I have what seems to be a problem with Windows, however it could possibly be the motherboard itself. The reason I post it here is because Windows will not work but Linux will... so at the moment it seems to be a Windows problem...

I recently purchased a Syntax SV266AD motherboard. After installing a working compatible processor (an AMD Athlon XP 2200+) and installing the motherboard in my system with my existing hard drive (a Seagate Barracuda 7200 120GB) and video card (a GeForceFX 5600), I discovered that my computer would not boot into the operating system (Windows XP Pro). When attempting to boot, the computer would give me the message "A Disk Read Error Occurred. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart." I tried booting two other hard drives on the system, but got the same error each time. After checking and rechecking my hardware and IDE cables, I reluctantly used another computer to format my Seagate HD in the hope that I could simply re-install Windows to solve the problem. When attempting to start the Windows XP Setup, however, I received a stop message: UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME, with the stop code: ***STOP: 0x000000ED (0x823Cf030, 0xC0000010, 0x00000000, 0x00000000). This is beyond my level of expertise. Since it only happened after installing my new Syntax motherboard, and since it happens no matter what hard drive I try, I suspect it has something to do with the motherboard itself. Strangely, I am able to install Fedora Linux without a problem onto the hard drive while using the Syntax motherboard... are there any known conflict issues between Windows XP and Syntax motherboards that Linux might not have? If this is a known Windows issue (or even not known,) how might I go about fixing it without a working XP installation? (Note: working XP installations on the hard drives from other computers will not boot... I get the Disk Read Error.)

I have read through Microsoft's official KB article pertaining to the 0x000000ED stop message, and have tried the recommended switch to 80-wire cables, but that did not seem to solve the problem.

I'm at my wit's end trying to solve this problem... (my noisy fan problem seems trivial compared to this!) So any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks in advance!! (My apologies is this belongs in the hardware forum, but I was unsure...)

did you already have the windows xp install on the hard drive then add a new mobo? or the other way round, as windows doesn't like mobo changes, so you'll just have to run the windows XP reinstall thing, which won't loose any of your data so will be safe...

microsoft had this to say,

eerr..... uummmm.......

It's highly likely that even a reinstall (In-place upgrade) over the top of the existing Windows installation will fix that. A format and fresh install may be inorder.

You could try replacing the drive in the original system to lift off any data files you need to make backups of, beut even then, once the hard drive has been used to try and boot in a new system, it may be gone beyond any reasonable chance of recovery.

Sorry, but that's just the way things are. Windows XP is NOT designed to handle a change of motherboard!

korteena, please stop trying to use hard drives from other PCs. You run the risk of causing damage to the Windows installations on those as well

Gentlemen, I also received the same error message "A Disk Read Error Occurred. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart." I installed a new maxtor 160Gb drive and stood up XP Pro SP1. Ran great for 3 weeks (while I was recovering from a crashed W98 Western Digital 100Gb drive failure) when one morning I booted up my PC and received this ugle message on my brand new drive. I had not changed anything in my system. I installed the Maxtor using the supplied IDE cable. My BIOS recognized everthing from the get go. Maxtor has had me run off kinds of disk utilities to verify drive is functioning OK, all checked out fine. Is the boot record damaged? I don't have a clue why it broke since I did not change any hardware or software following my rebuild. Any suggestions out there?

Regards, Chuck

I am having the exact same problem with a SeaGate Barracuda 200 MB drive that was installed to replace a failing IBM Deskstar. The system worked fine for about a week, then performance got squirrely and I rebooted. (It had been rebooted multiple times after being put into service as the master drive with no problems of any kind prior to this occurrence) Nothing has worked since. I get the 'A disk read error occurred' and CTRL-ALT-DELETE just repeats the same sequence. Allowing it to boot from the CD gets me a CHECKING HARDWARE CONFIGURATION, followed by a black screen and no visible signs of life. I put a new drive cable on, replaced the master jumper on the drive, etc., nothing has worked. SeaGates Desktop diagnostic shows the drive to be perfectly fine when booting from their floppies. Conversation with them has led me no where. I'd really appreciate some suggestions also.

sillsj and cjpitsch,


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