error read

[foreverpools]

i keep getting a message
a disk read error occurred
press ctr+alt+del to restart

when i do this it keeps going back to the same can anyone help please?

[bongoboy]

Not a good one this,sometimes the only solution is a reformat.
Check the hard drive to see if it is configured for cable select (as most new system are). I f so change the jumper on the rear of the drive to master.
If no luck go into the bios and
-- activate "Load Fail-Safe Defaults",and then reboot.
Post back if no luck.

[ACtheTROLL]

Before you do anything else ....
if you can .... back up everything you can't live without while you can - before doing anything else (just in case)

when you do open the machine ... check both ends of the connector is not loose

also ... before you move any jumpers .... 2 questions
do you have more than one physical disc fitted?
if you do come back .... the re-jumpering needs to be done on both discs (master/slave)
is the connector cable either a 80/40 way ribbon? (which?)
with a 40 way c/sel won't work

do you have one of the new fangled SATA discs .... in which case don't move any jumpers.

disc read errors in my experience are generally down to either
loose cable
or a faulty drive (or a drive getting towards the end of it's life)

you could d/l and install thhe trial version of
http://www.hddlife.com/
it will tell you the status of the drive
either way .... it's easy to loose everything

[foreverpools]

i've done a product recovery with the supplied disc,even though it takes a while to boot up i do manage to get to the log in page then desk top but i was getting this message
checking file system
file record segment 28884,28885,28886 and 28887 is unreadable
file verication completed
chkdsk is verifying indexes stage 2 of 3
index verification complete
chkdsk verifying security descriptors stage 3 of 3
security descriptor verification complete

my laptop is wireless enabled but i can't get online

if i reformat would it clear all errors and how would i do that?

[CHRIS1982]

there are 2 ways of ofrmatting your hard disk, depending on your operating system

for win 95/98

turn on pc as normal and press and holf F8. do this about 5 seconds before it says "starting windows" and from the boot menu select "command prompt only". you are now in dos mode. at the c:\ typa in "format c:\" (without the quotes) and press enter. you will get 1 or 2 warning messages just say yes to them and then let it do its job. NOTE, you will need a start up disk top reinstall windows


For windows XP there are 2 ways

1) Check that in bios your boot sequence starts from your cd rom drive. insert your recovery disk/windows installation disk and reboot computer and it should boot up from the cd rom and boot up as normal or re install windows

2) if your pc doesn't have a recovery cd it can be very tricky. the way to do it is reboot to reset as normal and while it boots up press an hold CTRL (control) and F11 ignoring any error beeps that it may make, and it should jump straight to the recovery partition. when done that it will give 2 choices A) continue (warning you that all data will be removed and the pc being returned to the state that it was in at the factory where made) or B) press CTRL, ALT + DEL to reboot and return to windows. Select option a and it should be quite simple from there.

report back if no joy

chris

[foreverpools]

my head is now trashed,
i've tried installing windows xp and it keeps freezing.
will this be the disc(scratch)or could ibe the hard drive?

[CHRIS1982]

i re-read the original question. to find out whether or not it is the hard disk you need to boot into dos mode and at the "c:\" type in scandisk then press enter. perform a thorough check and any error which are repairable will be fixed automatically if not then scandisk will say so there for hard disk is hammered