computer for the first time during an upgrade to Windows XP, your original operating system will still work correctly. In some cases, you may see a message that states that the wrong cable is being used. However, you may not see this message on computers that have a fast startup time"
and
"This behavior can occur if either of the following conditions is true:
Your computer uses an Ultra Direct Memory Access (UDMA) hard disk controller, and the following conditions are true:
You use a standard 40-wire connector cable to connect the UDMA drive to the controller instead of the required 80-wire, 40-pin cable.
The basic input/output system (BIOS) settings are configured to force the faster UDMA modes.
The file system is damaged and cannot be mounted"
the file system section sounds like it is what has happend to you
this from microsoft your solution
"Method 1: Repair the volume
Note the second parameter (0xbbbbbbbb) in the error message. You might have to regenerate the error in order to write it down.

If the second parameter (0xbbbbbbbb) of the Stop error is 0xC0000032, the cause of the error is that the file system is damaged. You can try to repair the volume to see whether this resolves the error. If the second parameter is not 0xC0000032, see "Method 2: Check the IDE cable and load Fail-Safe settings" for help.
Some things that you should know before you try this solution
If the file system is damaged, you can use chkdsk /r command to repair the volume. However, if you use the chkdsk /r command, you may lose some data.
You will need the Windows startup disks or the Windows installation disk. If you do not have them, contact the computer manufacturer for help in obtaining the disks.
You will need the administrator password to complete the steps.
To repair the volume, follow these steps:
Start your computer by inserting the Windows startup disks or the Windows installation disk if your computer can start from the CD drive.
When the Welcome to Setup screen appears, press R to select the repair option.
If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the Windows installation that you want to access from the Recovery Console.
Type the administrator password when you are prompted to do this.

Note If no administrator password exists, press ENTER.
At the command prompt, on the drive where Windows is installed, type chkdsk /r, and then press ENTER.
At the command prompt, type exit, and then press ENTER to restart your computer.
After you repair the volume, check your hardware to isolate the cause of the file system damage.
If this procedure does not work, repeat it, but type fixboot instead of chkdsk /r in step 5.

If you are still unable to resolve the issue, please see the "Next steps" section for help.
Method 2: Check the IDE cable and load Fail-Safe settings
If your computer uses a UDMA hard disk controller, try these steps. If your computer does not use a UDMA hard disk controller, see the "Next steps" section for help.
If your UDMA hard disk is connected to the controller with a 40-wire UDMA cable, replace the cable with an 80-wire cable.
In the BIOS settings for your computer, load the 'Fail-Safe' default settings, and then reactivate the most frequently used options, such as USB Support.
If you are not sure how to follow these steps, contact the manufacturer or refer to the user’s guide that was included with your hardware"

if this doesnot help you your RAM can give this problems, a virus can give this problems, and bad drivers can give this problems but it sounds like your file system is broken,hopefully you have partitions on your HD so that if all else fails(including your HP cd - witch is doubfull (you will lose all your data though) you can try a fresh install on a seperate partition to try and fix the other partition with chkdsk to be able to retreve your info
HOPE it workes
let us know