"A Disk Read Error Occured" error source

I have encountered several times lately the boot-time error message "A
Disk Read Error Occured".

Does anyone know the source of this error, i.e. is it the BIOS, or is
it the IDE's boot code?

--
Remember there's a big difference between kneeling down and bending
over. - Frank Zappa

Mr. Frazzlebottom wrote:

I have encountered several times lately the boot-time
error message "A Disk Read Error Occured".

Does anyone know the source of this error,
i.e. is it the BIOS, or is it the IDE's boot code?

Why does it matter ?

If it actually says
A Disk Read Error Occurred. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart
its coming from the bios.

Why does it matter ?

Umm... because I am trying to fix the problem?

Mr. Frazzlebottom wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Mr. Frazzlebottom wrote

I have encountered several times lately the boot-time
error message "A Disk Read Error Occured".

Does anyone know the source of this error,
i.e. is it the BIOS, or is it the IDE's boot code?

Why does it matter ?

Umm... because I am trying to fix the problem?

Irrelevant if its the bios or the boot code that's generating
that when you are trying to fix the problem. Whatever is
saying that is saying that its having problems with the drive.

Mr. Frazzlebottomwrote:
I have encountered several times lately the boot-time error message
"A
Disk Read Error Occured".

Does anyone know the source of this error, i.e. is it the BIOS, or
is
it the IDE's boot code?

You don't mention your OS. Have you made any hardware changes lately?
Added a RAID card or something like that?

Did you have a sudden power on shutdown? Has your power gone out?

If any of the above are true, you may have screwed up your Master Boot
Record (MBR) and it's showing it.

If you're running a 9x OS, boot from a DOS disk and at the a prompt,
type fdisk.exe /mbr and hit the enter key.

Pull out the floppy and reboot. That should do it if the MBR is the
problem.

With XP, you'd need a utility like "Partition Data Doctor"
at http://www.ptdd.com/

I bought this program and it's saved me a few times.

This is what it sounds like.

Rod Speed wrote:
Mr. Frazzlebottom wrote
Rod Speed wrote

Does anyone know the source of this error,
i.e. is it the BIOS, or is it the IDE's boot code?

Why does it matter ?

Umm... because I am trying to fix the problem?

Irrelevant if its the bios or the boot code that's generating
that when you are trying to fix the problem. Whatever is
saying that is saying that its having problems with the drive.

Now you are confusing me which is an easy thing to do with diagnosing
PC errors I will grant you that, but, if, what you say is true, that,
"Whatever is saying that is saying that its having problems with the
drive." then perhaps one needs to know what is saying that in order to
help with fixing the drive.

dannysdailys wrote:

You don't mention your OS. Have you made any hardware changes lately?
Added a RAID card or something like that?

Did you have a sudden power on shutdown? Has your power gone out?

The error is caused by XP (Home & Pro) with NTFS. It has happened to me
during two new installs. Reinstalling with FAT32 does NOT cause the
error. (Note: _caused by XP_ is what I meant.)

If any of the above are true, you may have screwed up your Master Boot
Record (MBR) and it's showing it.

The question regarding the source of the message was my thinking, "Is
this an MBR issue or a BOOT code issue or a hardware issue?"

Mr. Frazzlebottom wrote
Rod Speed wrote
Mr. Frazzlebottom wrote
Rod Speed wrote

Does anyone know the source of this error,
i.e. is it the BIOS, or is it the IDE's boot code?

Why does it matter ?

Umm... because I am trying to fix the problem?

Irrelevant if its the bios or the boot code that's generating
that when you are trying to fix the problem. Whatever is
saying that is saying that its having problems with the drive.

Now you are confusing me which is an easy thing to do with diagnosing
PC errors I will grant you that, but, if, what you say is true, that,
"Whatever is saying that is saying that its having problems with the
drive." then perhaps one needs to know what is saying that in order to
help with fixing the drive.

Its saying its having problems reading the drive.

That can be due to a variety of possibilitys, the hard drive is dying,
the ribbon cable needs changing, the controller is dying, the
motherboard is dying, the power supply is inadequate, etc etc etc.

You've just got to go thru the possibilitys systematically
to work out what the problem actually is.

See what the drive SMART data says using Everest.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4181
or smartctl from the knoppix CD if Everest doesnt show the SMART data.

Post the SMART data here.

Run the hard drive manufacturer's disagnostics on the drive.

That should tell you if the problem is one of the first 3 possibilitys.

If those look fine, its pretty cheap to try another power supply.

Check the motherboard for failed caps, those are the usually
blue or black plastic colored posts stucking up vertically from
the motherboard. The tops should be completely flat. If any of
them are bulged or leaking, the cap has failed and you need a
new motherboard.

Mr. Frazzlebottom wrote
dannysdailys wrote

You don't mention your OS. Have you made any hardware
changes lately? Added a RAID card or something like that?

Did you have a sudden power on shutdown? Has your power gone out?

The error is caused by XP (Home & Pro) with NTFS. It has happened
to me during two new installs. Reinstalling with FAT32 does NOT
cause the error. (Note: _caused by XP_ is what I meant.)

Likely that's just because the hard drive is failing and the
stuff used during the boot phase is located differently
when the drive is formatted FAT32 and with NTFS.

If any of the above are true, you may have screwed up your Master
Boot Record (MBR) and it's showing it.

The question regarding the source of the message was my thinking,
"Is this an MBR issue or a BOOT code issue or a hardware issue?"

Its always a hardware issue. Whatever is saying that is
saying that its having a problem reading the hard drive.

The message comes from the NTFS boot sector loader.

It can indicate incorrect CHS values passed to BIOS.
If it is not consistent, it means marginal bad sectors in NTLDR.

"Mr. Frazzlebottom" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have encountered several times lately the boot-time error message "A
Disk Read Error Occured".

Does anyone know the source of this error, i.e. is it the BIOS, or is
it the IDE's boot code?