Fixed – A Disk Read Error Occurred

If you’ve encountered the dreaded error message ‘A disk read error occurred, press Ctrl + Alt + Del to restart’ message, you probably know how annoying it can be.

You must have restarted the computer a gazillion times to check if the issue resolves by itself, but no luck. The error seems to persist and you’re looking for solutions to resolve the error.

If you’re in such a situation, don’t worry! We’ll provide some effective solutions in this article. But before we begin, let’s trace where the issue is coming from. To do that, remove the hard drive and connect it to another computer to see if it works.

If it works without any issues, we can conclude that there are problems with other hardware in your system and not the hard drive. However, if cannot access your hard drive using another system, proceed with the following steps to troubleshoot the error.

Solution 1: Check your RAM

Note: You will need a USB and another working computer to check the RAM on the computer with ‘Disk read error’.

The following steps show how you can test your RAM using a tool called ‘Memtest86+’.

1. Download and install ‘Memtest8+ for USB key’ on your USB drive
2. Once the software is installed, insert the USB into the computer producing the ‘Disk read error’
3. ‘Restart’ your computer and boot from the USB
4. The ‘Memtest86’ software will check the RAM for corruption. If any corruption is found, you will be reported with corresponding error messages. In this case, you will have to replace your RAM to fix the error.
5. If no errors are found, you will be reported the same and you can proceed with other troubleshooting steps below.

Solution 2: Check the BOOT sequence

Your ‘BOOT sequence’ should start with ‘hard drive’ or ‘SSD’. If this order is messed up, you can face issues such as ‘Disk read error’.

To check ‘boot priority’, follow the steps below.

1. When your computer boots, press ‘F2’ key to enter ‘BIOS’.
2. In the ‘BOOT’ tab, check if the boot priority starts with ‘hard drives’ or ‘SSD’. If this is not the case, change it accordingly using the up and down arrow keys. Your mouse doesn’t work in the BIOS stage.
3. Hit the ‘F10’ key to save changes and exit BIOS.

Now restart your computer and check if the error disappears. If it does, you’re done here, if not, proceed to the next step.

Solution 3: Run Startup Repair

Note: Some computers are provided with inbuilt ‘startup repair’ option in recovery mode. To check if you have it, press ‘F8’ when the computer boots to enter recovery mode. In the ‘Advanced boot options’, check if you have ‘Repair your computer’. If you do, click on it to repair your computer. If you don’t have that option, you will need a Windows installation media for startup repair.

1. Insert the ‘Windows installation disc’ and restart your PC
2. Boot your computer from the disc and click ‘Repair your computer’
3. Choose ‘Troubleshoot’ > ‘Advanced Options’ > ‘Automatic Repair’
4. Allow the tool to complete the repair process and ‘restart’ your PC to check if the error is resolved. If not, proceed to the next step.

Solution 4: Run CHKDSK and SFC

1. Insert the ‘Windows installation media’ and ‘boot’ your PC from the disk
2. Choose ‘Troubleshoot’ > ‘Advanced Options’ and select ‘Command Prompt’
3. Type ‘CHKDSK C: /R /X’

This command checks the file system integrity and repairs any corruption. In addition, it also checks for bad sectors and recovers any possible data from those sectors. Wait for CHKDSK to complete.

4. Then type ‘SFC/ SCANNOW’

This command will check the system files and restore any corrupt ones.

5. Type ‘exit’ to close the command prompt

Then restart your system to check if the error is resolved. If not, proceed to the next step.

Solution 5: Fix boot sector

1. Go to ‘Command Prompt’ using the same steps mentioned in Solution 4
2. Type ‘Bootrec /FixMbr’ and hit ‘Enter’. This will fix issues with the master boot record
3. Type ‘Bootrec /FixBoot’ and hit ‘Enter’. This will fix issues with the boot sector
4. Type ‘Bootrec /RebuildBcd’ and hit ‘Enter’. This command is used to rebuild BCD

Once these operations are complete, type ‘exit’ to exit command prompt and restart your Windows to check if your system boots normally and the issue is resolved.

However, if none of these methods work, there is a possibility that your drive is severely damaged and may need a Windows reinstall. In that case, a smart move is to connect this drive to a working PC first and recover data from the damaged hard drive. This can be done using powerful recovery tools such as Hi5 Software. After which, you can re-partition your drive and perform a Windows reinstallation.