Solution for "A disk read error occurred."

[starwarsmex]

Hi, yesterday I got this "disk error" message, reading the post I tried everithing that might have something to do with the problem

8. Changing the BIOS drive settings from auto to user-specified, ensuring that LBA is selected may fix it.

This worked for me, enter Bios changed from AUTO to LBA and reboot, after this, Windows XP SP3 boot normally.

Under Windows check the HDD using the Error - checking (Tools Tab), click on Check now... and checked the 2 options there once again I reboot the computer.

A disk check has been scheduled.. bla bla bla, CHKDSK found the change (AUTO to LBA) and Fix something

I wait to the OS boot, then reboot, enter BIOS drive settings, changed LBA to AUTO and reboot

A Disk Read Error Has Occurred ..... Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart. So now I only can boot I LBA mode

For me these are the reasons of this problem:

a hardware interaction between the drive and your system than any actual issues with the drive. To put it one way, your motherboard and drive are no longer on speaking terms.

in most cases the high temp is due to a old Thermal paste or a a wrong position of the heatsink

Or the bad application of the themal paste if the computer is assembled

 

[elohop3e]

Allright. My computer is working fine now. The only difference between this and my first time installing Win7 (see above) is that I didn't install Comodo Time Machine. And it works. Could be a coincidence, but I, like, got a feeling that it's not. So. A subtle word of warning to those who are going to install CTM.

 

[HerbertY]

This dreadful disk read error occurred out of the blue when the system was idling with minimal disk activities.

My Asus laptop comes with a built-in instant-on linux system branded as Express Gate. It went under with Windows 7 as well as the hidden bootable recovery partition.

However. the Ubuntu on extended partition still works problem free.

I can assess all partitions except the NTFS partition where Windows 7 lives.

It shows up as an unknown partition in Disk Management.

Windows recovery DVD took hours trying to fix the disk error with no success.

 

[robeyw]

I think the sequence here is wrong because it is Norton Ghost that has the read error when all read surface analysis programs run error free. After connecting the second drive, I suggest exchanging slave and master assignments then ghosting the original to the new master. The question becomes what to to with the disk that had the error? I did extensive surface testing with Tufftest pro's read, write & repair program and it found noting wrong in the part of the disk that was actually used. Also head hysteresis tests can't find anything mechanically bad.

 

[schmappel]

Another "me too". My "disk read error" limbo went away (at least for for now) after shuffeling the order of the hard drives around in the bios.

 

[da_xanadu]

H Guys,

Please do not immediately resort to hard disk formatting and the like as some of the forum posts that I found through google! In my case I solved the problem by simply changing the SATA cable! Do yourself a favor and go through the less drastic test procedures that some have posted in this thread.

I knew my harddisk should be fine when I saw it listed on the bios post screen so that should be another indicator to watch!

 

[Guest]

I got this error message after partitioning drive C:, while Windows 7 was installed on drive D:.

After hours and hours and days of trying all different thing, the following worked for me.
Get to command line interface using the system restore CD/DVD.

Then enter:

Bcdboot [Windows installation drive]:\Windows /s [Startup drive]

I used "Bcdboot D:\Windows /s C:" and my computer started up again!

This rewrites the boot BCD which helps your computer get to start up Windows...
Hope this helps some other people who experience this problem!

This is one of the most frustrating error messages you can ever deal with. Sometimes the fix is simple, sometimes it's a complete pain. Having recently dealt with this again, I thought I'd post my thoughts in the hopes that it helps someone else out there.

So you receive the dreaded "a disk read error occurred. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart". Multiple restarts result in the same error message.

If you put your drive into another computer, or connecting it as a slave on your own computer, it will typically work fine, and no data is missing.

Because this error is not usually associated with data loss, DO NOT RE-PARTITION THE DRIVE. Your data is likely safe and sound.

Here's how we'll recover your data. Try each step below, in order, and see if your drive becomes accessible after each step. In my experience, you won't start seeing results until step 5 or so.

1. Run CHKDSK /R /P from the recovery console (it will typically find no error)
2. run FIXBOOT from recovery console (typically has no result)
3. run FIXMBR from recovery console (typically has no result)
4. Run the manufacturer's diagnostic utility, downloaded from their website (it will typically find no error)
5. Changing the drives from cable select to Master/Slave may fix it.
6. Replacing the data cable may fix it, but usually not.
7. Setting the BIOS to use defaults may fix it, but usually not.
8. Changing the BIOS drive settings from auto to user-specified, ensuring that LBA is selected may fix it.
9. Pulling the CMOS battery to let the BIOS lose it settings may work.

At this point, you may be feeling some frustration.

If all that fails, here's what will usually work:

Ghost your data to a new drive, and use the original one as a slave. It will work. And all of your data will still be accessible. Your computer should boot normally. If it doesn't, or it there are errors, run the Repair Installation option from your Windows boot CD.


But why does this happen? Nobody seems to know why. The problem typically evades all forms of detection.

Here's what I've learned: this error message likely has more to do with a hardware interaction between the drive and your system than any actual issues with the drive. To put it one way, your motherboard and drive are no longer on speaking terms.

I don't know why the original disk has no problems being a slave. Perhaps it got tired of running the show. Perhaps it's preparing for retirement.

I hope this helps!

Peter

 

[dcscoundrel]

Hi All,

I actually got this message after fooling around with the partitions and volumes on a laptop with a new hard drive. W7 SP1 hosed the machine, so I tried fixing with various tools with no luck. When I started getting the message, I figured it was something I did concerning the partitions, so I loaded the W7 DVD, went to the command line from the repair tools and used Diskpart to clean the disk. This command wipes out everything, including the reserved partition you sometimes get on new hard drives, but I didn't need that, I have plenty of other tools to check hard drives.

Anyway, after using the clean command I created a new primary partition and re-loaded Windows 7, it worked like a charm. Assuming the problem is, as others have stated, that the issue is communication between the hard drive and the machine, cleaning the hard drive completely and re-creating the partition makes sense. BTW, don't just delete the boot partition and think that will solve the problem, the issue is more likely due to the settings given to both the boot partition and the reserved partition, so clean it first, that solves all headaches without you having to figure out any other mystery.

If you've never used diskpart, be careful, it is much more powerful than the disk management tool in Windows, and you can really mess up a drive unless you know what you're doing. Read up on it, there is plenty of documentation out there.

To simply clean a drive and repartition, do the following:

1 - boot to the wiindows dvd and choose Repair
.
2 - Cancel the screen that asks if you want to try an automatic repair, choose Repair Tools.

3 - Choose Command Prompt

4 - Type in the command Diskpart.

5 - When diskpart is loaded, type in List Disk, it will show you any disks that are on the machine. If you have more than one, figure out which one is the disk giving you trouble. It will be Disk 0 if you have only one disk. Again, be careful, you could wipe out a good disk if you don't locate the correct one.

6 - Type in Select Disk 0 (or whatever disk you are trying to clean)

7 - Type in List Partition - this will show you the partitions, their status, etc. You'll probably see 2 partitions, one a reserved one, the other the boot partition. YOu don't really have to do this one, but it might be useful if you want to see what is on that disk.

8 - Type in Clean

9 - Type in Create Primary Partition

That should do it. Worked like a charm for me. If you are loading from Windows DVD after that you shouldn't have to format but you can if you want to.

I typed up these instructions from memory, so be sure to work carefully with Diskpart and make sure before you put in a command. Use Help before you go, or use some online documentation.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey