HELP!!!!

[bjb21]

When starting up my computer I am getting a message that says. Disk Read Error Occured. Press Alt + Ctrl + Del to restart. When I do that it just comes back to the same screen. Can anyone help me get back into my HD so I can get my information.

Thanks,
bjb21

 

[ibmtech65]

Try safe mode. Press F8 soon as you see Windows is starting up.

 

[bjb21]

My user that was getting this problem said they were unable to get to the screen to try safemode. However I think they might have been doing it wrong. The person said a screen comes up and says pres F1 to continue or F2 to enter setup. Now the xp install disk is in the computer. I think this person my might waiting to long to hit F8.

 

[Sympology]

pres F1 to continue or F2 to enter setup

pressing to early, not to late.

Only the truly stupid believe they know everything.
Stu.. 2004

 

[bjb21]

Shouldn't you press F8 before you get to that screen. Like when the DELL logo is showing?

 

[vacunita]

No, these are 2 different things:

pres F1 to continue or F2 to enter setup

This is the BIOS speaking. its telling you to either press f1 to ignore the disk error and try to move on, or press f2 to enter the setup and modify settings. At this Point windows hasn't even begun to load, so the F8 key unless used by the BIOS for something else, will do diddly squat.

After pressing F1 to continue you can try to press F8, and see if it will let you get in to Safe Mode,
but a Disk Read error, would most likely mean the drive is failing. I would Press F2 to enter setup, and check that the BIOS can indeed see and recognize the drive. If not, it might be time to go shopping for a new one.



----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[bjb21]

It did come up with press f2 for setup and f12 for boot menu. Went into the BIOS and reset to default as I read in another post someone was having the same issue and this took care of it. Ever since that we get the F1 and F2 now.

 

[vacunita]

It probably means the Hard Drive is failing, and can't be picked up. Try disconnecting everything (CD-roms, other hard drives) except the main hard drive. See if it picks it up.
Are you sure the Hard Drive shows up in the BIOS? Use the Autodetect feature almost all BIOSes now have and see if it can detect it.

But its starting to sound like a failed drive.

----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[bjb21]

When we press F2 it actaully goes into the windows setup. I was going to do the repair by pressing enter to setup xp then f8 to accept the agreement and then do R for repair. However the R for repair is not an option. It just shows the partitoned hard drive.

 

[vacunita]

We are talking about 2 different things.

I'm talking about the BIOS setup. you are talking about the repair feature either from the Windows CD or a recovery partition some PC's have bundled in.

However you have not told me if the BIOS is actually recognizing the drive. Or whether the Disc read error is a Windows message in a blue screen with text, or a BIOS message. Black screen with less text.

However if the Windows Recovery Setup can actually see the drive, then all might not be lost.

You'll probably have to try and re-format the drive and re-set back to factory defaults. If the drive in fact still works.

----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[bjb21]

I have to try and get a hold of the person with the PC, before I can tell if the BIOS reads the drive. I believe it is the black screen with less text. I was just trying to do so "pre-work" to see if I could find out anything. I will try and get the person into the BIOS to see if the drive is detected.