[SOLVED] "A disk read error occurred" Hard drive dying?

[Xsanaty]

Iv seen a lot of threads about the "A disk read error occurred", so my question is not directed at a fix, as I do have a fix for it:
I'm going to buy a cheap SSD to install windows onto with a recovery drive, and boot windows from there.

My PC started giving me the error not long ago, but I am able to get it to boot Windows after countless "Turning it off and on again". Once its booted the PC works fine.

My question, however, is will the hard drive itself still be usable? Once my PC is booted up, it works fine, the problem lies in the booting itself. I want to use it to store my data and files, but I'm afraid that the drive itself could be on its last legs (therefore giving me the error). Is there a way to troubleshoot this?

 

[Lutfij]

Make and model of your HDD? HDD manufacturer's usually have their won branded tools to diagnose a faulty/failing drive and provide necessary precautionary advise on whether you should back up your data(and if under warranty, RMA the drive).

 

[noodleman250]

Oh, that is a classic issue I had with my old laptop, just skip disk check and it works fine.

 

[Xsanaty]

Make and model of your HDD? HDD manufacturer's usually have their won branded tools to diagnose a faulty/failing drive and provide necessary precautionary advise on whether you should back up your data(and if under warranty, RMA the drive).

Hi

Its a Seagate Desktop 1TB 3.5" SSHD, its about 4-5 years old. Iv already made backups of my files, since I tried formatting the drive to see if it fixed the issue. It didn't.

 

[seagate_surfer]

We recommend testing the drive with SeaTools Bootable, if the drive passes the long test you will be able to use it.

 

[mdd1963]

Assuming we've ruled out marginal SATA power/data cables or mainboard ports, when getting those kinds of errors, you can almost bet CrystalDiskMark is going to show some 'reallocated sectors count' errors of some type...(I'd certainly be shocked if it was not yet in a 'Caution' status, given your symptoms.

(General wisdom is to accept one or even two of those errors in a non-critical/non-production environment, but, if they increase over time ,even 1 more per week, the drive is likely 'headed south' quickly...i.e., only a matter of time before it is done for.)

You'd be wise to extricate any needed files/docs while they are still readable....

when you get a new SSD, I'd just do a full fresh install, no reason to risk corrupted data copied over in a clone causing issues later if not needed...

 

[Xsanaty]

Hey all

Thanks for the replys. I have installed my new SSD and gotten windows on it which boots with no problem.

But, when I plug the old drive in, it gives me the same error, even when I prioritize the new drive in BIOS (The old drive doesn't even show up as an option).

So I have decided that its not worth the hassle to try and save it. I already have my backups, so nothing is lost. Might buy a new drive at a later date for storage.

Thanks for the help.

 

[popatim]

Try disabling Secure boot int he bios before you give up on the SSHD.
UEFI may just be blocking it as a 'foreign' disk since the current install doesn't know about it and it has an OS on it.

 

[Xsanaty]

Try disabling Secure boot int he bios before you give up on the SSHD.
UEFI may just be blocking it as a 'foreign' disk since the current install doesn't know about it and it has an OS on it.

Hi

I tried doing that, but still it tries to boot from the faulty drive with the same error. I even tried changing around the SATA ports on the motherboard to see if that had an effect, but sadly it still tried (And failed) to boot from the SSHD.

I won't be throwing the SSHD away just yet, just in case one of my more techsavy friends might have a solution. Thanks for the help though, I will consider my thread closed