Disk Error, press any key to continue...

[kookbox]

My computer won't boot. All I get is a black screen that says, "Disk error, press any key to continue". Is there any way to bypass this message to find out if the hard drive is dead or if the OS just needs to be repaired? Any other possibilities of what the problem might be? I tried holding down the F8 key to get into safe mode but that doesn't do any good.

Thanks!
Lynn

 

[micker377]

Sounds like Hard Drive problems (hard drive, data cable, or power lead). First, unplug and plug the cables to the boot drive. If that doesn't help, you will need a boot disk for your OS. What Operating System do you have? By the way, F8 (safe mode) is a sub-set of normal Windows boot. If Win won't boot, neither will safe mode. You don't want F8, you want to boot into "Setup". Look at your screen while booting, and it will say "For setup hit xxxx key. May be delete, esc, F2, F11, all depending on your particular Bios chip.

 

[kookbox]

I have WinXP. Someone else here suggested using F8 but I'll look for setup option instead. So you're saying errors like this can becaused by cables and such? And if the problem isn't one of those it's probably something wrong with the hard drive? How hard is it to install a new hard drive and install the OS and stuff? And I have a couple CD drives on this, will the new OS be able to find these things?

Sorry, novice here! Thanks!

 

[micker377]

Before you get too worried, do what I said before. Then look in the BIOS setup to see if the hard drive is being recognized. It could be as simple as the BIOS battery is dead (4/5 dollars). The next step is to download the diagnostic program from the hard drive manufacturer (runs from the floppy). You have a ways to go, before we condemn the hard drive.

 

[kookbox]

If the hard drive isn't being recognized will it simply not show up at all in the BIOS setup? What would be the indicator that it's just the BIOS battery?

Thanks for your help!

 

[micker377]

Bad cmos battery = loss of settings (hard drive parameters, time and date, anything the system is supposed to "remember" between bootings. Yes, the loss of the drive should show up in setup (if set on <auto>, you might not be able to tell). When you first boot up, the screen should tell you what drives you have. If you can get into setup, see what it says for "Master" (the first drive listed). Of course, if the cables are bad/loose setup won't see the drive either.

 

[kookbox]

Hello again! I am on the computer now, but here's the status. When I boot up I still get the same message; if I boot up with the restoration CD in the drive it loads WinXP. So the hard drive is working. Does this mean there's something going on with the boot process and if so, any ideas on how to test it and correct it? Virus scanners aren't finding any viruses but maybe that doesn't mean I can't rule a virus out.

 

[kookbox]

Before I forget - the restore CD is in the drive, but I am given an option to boot from hard disk OR cd - and when I select hard disk it boots. I haven't even tried using boot from CD yet.

 

[BaudKarma]

This is a simple one, but check if you've got a floppy disk in the drive.



I try not to let my ignorance prevent me from offering a strong opinion.