[Tinh]

When I turn on my Window 7 laptop it just wont boot and it says a disk read error occured, press ctrl+alt+del to restart, even though I couldnt even do that. The only way I could restart the laptop is to press the power button. Please help

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Try running chkdsk from the Recovery Console Command Prompt.

How to run chkdsk from the Recovery Console

• Boot your Vista or Windows 7 installation DVD
• When you see "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD", press Enter
• At the "Install Windows" screen, click on Repair your computer at lower left
• At the System Recovery Options screen, make note of the drive letter assigned to your boot drive (normally C:) and click Next
• At the Chose a Recovery Tool window, click on Command Prompt. You will be sitting at X:\Sources directory
• Run chkdsk or SFC
• If you did not note the drive letter of your boot disk, you can enter bcdedit and look at the osdevice line to see what it is.
• Ttype chkdsk c: /r and press Enter (use the letter from above if not C:).

Let either run to completion undisturbed.

Vista or Windows 7: If you don't have a install DVD, you can download a legal copy here:
Windows 7 Direct Download Links
Download Official Windows Vista RTM with SP1 Setup Files (32-bit and 64-bit)

Make sure you get the same version you have installed: 32 or 64 bit; Home Premium, Pro or Ultimate.

[Ztruker]

Try running chkdsk from the Recovery Console Command Prompt.

How to run chkdsk from the Recovery Console

• Boot your Vista or Windows 7 installation DVD
• When you see "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD", press Enter
• At the "Install Windows" screen, click on Repair your computer at lower left
• At the System Recovery Options screen, make note of the drive letter assigned to your boot drive (normally C:) and click Next
• At the Chose a Recovery Tool window, click on Command Prompt. You will be sitting at X:\Sources directory
• Run chkdsk or SFC
• If you did not note the drive letter of your boot disk, you can enter bcdedit and look at the osdevice line to see what it is.
• Ttype chkdsk c: /r and press Enter (use the letter from above if not C:).

Let either run to completion undisturbed.

Vista or Windows 7: If you don't have a install DVD, you can download a legal copy here:
Windows 7 Direct Download Links
Download Official Windows Vista RTM with SP1 Setup Files (32-bit and 64-bit)

Make sure you get the same version you have installed: 32 or 64 bit; Home Premium, Pro or Ultimate.

[Tinh]

Ok so I see a lot of products about Windows 7 home prem 64 bit, but im not sure which to take. There are differences in the end, like SP1 U(media fresh) , SP1(old) , and RTM. Which one should I be using ?

Edited by Tinh, 20 April 2013 - 07:19 PM.

[Ztruker]

Go with this one: Windows 7 Home Premium x64 SP1 U (media refresh) X17-58997.iso

I've used it and had no problems.
I recommend using ImgBurn at 4X speed (or the slowest available) to create the DVD from the downloaded .iso file.

You can do this on any computer capable of burning a DVD.

YOU MUST HAVE A VALID KEY TO INSTALL THIS .ISO. The one on the COA sticker on your computer will work.

You can also create a bootable USB Flash drive (4GB or larger) to install Windows 7 from.

• Download and run Universal USB Installer – Easy as 1 2 3
• Select Windows 7 from the first drop down list, all the way to the bottom
• Select the downloaded Windows 7 iso file
• Select your USB flash drive
• Click Create

For techies or folks who work on computers: Create Windows 7 Universal ISO With All Editions Selection On Install with ei.cfg Removal Utility.
This will fit on a 6GB flash drive or can be burned to a DVD.

[Tinh]

Ok so I burn the ISO files to a USB and i changed the boot order so it will boot the USB first. When the expected error message was suppose to come up, I get another message saying that Windows is reading files, then Windows starting up, then finally a completely black screen with a white pointer. What did I do wrong..

[Ztruker]

Doesn't sound like you did anything wrong. It's possible your hard drive is defective.

See OPTION TWO here: How to Boot to the System Recovery Options in Windows 7

Is that what you are doing?

Also give this a try: How to Run a Startup Repair in Windows 7.

[Tinh]

I do not have the "repair your computer" option in my Advanced boot options screen. And at the moment I cant seem to find the Install CD either...

Edited by Tinh, 22 April 2013 - 12:54 AM.

[Ztruker]

If you do not have a Windows 7 installation DVD, you can download a legal copy with SP1 integrated from here:

Windows 7 Direct Download Links

Make sure you get the same version you have, Home Premium, Pro or Ultimate and 32 or 64 bit. Note that Basic or Starter is not available.

I recommend using ImgBurn at 4X speed (or the slowest available) to create the DVD from the downloaded .iso file.

You can do this on any computer capable of burning a DVD.

YOU MUST HAVE A VALID KEY TO INSTALL THIS .ISO. The one on the COA sticker on your computer will work.

You can also create a bootable USB Flash drive (4GB or larger) to install Windows 7 or use the Recovery Console from.

• Download and run Universal USB Installer – Easy as 1 2 3
• Select Windows 7 from the first drop down list, all the way to the bottom
• Select the downloaded Windows 7 iso file
• Select your USB flash drive
• Click Create

For techies or folks who work on computers: Create Windows 7 Universal ISO With All Editions Selection On Install with ei.cfg Removal Utility.
This will fit on a 6GB flash drive or can be burned to a DVD.

[Tinh]

SO its back to this post.

Ok so I burn the ISO files to a USB and i changed the boot order so it will boot the USB first. When the expected error message was suppose to come up, I get another message saying that Windows is reading files, then Windows starting up, then finally a completely black screen with a white pointer.

[Ztruker]

What expected error message, disk read error?

Sounds like you did not even get to the first Install Windows screen.

Need to test the hard drive to see if it's dead. Check the hard drive with the manufacturer's diagnostic tools.
Hard Drive Diagnostics Tools and Utilities (Storage) - TACKtech Corp.
Bootable Hard Drive Diagnostics

[Tinh]

Ok im going to need a little clarification on this one. Im fairly certain that my manufacturer is Toshiba, so which one should I be using and how would I use it?

[Ztruker]

Check Device Manager to make sure:

Press Windows Key (next to left Ctrl key) + the R key.
Type devmgmt.msc and press Enter.
Expand Disk Drives.

That should tell you for sure what kind o hard drive you have.

For instance, mine looks like this:



I have 3 hard drives. Kingston SSD, Maxtor 300GB SATA and a Seagate 1.5TB SATA.

FOr Toshiba, I think you need this: Hard Drives - Software Utilities

[Tinh]

I cant bôot into Windows for me to check by device manager. But my bios' default has the first booting order listed as HDD/SSD : Toshiba mk5076gsxn(s1). Lastly how do I use the diagnostic tool? and does it support windows 7? Sorry if i'm asking too much, I frankly know nothing about computers... :/

[Ztruker]

I don't see any iso files that would allow you to create a bootable CD/Flash drive so I don't think there is any way to check a Toshiba drive if you can't boot Windows.

Also, you're not answering my questions:

See OPTION TWO here: How to Boot to the System Recovery Options in Windows 7

Is that what you are doing? Are these the screens you are seeing?

Also,

What expected error message, disk read error?

I think you need to take the computer to a reputable repair shop and have them check it out.

[Tinh]

I dont see the "repair your computer" in the advanced boot options, nor do i have the Windows 7 Installation disk. And the expected error message is indeed the disk read error