A disk read error occurred

ScanIAm wrote:

If you still have your windows install disk, you could try to repair it...

I guess I could do that, but I have two choices:
1) Use the Sony VAIO Recovery CDs that came with the laptop (although they will install WinXP Home).
2) Use the WinXP Pro SP2 Installation CD that didn't come with the VAIO.

Unless someone thinks it's better for me to use the Recovery CDs I think I'll go with the XP Pro CD, basically because using the Recovery CDs will install XP Home without any Service Pack, and I'm not willing to hook on to the internet to download SP2 because I'm on dialup.

I think I'll keep Linux away on this one Beer, I'm too much of a novice to understand how to go about installing it, not to mention the slow download time (and I'm not going to pay money for a Linux Distro on CD either).



I'll report back asap
Loadsgood.

No Windows Menu comes up. I already tried to see if the harddrive was connected correctly in the BIOS and it is.

The error message "disk read error..." comes up in a DOS like screen so it might be a hardware problem. Not to mention that I have deleted the only partition on the harddrive and am now formatting it in NTFS, but nothing is happening... The formatting progress is at 0% and the only indication that something is happening is that the loading light is on. It has been at 0% for the past five minutes now, I'm going to let it try and format and if nothing happens within the hour I'm going to pull the plug.


Why does my VAIO have to stuff up after 5 or so years of good service?
Loadsgood.

I tried to format the harddrive but it just stays at 0% and doesn't do anything, I'll try the recovery disks but I'm not very confident because I think it is a hardware problem and not a software problem, which means I might not be able to recover my files, nor ever use my computer again unless I get a new harddrive for it (which might be hard considering it is a laptop and not a big PC).

Thanks for the help so far guys, I wonder why my VAIO just went off the brink like that... Aren't computers built to be able to withstand a usage of over 24 hours straight?


Maybe it's a capacitor problem... Isn't that only a big computer problem?
Loadsgood.

Hmmm... I seem to have dug myself deeper and deeper into this huge pile of **** that I have on my desk. At first, I had a harddrive with a disk read error, so I went into that DOS recovery thingy and had a bit of a snoop around but everytime I tried to list the contents of the directory I downloaded that file to (so as to see if I could transfer it or something) it gave an error saying it couldn't list the contents, heck, it wouldn't even acknowledge that there were any directories besides 'C:\' even then trying to list what's in 'C:\' gives an error.

So I think: "Stuff it. I'll just format the harddrive and recover the files afterwards." So I remove the current partition, make a new one and set it to format NTFS (not so quick ) but on doing that it just hangs at 0%. So I did a cold shutdown and tried again with the same results. Then I thought that I'd use the recovery CDs that came with the VAIO instead, I choose to reformat with the default settings for my computer and it starts, lasts about 30 seconds and tells me that it can't access the harddrive and then it restarts, so I try and use the recovery CDs again but this time, use the Factory default settings rather than just normal default settings, and on top of that I choose to fill all the sectors of the harddrive with zeros, it said that it doesn't permenately delete data so I checked that box and moved on.

Five minutes into the filling of all the sectors of the harddrive with zeros, and I'm a pretty happy man it is at 3% completion and has about two hours left to go, but at least it is actually doing something right? Well 10 minutes in and 7% completed I get an error stating that it wasn't able to complete the process. I restart and find to my sheer joy that my computer is no longer recognizing that there is a harddrive within it at all. The BIOS says that there is no Primary And the WinXP Pro CD and the Recovery CDs agree with the BIOS, there is no harddrive in my machine

Now I've just turned on my VAIO again, now it seems to be recognizing that I have a hard drive in there. So I'm going to continue to fight battles with the problem I've got until after I've moved and then I'll hand it over to a computer technician to see if he can fix it for me if I already haven't at that time.


Basically, thanks for your help.
Loadsgood.

jamie wrote:

i didnt read any of that...

nice to see you posting again lg 

Thanks Jamie, I had to dedicate my dialup bandwidth to downloading apps, but now I can dedicate it to running around C9 (which is much more important anyway ).

Basically I am having problems with my laptop. Can't wait for more C9Park cartoons (Quality up, franchises down!) and I'd like to see more of your non-C9Park work too I probably missed heaps but seeing new stuff would be nice


Haha "Free beta's for all", what about those who don't want betas?
Loadsgood.

SlackmasterK wrote:

You figured you'd get your files off a newly formatted drive?  Not sure how you intended to do that.

Many file recovery programs offer to restory files from before a format.

SlackmasterK wrote:

Just a few thoughts.  If your drive was to be full of zero's, where would the data fit?  It needs ones too.  Sounds like your data is toast. Also sounds like your drive has a physical problem.

Laptops aren't impossible to fix, they're just a pain in the arse.  The HDD will generally sit in a removeable bay of some kind, or in an access panel on bottom.  Someone will have to look to ensure it's securely connected, contacts aren't worn, has power, etc.  Beyond that, you may need to replace the drive.

Well supposedly filling it with zeros doesn't permeately wipe all the data of the hd (according to Sony) so I thought I'd do it. I'm now sure that it is a hardware problem because it just keeps getting to 3% completion and then saying that it couldn't go any further.

After I check it for any connection problems I'll take it to the nearest Sony service centre and get it fixed there, thanks for your help in trying to fix it


I probably should've tried that Linux CD thingy, oh well.
Loadsgood.

Sven Groot wrote:

Loadsgood wrote: Well supposedly filling it with zeros doesn't permeately wipe all the data of the hd (according to Sony) so I thought I'd do it.

Overwriting the data on the disc only once will still leave some residual magnetic traces, so with advanced, expensive data recovery equipment it would still be possible to get the data from it. Not anything you're likely to own, though. Most disk wiping solution that aim to truly make data unrecoverable will overwrite it several times, not using zeroes but random patterns to make it as difficult as possible to get back the original data. Of course, the only way to truly destroy the data is setting the disc on fire. Or rolling over it with a steam roller. Or... well, you get my drift.

Typical data recovery tools can only recover data if it has not been overwritten. A format doesn't wipe the disc, it only rewrites the file tables, which makes it possible for tools that do raw disc access to get at the old data. As soon as new data goes over the old, simple tools no longer do the job.

Thanks to Sony for lying to me. Well, no matter, there is still some data that hasn't been overwriten, the highest I got was 42% and then it gave me an error. But then again, it wasn't really precious data I guess.

Thanks for telling me that Sven, if I ever create a data wiping program I'll make sure it fills the hd with zeros, then ones then zeros again

How could something this drastic happen overnight? I'm thinking maybe a virus was downloaded while I left it online and could've been removed if only I put in the Norton Internet Security CD that I've got somewhere around here... What else could it have been?


Burnt out component?
Loadsgood.