[cleanprophet]

My brother is having some significant problems with his laptop. He leant his laptop to a friend and when he got it back it didn't load up properly.

What is happening now is that when he turns the computer on (Toshiba Satellite C650) it starts to load with the Toshiba logo and then it says "Disc read error" and stops loading. Windows doesn't load. It stays on disc read error.

He tried using his recovery discs, but once he inserts the 2nd disc everything stops and the recovery process doesn't happen.

He can get onto the setup utility page but doesn't know what to do next. Any ideas?

EDIT: Having searched around on the internet, I found someone on a forum who was having a similar problem and it seems the problem was as simple as his own burned disc, containing Windows 7 (which is the operating system for my brother's laptop also), was not being read. My brother's recovery discs are, obviously, also burned. This chap on the forum tried an original Vista disc he had and it was actually read. He eventually downloaded Windows 7 from a site and burned that to disc following specific instructions for burning this software to disc, this time he didn't get the "disc read error". This time, the disc was being read and the process began to fix some errors and restore things.

Is this the likely problem and, if so, how can he get hold of Windows 7 and burn it to disc correctly so that it can be read properly?

Edited by cleanprophet, 02 May 2012 - 06:45 AM.

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He eventually downloaded Windows 7 from a site and burned that to disc following specific instructions for burning this software to disc, this time he didn't get the "disc read error". This time, the disc was being read and the process began to fix some errors and restore things.

Where did he download it from because I know of no legal place to download a OS from.

Is this the likely problem and, if so, how can he get hold of Windows 7 and burn it to disc correctly so that it can be read properly?

Yes and purchase it would be the correct way to do it.

Being a laptop did he try to use the recovery partition to restore the system?

[rshaffer61]

He eventually downloaded Windows 7 from a site and burned that to disc following specific instructions for burning this software to disc, this time he didn't get the "disc read error". This time, the disc was being read and the process began to fix some errors and restore things.

Where did he download it from because I know of no legal place to download a OS from.

Is this the likely problem and, if so, how can he get hold of Windows 7 and burn it to disc correctly so that it can be read properly?

Yes and purchase it would be the correct way to do it.

Being a laptop did he try to use the recovery partition to restore the system?

[Kemasa]

The first step I would take is to get a copy of the disk manufacturer's diagnostics disk and test the drive. You might also take the disk out and make sure that the connections are ok.

It is possible that the laptop was dropped or otherwise subject to a physical impact, so making sure that everything is properly in place is a good thing.

[cleanprophet]

He took the laptop to a computer specialist and he's currently looking at it. He said it, when he first saw it, that it does look like there is no windows on the computer at all for some reason. So he's going to put windows on it and take it from there.

EDIT: The chap in the computer shop told him that the hard drive was the problem rather than anything else. That needs replacing.

Edited by cleanprophet, 10 May 2012 - 10:23 AM.