[Phirestorm]

I was working on my computer and it began to freeze up. I turned the computer off, restarted it, and received the message "Disk Read Error Occured." It then said to hit Ctrl-Alt-Del to reboot.

When I pressed Ctrl-Alt-Del to reboot, I pressed F8 to try to enter safe mode. The bars move across the screen at an EXTREMELY slow rate (one bar every 5 minutes, if that). Can you offer some advice as to what it wrong and what I can do to remedy it?

Thanks so much!!!

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If it does not load normally

Start the System Restore tool at a command prompt

1. Restart your computer, and keep tapping F8 during the initial start-up until you get options, select Safe Mode with a command prompt then press enter.

2. Log on to your computer with an administrator account or with an account that has administrator credentials.

3. Type the following command at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:

%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

4. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to restore your computer to an earlier state.

For additional information about the Safe mode with a command prompt, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

http://support.micro....com/kb/315222/


A description of the Safe mode boot options in Windows XP

If it does load normally

Click start then run, type sfc /scannow then press enter, you need the XP CD and get a blue progress bar, when the bar goes, reboot.

You can check for any improvement now, and then after each step until you have run through them all, if necessary

When it has loaded to the desktop, click start then run, type chkdsk /f /r then press enter, type Y to confirm for next boot, press enter then reboot.

This will take an hour, it will appear to load normally then either the monitor will show progress or the screen will go blank, do not disturb this.

When it gets to the desktop, the system files and the hard drive will be as they should

Click start, all programmes, accessories, system tools to run disc clean up, click more options then clean up restore points, click confirm, click OK. Then from system tools, run disc defragmenter.

Click start then run, type prefetch then press enter, click edit then select all, right click any file then click delete, confirm delete, then reboot

If no change, the next thing to do would be a repair install, this will leave data and settings intact

XP Repair

If you are unable to run XP Repair

Alternate XP Repair

Use the last one, Windows Installation CD to repair the current installation, which uses a slightly different method

Beyond this, it could be a hardware fault

The next steps are optional

Get Tune Up 2006 Trial

Run disc clean up then registry clean up then click optimize to run reg defrag, which needs a reboot

After the reboot, click optimize then system optimizer to optimize the computer, select computer with an internet connection from the drop down menu, this also requires a reboot

After the reboot, click optimize then system optimizer to accelerate downloads, select the speed just above your actual connection speed, this requires a reboot

After the reboot, click optimize then system optimizer to run system advisor

[Retired Tech]

If it does not load normally

Start the System Restore tool at a command prompt

1. Restart your computer, and keep tapping F8 during the initial start-up until you get options, select Safe Mode with a command prompt then press enter.

2. Log on to your computer with an administrator account or with an account that has administrator credentials.

3. Type the following command at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:

%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

4. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to restore your computer to an earlier state.

For additional information about the Safe mode with a command prompt, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

http://support.micro....com/kb/315222/


A description of the Safe mode boot options in Windows XP

If it does load normally

Click start then run, type sfc /scannow then press enter, you need the XP CD and get a blue progress bar, when the bar goes, reboot.

You can check for any improvement now, and then after each step until you have run through them all, if necessary

When it has loaded to the desktop, click start then run, type chkdsk /f /r then press enter, type Y to confirm for next boot, press enter then reboot.

This will take an hour, it will appear to load normally then either the monitor will show progress or the screen will go blank, do not disturb this.

When it gets to the desktop, the system files and the hard drive will be as they should

Click start, all programmes, accessories, system tools to run disc clean up, click more options then clean up restore points, click confirm, click OK. Then from system tools, run disc defragmenter.

Click start then run, type prefetch then press enter, click edit then select all, right click any file then click delete, confirm delete, then reboot

If no change, the next thing to do would be a repair install, this will leave data and settings intact

XP Repair

If you are unable to run XP Repair

Alternate XP Repair

Use the last one, Windows Installation CD to repair the current installation, which uses a slightly different method

Beyond this, it could be a hardware fault

The next steps are optional

Get Tune Up 2006 Trial

Run disc clean up then registry clean up then click optimize to run reg defrag, which needs a reboot

After the reboot, click optimize then system optimizer to optimize the computer, select computer with an internet connection from the drop down menu, this also requires a reboot

After the reboot, click optimize then system optimizer to accelerate downloads, select the speed just above your actual connection speed, this requires a reboot

After the reboot, click optimize then system optimizer to run system advisor

[EWayne]

I was working on my computer and it began to freeze up. I turned the computer off, restarted it, and received the message "Disk Read Error Occured." It then said to hit Ctrl-Alt-Del to reboot.

When I pressed Ctrl-Alt-Del to reboot, I pressed F8 to try to enter safe mode. The bars move across the screen at an EXTREMELY slow rate (one bar every 5 minutes, if that). Can you offer some advice as to what it wrong and what I can do to remedy it?

Thanks so much!!!

I have a compaq laptop Evo n610c with XP Pro. I am experiencing the above problem but cannot get it to respond with Ctrl+Alt+Del except to the F10 (setup) or back to the Disk Read Error Occurred message. I cannot get it to respond with F8 either. Does anyone have an idea how to get passed this roadblock?

[SpywareDr]

... Disk Read Error Occurred

Once a hard drive dies, the only option is to replace it.

(ALL hard drives will die. They're mechanical, with moving parts. Moving parts wear out. And, once they do, that's it. Time for a new hard drive).

Edited by SpywareDr, 28 May 2010 - 04:01 AM.

[EWayne]

So you think this is a hard drive failure. The hard drive is under warranty so that can be handled. Thanks

[SpywareDr]

So you think this is a hard drive failure.

I'd hook it up to a different machine to be sure. If it also came up with the same "Disk Read Error", then yes, the drive needs to be replaced.

The hard drive is under warranty so that can be handled. Thanks

That's good news.

[123Runner]

All the disk read errors I have run across are a failed (mechanically) hard drive.

Slave it to another computer and see if you can access it.
Try running the drive manufacturers diagnostics on it. You can do that one while it is still in the computer because the drive diagnostics runs from a bootable cd.

123runner