Tom's Guide | Tom's Hardware | Tom's Games
 |
 |
 |
I was using my computer the other day (I run Windows XP Pro) and suddenly I hear a few clicks from the PC. A little bit later it freezes up and I reboot manually. Now whenever I start up my PC, I get some clicking noises followed by this error:
A disk read error occurred
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restartPlease help, I've searched around without any luck and I don't know much about computers
Sounds like your hard drive is damaged. Back up any files you can save immediately and have it checked and replaced if necessary.
0 
Firstly, how do I back stuff up if I can't access it?
And how do you think this might have happened? (is it usually due to external or internal sources?)
0
If you can't access the disk at all you may have to have a professional recover the data from it, but I hear that's expensive.
If the drive is physically damaged it could have been from the computer being bumped or just a drive failure. Are the noises coming from the hard disk or some place else?
0
The clicks sound like those of a floppy drive, but the lights next to the floppy aren't blinking so they probably aren't coming from there. And because the lights of the CD-ROM drives aren't blinking, I would assume it to be from the hard drive, which isn't visible.
Any other possiblities? Anyway to tell for cetain?And what do you mean exactly by "a drive failure"? Could it have been caused by internal sources (like installing new software)? Or could have been the fault of the manafacturer?
Sorry if I sound frantic or stupid
Much appreciated
0
Sounds like the hard drive they are usualy right next to the floppy. A good bump during use is one good way to cause damage. Or sometimes they just die.
Good Luck
0
The hard drive has tiny magnetic heads that float just a few microns above the platters on a cushion of air. A good jolt can cause them to crash into the platter, causing permanent damage. This would cause that section of the drive to be unreadable, and the damage can spread. However, hearing noise from the drive and not being able to access it at all sounds more like some other mechanical failure. If it is under warranty you should probably get it replaced.
0
it sounds like the hard drive crashed. It could be a manufactuer defect. Use a startup disk and run scan disk. If it mentions errors try and fix but if there are surfuce errors which it sounds like then you wont be able to repair and your out of luck and will need a new drive. And yes getting someone to pull off the data from your hard drive is extremely expensive. good luck
0
I have had my computer hang up a time or two and restart and get the same error. I found if i restarted about three times it would straighten itself out. I know that sounds strange but it is what happened to my machine. I have seen a disk I/O error from a floppy drive and it normally set because of a incorrectly hooked up ribbon cable or a faulty floppy drive itself. If that were my computer this is what I would do. I would pull the harddrive out and put in another computer and see if it will work in another computer. All that clicking doesnt sound good but it could also be something besides the harddrive.
0
Thanks alot for the help.
But.. after leaving the computer overnight (not touching it at all), it worked fine in the morning.. I have no idea how. (I had already rebooted many times without luck)
0  |
 XP Pro - security problem
|
favorites icons missing
|
This post is quite old and has been locked from receiving new replies. Please create a new posting instead.
| Ads by Google |
