I Have A Huge Problem Around 3 Weeks Ago My Computer Was Working Perfectly Then I Switched It On The Next Day And On The Start-Up I Get A Message Saying 'Disk Read Error Press Ctrl-Alt-Del To Restart' Yet I Pressed Ctrl-Alt-Del And Nothing Happens. I Dont Know A Lot About Computers Cos I Only Use Them For School Work And Stuff. Yesterday I Bought A Boot Cd & A Utilities Cd For Windows Xp But They Didn't Have Any Sort Of Instructions On What To Do With Them (I Don't Know Why They Didn't Cos They Really Should Have) I Don't Have A Clue How To Work Them And I Don't Have A Clue On How To Fix My Problem! Will The Boot & Utilities Cd Help Fix My Problem? If Anyone As Any Advice On What To Do Please Help!
Thankyou

This post has been edited by 9em-x: Aug 6 2007, 04:48 PM

Looks like your hard disk has had some bad sector on it. You can try running your computer in safe mode, by pressing F5 when the computer boot up. If that still doesn't work, you might need to reinstall your windows. You only need the Windows XP installation disk. You should have one when you first got your pc.

If you computer is still under warranty, you can go ahead and get the hard disk replace for free. The technician should be able to help you backup your existing data and replace the windows when you get your hard disk back. He might charge for the service of backing up your data and reinstalling windows.

PS: Next time don't type in Camel Case, it's kinda hard to read.

Run a checkdisk from the windows recovery console. To do this, insert your WinXP installation cd and wait untill you get the option to enter the recovery mode (this shouldn't take too lang). It might be the case that you'll need to load drivers for your hard disk controller (this is usualy the case if you have a SATA hdd), you'll need a driver disk and when the setup asks to press F6 to load the drivers, you should do this.
So, when you are in the recovery console you'll have to select your windows installation (there should only be one) and you'll have to enter the administrator password.
Then you type the following:
chkdsk /r
and let the computer do it's work. The /r option finds bad sectors, re-allocates them and tries to recover information.

If you get a message that there isn't a hdd or a windows installation available, then one of the following things might be wrong:

• completely dead hard disk drive (in this case, the BIOS shouldn't find the hdd either)
• you haven't loaded the drivers for the hdd controller
• the partition table of your hdd is bogus

I know this is a bit difficult if it's your first time, if you realy don't understand it, it's best to find someone who knows somethings about computers and is willing to help you (a friend, relative or a computer store if you want to waste money ).

If you have a windows XP cd, do the step what wutske recommended. If its the case that your windows xp comes with all the bundle drivers which you can only use it to restore your whole computer, run your Boot CD.

First, make sure that your bios is set to boot from CD then HDD. (Some bios setting will bypass the CD reading at startup)
When the CD loads, an option screen should appear. Choose something with CD driver support in DOS. (Normally what a BOOT CD should do). When you are in command prompt, put in your utility CD and list that directory. there should have something to do with 'CHKDISK' or 'check disk' or something related, use that option and follow the chkdsk /r steps that wutske has mention.

Post back whatever you've seen on screen and whatever steps you've made. Try to narrow it down.

Cheers

It's either that or your operating system had failed. That also happens to pre-Vista OSes. On Vista it would be like BOOTMGR compressed, press CTRL+ALT+DEL or NTLDMGR is compressed, press CTRL+ALT+DEL.

xboxrulz

Oh yah, if you are on Vista. Tried Vista once and got error on the BootMgr. So uninstalled it and stick to XP. Currently it is not very fast on the OS. Heavy loading with all that graphics.