Member Avatar for pegi0809

Hi all
Every time my computer stays idle for a little while, I have a message saying " error disk...press ctl.Alt.Del. to restart" Why does it do that? But still does not start

The Pc shows regularly also the error: 0X000000F4...blue screen with a ping square. Is this real bad?

and 9 out 10 pc will not start. BRRRRRR. IS it time for a new one?

HAve XP Service pack 3 installed. 1gb of RAM , CpU 3.15GHtz
Can someone tell me what could be done. Thks all of you for your help and your site.
Pegi

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Short summary and immediate priority: the combination of repeated "A disk read error occurred. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart" messages and frequent STOP 0x000000F4 blue screens means a critical OS object is being terminated or the boot volume cannot be read. That symptom set often points to failing storage or a damaged boot/configuration area, though 0x000000F4 itself simply means a critical process or thread ended unexpectedly. (learn.microsoft.com)

Practical first moves (do these in order): secure any important files while the drive is still accessible — if the machine will boot once, copy data to an external disk; if it will not, remove the drive and attach it to a working PC with an adapter or boot a live USB to copy files. After a backup, check whether the drive is detected in BIOS, reseat power/data cables, and try a different cable or port — loose or failed cables and wrong boot order are common culprits. (lifewire.com)

Diagnostics and repair: run a vendor disk diagnostic (manufacturers supply bootable tests such as SeaTools) to get a hardware-level pass/fail and SMART readout; if those tools report physical faults, plan to replace the drive. If the drive hardware looks healthy, use Windows' disk-check utility to repair file-system problems — note that file-system repair can fix logical corruption but cannot revive a failing physical drive. (seagate.com)

Other tests and final advice: rule out RAM with a pass of MemTest86 and consider PSU/motherboard issues if both disk and memory look fine. If diagnostics show failure, replace the HDD/SSD and restore from backup or reinstall; if diagnostics pass but errors persist, boot-repair and rebuild of the boot configuration are the next steps. was right to suggest BIOS defaults and a disk check, and mentioning Partition Magic (if it was used) is important since partition-table changes can complicate recovery. (memtest86.com)

Summary: back up immediately, run a vendor disk test, check cables/BIOS, run file-system repair only after backing up, and test RAM if problems remain. If diagnostics indicate physical failure, replace the drive.

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Member Avatar for DaniWeb4Jim

Try a few of these site and see if you can get help.

error disk...press ctl.Alt.Del. to restart

What is the complete message? Without the dots after disk...????

Did you do a CHKDSK? You may have a BAD HARD DRIVE, CHKDSK will tell you that.

You could also try changing option in the BIOS to defaults (or "optimized default" if this is an option) first.. if this works, then great. note that sometimes defaults are to boot from CD or a floppy first, so if this is the case, change the boot order to have the hard drive go first.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/Windows-XP/relative-subject-83110.htm

http://forum.soft32.com/win4/disk-read-error-occured-ftopict181605.htm

Let me know!

Member Avatar for DaniWeb4Jim

Hi all
Every time my computer stays idle for a little while, I have a message saying " error disk...press ctl.Alt.Del. to restart" Why does it do that? But still does not start

The Pc shows regularly also the error: 0X000000F4...blue screen with a ping square. Is this real bad?

and 9 out 10 pc will not start. BRRRRRR. IS it time for a new one?

HAve XP Service pack 3 installed. 1gb of RAM , CpU 3.15GHtz
Can someone tell me what could be done. Thks all of you for your help and your site.
Pegi

One more question:
Are you using Partition Magic?

Member Avatar for pegi0809

Try a few of these site and see if you can get help.

error disk...press ctl.Alt.Del. to restart

What is the complete message? Without the dots after disk...????

Did you do a CHKDSK? You may have a BAD HARD DRIVE, CHKDSK will tell you that.

You could also try changing option in the BIOS to defaults (or "optimized default" if this is an option) first.. if this works, then great. note that sometimes defaults are to boot from CD or a floppy first, so if this is the case, change the boot order to have the hard drive go first.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/Windows-XP/relative-subject-83110.htm

http://forum.soft32.com/win4/disk-read-error-occured-ftopict181605.htm

Let me know!

Hi and thks for the reply. As I am novice in the pc world can you tell me what is a CHKDSK?

Member Avatar for DaniWeb4Jim

CHKDSK=CHECK DISK
NOVICE or ASLEEP?
Sorry but that is a DOS COMMAND around since 1980. I tend to think that everyone would know that by now. :-) Lol
How old are you? I have been doing computer stuff since 1989.
When you can go to the RUN command on your Start Menu.
Type 'CMD' and hit enter.
You will get a lookalike DOS screen.
Then Type HELP/?
You should go to a list of common commands with their description.
You want to then type 'CLS' which wikk clear the screen and type CHKDSK/F or just CHKDSK and see what happens. It should check your hard disk and tell you it can only finish when you reboot so DO NOT have any programs open.
Let me know.
Jim

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