Ways to fix the error "a disk read error occurred"

A black screen with a short message: ““ a disk read error occurred ”” appears when a computer or laptop starts up either without any prerequisites, or after trying to normalize the system, using the image recorded on external media. Error notification is accompanied by a restart advice OS, but in fact this measure is completely useless, and the screen does not disappear.

Error correction "a disk read error occurred".

Possible sources of trouble

As can be seen from the very description of “a disk read error occurred” (in translation: “there was a disk read error”), a problem arose with reading the disk, which makes it suspect that the disk from which you tried to restart the system was suspect. However, the causes of the error may lie in the computer itself:

  1. Violation of the structure of the PC system files. Usually this happens if you often turn off the electricity, and the computer does not have time to complete the work, as it should. The same can happen with a laptop if it freezes and you restart it by removing the battery.
  2. If the computer freezes or spontaneously rebooted during the creation of a copy of the OS on the disk, some partitions may be missing and you will see an error reading.
  3. Something happened to the hard drive: it is incorrectly connected, spoiled, contacts were oxidized, settled dust burned on it, etc.
  4. Winchester is not connected to the board.
  5. Charging the laptop has deteriorated, and the system has disabled the hard drive or some of its functions.

Immediately check the hard drive: insert it into another PC, look for dust, burning smell, everything is correctly installed, and only then proceed to correct the situation. If you took to recording the OS image, then, most likely, you ran into some problems. Remember which ones: maybe the computer often hung up, turned off by itself, threw out warning windows, etc. This may mean that the problem is in the hard drive.

If the error is caused by file system corruption

It is best to start the correction of the error with the posts ““ a disk read error occurred ”” with the diagnosis of the hard drive. To do this, download to the USB flash drive any program corresponding to the task, for example, Crystal Disk Mark, HDDScan or something similar.

  1. You can also create a new OS image — write it from a “healthy” system to a separate carrier — not the one you used before you had trouble reading the disc.
  2. Insert the USB flash drive and start the recovery process. How to make the OS read the contents of the removable media first of all depends on your BSVV - in some cases a change in the boot priority is required.
  3. If you decide to use the utility to check the integrity of the file system, then just follow the prompts, if you only have the OS image - read on.
  4. When the window with a list of options appears, select “Command line”, in the place indicated by the cursor, enter without quotes: “diskpart”, click “Inter”, then enter “list volume”.

  5. We need the last command to find out what letter the system drive is designated (all of a sudden, this is not a common “C” variant) and how many partitions it is. To request their verification, you must assign a separate letter for each.
  6. We write the command “select volume number of the section to which the letter is not assigned”, and then the following: “assign letter = desired letter”. We repeat this operation with all nameless sections.
  7. Next, we give the command "exit" and select the main window of the "Command Line".
  8. Enter in the field without quotes: “chkdsk letter denoting the main disk: / letter denoting the partition” (it will look something like this: chkdsk C: / m).

Now you can close the Command line and restart your PC or laptop - the hard drive will be checked automatically. If after rebooting the system has worked normally, without “a disk read error occurred”, then the problem has been solved.

Damage to the OS loader

If ““ a disk read error occurred ”” has not disappeared, it is worth checking whether the Windows boot loader is damaged - this often happens when trying to install a seven or XP over version 10. The loader is an important link in the OS launch chain. When you turn on the PC, it should receive computer control from BSVV. If BSVV does not find it on the previous "address", an error message appears. To correct, you can take the following (relevant for Windows 7 to 10 version):

  1. Insert the USB flash drive with the OS image and select "System Restore".
  2. We are interested in the section Troubleshooting - Advanced Setting - Diagnostics.

  3. We start Command Line, we write: "diskpart", we press "Inter", then "list volume" and again "Inter". You can not do this if you followed the instructions from the previous chapter and remember what letter you have marked the system disk. Having learned this, we write "exit".
  4. Now we type: “bcdboot C: \ windows” (as you understand, instead of the letter C, there may be another).

We are waiting for confirmation that the command was successfully completed, and restart the OS.

Problems with BIOS or UEFI settings

If, before the error occurred, you changed something in BIOS (or UEFI), it means that you can not discount the fact that this could affect the operation of the system.

  1. Enter BIOS (or UEFI - actions will be the same), find Exit and Load Setup Defaults. Depending on the version, these may also be Load Optimized Defaults or Load Fail-Safe Defaults options.
  2. Look at which disk you are booting from - maybe the computer couldn’t make any money, because the priority is a flash drive that is not already connected.

Problem with hard disk connection

A read error “a disk read error occurred” may appear due to a bad hard drive connection or problems with a serial interface for data exchange with data storage devices. Try the following:

  1. Take another cord to connect the hard drive to the board.
  2. If you have an additional hard disk installed - remove it and check if the error persists (and do not forget to change the priority in BIOS). Try also to connect to another port of PATA.
  3. Be sure to check the condition of the contacts - whether there is an oxide layer in them in the form of light deposits.

All the above instructions are suitable for Windows modern versions: from 7 to 10.