Disk Read Error?

elitebearelitebear Join Date: 2002-05-29 Member: 696Members
i booted up my comp the other day and was encountered with this: "a disk read error occurred." it prevents me from being able to load windows.

i didnt think much of it and i quickly booted the computer up with a windows 2000 cd. i went to the recovery console and typed in chkdsk /r. when i did this, i expected a clean scan, but got this error: "The volume appears o contain one or more unrecoverable problems."

anyone have any ideas as to how i can fix this, aside from reformating?

Comments

  • esunaesuna Rock Bottom Join Date: 2003-04-03 Member: 15175Members, Constellation
    <!--QuoteBegin-elitebear+Apr 17 2005, 05:09 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (elitebear @ Apr 17 2005, 05:09 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> i booted up my comp the other day and was encountered with this: "a disk read error occurred." it prevents me from being able to load windows.

    i didnt think much of it and i quickly booted the computer up with a windows 2000 cd. i went to the recovery console and typed in chkdsk /r. when i did this, i expected a clean scan, but got this error: "The volume appears o contain one or more unrecoverable problems."

    anyone have any ideas as to how i can fix this, aside from reformating? <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Given the "unrecoverable" part, i'd probably say no. *shrugs*
  • Lt_PatchLt_Patch Join Date: 2005-02-07 Member: 40286Members
    Try "bootcfg /scan", this will search the hard drive for all installed versions of Windows, solo-boot setups will only see one entry, listed as "C:\Winnt" (in the case of Win2000).

    If this takes a while to do, then you can try "fixmbr C:", assuming your installation is on a drive assigned "C". Despite the warning, fixing the Master Boot Record, doesn't actually render the Windows installation useless, *UNLESS* you have faulty/failing RAM. And even then, it is possible to rebuild the MBR using the same command, after changing out the faulty part.

    After running FIXMBR, you will need to set the new MBR into place, using "chkdsk /f /p", which runs the normal CHKDSK program, but forcing it to check the partition fully, even if it is not marked as bad. At this point, if it still generates the "The Volume appears to contain one or more unrecoverable errors" message, then restart the PC, and try rebuilding the MBR again.

    Once CHKDSK finishes, then you will need to run "bootcfg /scan" to redetect the installed Windows installation. (If you dont, then there is a chance that Windows might not boot afterwards, nothing major, just run the "bootcfg /scan" command when booting back into the recovery console.)

    After all that has finished, remove the Windows 2000 CD from the drive, type "exit" (the proper way to finish a recovery console session), and wait for Windows to boot up.

    The above method, while not foolproof, does fix around 95% of all Windows 2000, and Windows XP booting problems. If it doesn't fix your one, then I suggest you get your stuff backed up (onto another PC, remove hard drive, install into another PC, copy data, put drive back in original PC), wipe and reinstall Windows 2000.

    *phew*

    Anyone care to guess what I do for a living?
  • GwahirGwahir Join Date: 2002-04-24 Member: 513Members, Constellation
    I like my BartPE disk, it's saved me from a couple bad partial hard drive failures.
  • elitebearelitebear Join Date: 2002-05-29 Member: 696Members
    bootcfg doesnt seem to be a valid command in the recovery console=/.
  • BaconTheoryBaconTheory Join Date: 2003-09-06 Member: 20615Members
    Sounds like you have a trashed hard drive. A reformat is in order. If you still can't seem to find out what's wrong with your drive, load up Knoppix and check it out and see if it can read the drive.
  • elitebearelitebear Join Date: 2002-05-29 Member: 696Members
    edited April 2005
    well i decided to reformat. prior to reformatting, the setup noted that the partition was damaged...what the crap.

    edit: im reformatting a 30 gig partition at the moment and the format progress has been at 0% for like 10 minutes. does it really take this long?
  • CabooseCaboose title = name(self, handle) Join Date: 2003-02-15 Member: 13597Members, Constellation
    I'd say do a full system format dilly with somthing like powermax (if you have a maxtor) or somthing equivilant for other drives.

    BTW, BartPE < Knoppix <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
  • Seph_KimaraSeph_Kimara Join Date: 2003-08-10 Member: 19359Members
    <!--QuoteBegin-elitebear+Apr 17 2005, 07:14 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (elitebear @ Apr 17 2005, 07:14 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> well i decided to reformat. prior to reformatting, the setup noted that the partition was damaged...what the crap.

    edit: im reformatting a 30 gig partition at the moment and the format progress has been at 0% for like 10 minutes. does it really take this long? <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
    If it's a quick format? It should pretty much be done within 10-15 minutes.
  • GwahirGwahir Join Date: 2002-04-24 Member: 513Members, Constellation
    knoppix can't read NTFS can it?
  • coriscoris Join Date: 2003-07-08 Member: 18034Members, Constellation
    <!--QuoteBegin-Gwahir+Apr 17 2005, 08:37 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Gwahir @ Apr 17 2005, 08:37 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> knoppix can't read NTFS can it? <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
    if it functions as linux do in regular, then it can mount ntfs partitions as read-only. (if you mount it as writeable bad things can happen).
  • GwahirGwahir Join Date: 2002-04-24 Member: 513Members, Constellation
    so knoppix wouldn't be able to repair the drive.


    Last I had heard (last summer) the project to refverse engineer NTFS for Linux was pretty much dead...
  • Lt_PatchLt_Patch Join Date: 2005-02-07 Member: 40286Members
    <!--QuoteBegin-elitebear+Apr 17 2005, 06:14 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (elitebear @ Apr 17 2005, 06:14 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> im reformatting a 30 gig partition at the moment and the format progress has been at 0% for like 10 minutes. does it really take this long? <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
    One word.

    Yes.

    The Windows 2000 setup doesn't do quick formats for the reason that 2000 is designed for workstations, and for some servers.

    Quick formats just don't cut it for partition stability.
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