Tech Support Forum banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

"A disk read error occured Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart"

6K views 9 replies 3 participants last post by  Acilius 
#1 · (Edited)
Ok, a while ago, my PC worked fine until one day I booted and it was extremely slow loading all startup programs. Eventually it froze up completely and I was forced to restart. Every time I rebooted it would restart itself whilst the loading screen for windows came up, or get through to the login screen but have mouse disabled, OR actually select my login but only ever load my desktop picture after hours and nothing more.

I tried to use my windows disk but to no avail. There was a file error. Anyway somehow through the cmd I got it to check the disks etc and it worked fine after a blue screen which checked files in 3 steps (I forget how I got this).

Then once again after a couple of weeks I am on my computer when it suddenly lags badly, grinds to a halt and everything freezes. I am shortly after forced to restart it. This time however just before the windows loading screen bit it says

"A disk read error occurred
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart".

Now once again I cannot run the windows disk due to the same error, (I will get the name if necessary.) Furthermore beforehand I was able to boot in safe mode (i.e press F8, select the boot device, then press F8 some more and then get the list of CMD, last known config, safe mode etc etc), whereas now, I get the error prior to this. As far as I can tell, all I can do is play with the BIOS on the computer, which I know a bit about but not enough to know a blatant error. Needless to say I have tried resetting to optimal settings on the BIOS.

I have a Q660 Quad Core Processor and ATI Radeon x1300/x1550 series GPU, 4gigs of RAM on XP SP3.

Thanks for any help in advanced and please let me know any more info required.

P.S. Incidentally it was whilst playing the PC game Mount&Blade that both these problems occurred, although in the meantime I had no problems with it.

Dave.
 
See less See more
#3 ·
It sounds like you might have a hardware malfunction, but there's a few things to try with the software, but it unfortunately requires you to be able to boot into the recovery console.

First thing to do is reset your BIOS to factory settings. If there's not an option in the BIOS itself, you'll have to reset it manually on the board. After that, make sure that the CD drive is the first item in the boot priority. Insert your XP CD and try to boot. *Hopefully* you'll be able to boot into the recovery console. When you make it there, type in the following commands, hitting enter after each one:
Code:
C:\>fixmbr
C:\>fixboot
C:\>chkdsk /r /p
Let us know if this doesn't work.
 
#4 ·
Hi - no I cannot get into the XP CD, it begins loading before giving me the following error: File dac2w2k.sys caused an unexpected error (8192) at line 3540 in d:\xpsprtm\base\boot\setup\setup.c.

Also I am in the process of using the SAMSUNG utility here http://www.samsung.com/global/business/hdd/support/utilities/Support_DiskManager.html but wonder what this does exactly? Does it just reformat my HDD? I wouldn't mind a clean install as my important files are backed up on an EHDD but I don't actually know how to fix/format since I can't use the CD.

I wonder if this is to do with registry or something as I've installed and uninstalled Mozilla about 6 times and before in my programs it showed like Mozilla (2) Mozilla (3) etc etc.

But still going to run the utility asap and will get back to you.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Ok, I have run the SAMSUNG utility disk, and I now have these options so please let me know which to try:

137 GB Limitation (dunno wth this means my HDD is 500GB)
Adding a New Hard Drive
Backup or Restore MBR
Booting to Diskette or CD
Cable Connections
Contacting Samsung
Create an Ontrack Boot Diskette
Custom Installation Manual
Custom Partitioning
Dynamic Drive Overlay (DDO)
Dynamic Drive Overlay Switch Settings
Existing Hard Drive Data
File Copying Errors
Hard Drive Information
Hard Drive Information Options
Hard Drive Jumper Information
Keyboard Navigation
License Agreement
Maintenance Options
Mounting Brackets
Remove Dynamic Drive Overlay
ScanDisk
Select Boot Drive or Additional Storage
Select Drive Screen
Select Drive to install
select Easy or Advanced Installation
Select Operating System
Set Hard Drive Size
Utilities.

I missed update MBR boot code.. Also there is a HDD information bit which I guess tells you if it is damaged.

The options are:
display technical hard drive information
view hard drive jumper settings.

The first gives me a Translation Information table, with MBR Partition Table showing only 1 "type 7" Bootable = true 500 gig HDD. XBIOS logical and physical = N/A . There is other info (post if required and I will take a pic).

The second option has like drive manufactureer with drive model and master/slave settings which I dont understand oh, and jumper on and off.

Thanks.
 
#10 ·
If I go into Maintenance Options I get 3 options:
Create an Ontrack Boot Diskette (which I think does not work as I have no floppy drive, and I could not make it using blank or windows disks).
Update MBR Boot Code (which I think does nothing either)
Backup or Restore MBR

I have the following options greyed out and unselectable:
Upgrade Disk Manager
Update DDO
Remove DDO
Convert Drive Format
Unhide Partition.

Right, in Utilities I can:
Copy a Partition
Set Hard Drive Size
Zero Fill Drive Full
Zero Fill Drive Quick

And furthermore in hard disk information:
Display technical Hard drive information
View Hard drive jumper settings

Anyway I'm not sure if this is what I wanted to know but it says Type = 7, and Bootable = true.

On the explanations of each function there is a ScanDisk option but I can't find it in any of the sub categories:
Add New HDD
Install existing HDD
Maintenance Options
Utilities
Hard Disk Information.

The only diagnostic I appear to find is the technical information option.

Also I have been told this may be due to something simple e.g. HDD not properly connected - is this worth a look?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top