I get a "Disk Read Error, ctl+alt+del to restart" error message, please help

[coolmandingo]

When I am playing games on my computer, it will frequently freeze all of a sudden, and my only option is to restart the computer, but after I restart and it is booting up again, It says "A disc read error occured, press ctl+alt+del to restart". And then after restarting again I may get this message several more times in a row before it will actually boot into windows. And as far as I can tell it only happens when playing games. I reformatted this computer about a month ago and it has worked perfectly. This isnt the first time this same problem has occured on this computer, it seems like I go thought this same problem every few months or so, and then I normally end up reformatting it to try and fix it, which it usually does, for a little bit, then it always comes back. I have never had this problem on any of my other computers.

What could be causing this error? Do you think it could be a faulty hard drive? Its a Maxtor 100 gig, I defrag it every month or so. But a faulty hard drive is all I can think of, please help me!!

[Raffaz]

When I am playing games on my computer, it will frequently freeze all of a sudden, and my only option is to restart the computer, but after I restart and it is booting up again, It says "A disc read error occured, press ctl+alt+del to restart". And then after restarting again I may get this message several more times in a row before it will actually boot into windows. And as far as I can tell it only happens when playing games. I reformatted this computer about a month ago and it has worked perfectly. This isnt the first time this same problem has occured on this computer, it seems like I go thought this same problem every few months or so, and then I normally end up reformatting it to try and fix it, which it usually does, for a little bit, then it always comes back. I have never had this problem on any of my other computers.

What could be causing this error? Do you think it could be a faulty hard drive? Its a Maxtor 100 gig, I defrag it every month or so. But a faulty hard drive is all I can think of, please help me!!

I would run a harddrive diagnostic program from the harddrive manufacturers website, and se if that comes up with anything. You can get diag program from here http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/Ma...re%20Downloads

[coolmandingo]

ok, i just tried that, and it says my hard drive is perfectly healthy, but i honestly cant beleive that. I dont trust their online diagnostics.

[Raffaz]

ok, i just tried that, and it says my hard drive is perfectly healthy, but i honestly cant beleive that. I dont trust their online diagnostics.

Have you got access to another HD? Also might be worth disconnecting your floppy, and cd drives to see if you get same error, might not be the HD causing problem. You say it happens when you boot up, so have you checked your BIOS settings to see if their ok?

[coolmandingo]

my BIOS is in proper order, I dont have a floppy installed, and ive tried changing the order of the cdrom and HD for boot order, nothing has changed. I reinstalled windows however, and that fixed it. Its just a frustrating problem that pops up from time to time.

[NooNoo]

Ruslan recommends this hard disk checker

from here

[Fratricide]

First off, this is my first post...so hello all and I'm glad I found this place!!

Now, I'm having the same thing happen more or less. But it does not begin with a crash n' reboot during gaming. Mine occurs at bootup. I get the same "A disc read error occured, press ctl+alt+del to restart". And then after restarting again I may get this message several more times in a row before it will actually boot into windows. If I then happen to shut down in the day and reboot, everything is fine.

My first thought was HARD DRIVE. I ran diskeeper and and a couple other apps' and it said the drive was fine. But, hope against hope... I reformatted. Same thing.

Next I reformatted and installed XP Home vs. the previous XP Pro. Same thing. Angry because this is/was a brand new drive. I went out and purchased another new drive. Same thing.

At this point I am almost at a loss. But, I did notice something yesterday though that has my suspicions high. What happened is I turned on the PC for the first time, seen the same disk error message, then went and made some coffee. When I got back, low and behold, there was windows. I had not done anything except leave it on that screen for about five minutes.

To test it out, I did the same thing today that I did yesterday. Sure enough, it had rebooted finally and was at my desktop. Now this has me thinking "heat". With that, let me give you specs'....

MSI K7N2 Delta-ILSR mobo w/ NForce 8x AGP
Athlon XP3000 Barton (no OC)
1024mb Corsair DDR 400Mhz
2x Seagate 80GB Barracuda's (not setup 4 RAID)
PC Power & Cooling 510 watt power supply
Sony 52x CDROM - master
52x24x52 CDRW - slave
Radeon X800 Pro 256mb @ 8x AGP
Creative Audigy II
XP Pro - All drivers Current - BIOS current, checked n' rechecked

Coolermaster aluminum case (wave) 120 & 80mm blowing in, 3 x 80mm sucking out. Coolermaster ACC-L72 Vortex Heatsink/Fan

CPU at full gaming never has or goes above 40 degrees celsius, the rest of the temps never exceed 40 either.


.... now, I've had this about 6 months and never a problem. I had just swapped a Radeon 9800 for the X800 2 weeks ago. Everything was fine for the first two weeks. Then this problem occured.

Sitting back thinking today, the motherboard popped into my mind. I don't recall any heavy handed pokes or prods installing the X800, but who knows. Do any of you think this could be a mobo trace that got severed? My train of thought is a cold and contracted trace is not completing a signal, at warmup the heat expands the trace and reaquires a contact. Which would explain, atleast in my theory, why my PC will bootup after five or so minutes.

What do you guys think? A Mobo swap is easy enough, I just don't want to tear this thing apart untill I exaust all options.

[NooNoo]

When you replaced the video card it is possible you knocked the ide cables, check they are in place. Heat could be an issue, as could be ram. here is a ram checker Allow it to do at least 7 full tests.

The heat output of the new video card may be the cause, what case fans do you have?

[Fratricide]

Thanks for the reply NooNoo , I ran the Memory Tests you reccommended and all was well in that department. Your questions about fans are as follows:


1x Coolermaster SAF-B12-E1 120mm (38.5 cfm) intake in front

1x Coolermaster SAF-S82 80mm (32cfm) intake from left side

3x Coolermaster SAF-S82 80mm (32cfm) for exaust. 2 in rear and one on top...

......as I type this the temperature in this room is 37 degrees celsius. The temperature readings for the PC are:

Case Temp - 37c

CPU Temp - 42c

GPU Temp - 41c

HDD1 Temp - 39c

HDD2 Temp - 39c

..... Since my original post above I have followed the same intital startup routine. It always hangs on the error message, I leave, then come back and it has finally booted up. Yesterday I blew out all the dust, disconnected and checked all my IDE cables, then reinstalled them and the same thing continues.

[NooNoo]

You say checked your ide cables, often they can be faulty without any outward sign, have you tried replacing the cable? 40 or 80 wire cables?

Cd drives can also do odd things, have you tried booting with just the hard drive connected?

Did you update the bios at all?

[Fratricide]

You say checked your ide cables, often they can be faulty without any outward sign, have you tried replacing the cable? 40 or 80 wire cables?

Cd drives can also do odd things, have you tried booting with just the hard drive connected?

Did you update the bios at all?

Again, thanks NooNoo! Now your questions...

Yes, I was/am using Coolermasters UTC-A24 Cables - http://www.coolermaster.com/index.ph...e=UTC-A24Cable - I first checked by using a brand new set of standard flat ribbon cables. Same thing occured. I then picked up another set of the CM UTC-A24's and tried them, same problem. As for booting with just the HDD connected, no I have not tried that yet. I will set up the PC tonight though so that it can be tried tomorrow at the first "cold boot".

IRT my BIOS, yes and no. Yes I flashed to the newest version 4 months ago, but no not recently.

I'll post in a.m. about the next test...

[NooNoo]

How did the boot go without other drives connected?

[coolmandingo]

I emailed Western digital about my hard drive (i said it was Maxtor earlier, but I was mistaken) Any ways, I emailed WD about my problem and they evantually got back to me and said it was a sign of a failing hard drive, then they gave me direction on how to get an RMA and get a replacement, but checking the warranty of my drive showed that it was no longer covered.... Its an anoying problem for sure.