hey guys. k i first got this bsod:

UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME

Technical Info:

***STOP: 0x000000ED (0x82355860, 0xC0000032, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)

then i obtained a copy of windows xp, did the recovery thingy, and the computer worked fine. i then decided to update my sp1 to a sp3. now when i turn on the computer, before it reachs the loading xp screen, it just restarts. so i pressed f5 and disabled the automatic restart, and i got this bsod:

Technical info:

***STOP: 0x0000007B (0xF7A5C528, 0xC0000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)

was the copy of windows i used corrupted? or is this another issue?

and i would like to leave reformatting my computer as a last resort.
i have windows xp pro btw.

update: i checked the sticky about minidumps, but the fact that my computer can't even start, means i can't do those things, can i?

Try this: take your harddrive out of your system and slave it in another system. See if you can access and run a harddrive diagnostics on it.

Also, if you can, run chkdsk and scan for infections.

By the way, do the led lights come on your motherboard, etc., when you attempt to boot up?