Solved my wife's laptop died

[Merebear1101]

I don't know what happened but it rebooted then I gotten a message it said a disk read error occurred press ctrl+alt +del to restart
I don't know what to do. Please help me.

 

[Gnosis]

Hard drive could be bad, but that is the lazy response.

Any way that her BIOS settings have been altered (boot settings)?

 

[Exterminator]

Usually this is a sign of hard drive failure,when you reboot does it try to start windows or just a BSOD with an error or a black screen with an error and if so what is the error.Do you get an error like unmountable boot drive

How old is the Laptop?

What Kind of Laptop?

What Operating system 32 or 64 bit?

Can you access the bios or boot options?

What does it do when you reboot?

What were the events leading up to this? Such as Installed something new,uninstalled something,browsing the web,ect.


Some specifics will make it easier for someone to help you

 

[Merebear1101]

How old is the Laptop? 12yrs.

What Kind of Laptop? Hp

What Operating system 32 or 64 bit?
32
Can you access the bios or boot options?
Yes I can go the boot system
What does it do when you reboot?
It give me the same message
What were the events leading up to this? Such as Installed something new,uninstalled something,browsing the web,ect. I was browsing on the web. Then it started reboot itself then I gotten that message


Some specifics will make it easier for someone to help you

 

[Exterminator]

when you reboot is it a black screen or the BSOD{ blue screen of death}and is it always the same error or do you get another error like unmountable boot drive or another error.Have you tried changing the boot options to boot from the dvd drive and tried booting with a windows installation disc and doing a repair.

It is a pretty old Laptop what OS XP,Vista,7?

You could find a disk check utility that is usually run from BIOS or a boot disk from either your manufacturer or I know Leveno and Seagate have them that work for most drives.This will tell you if the Drive is bad.

If the drive is not bad it could be a communication problem between mobo bios processor and HDD due to excessive heat which can be due to old thermal paste and heat sink is not seated right

 

[Merebear1101]

when you reboot is it a black screen or the BSOD{ blue screen of death}and is it always the same error or do you get another error like unmountable boot drive or another error.Have you tried changing the boot options to boot from the dvd drive and tried booting with a windows installation disc and doing a repair.

I get a black screen. I don't if she has the windows XP disk. I would like to fix it for her but it is her laptop.

 

[Exterminator]

Ahhhhhhh ok.Well if your not going to fix it is she? I guess you could always buy her a new one

 

[Gnosis]

I have gotten black screens, at boot time, in the past that were a result of having CD/DVD/USB, etc. of some type interferring with normal boot procedure.

Make sure ALL of your DVD/CD trays (and anything else attached that may try to run at boot time) are empty and try again.

Also, try leaving the laptop off for a while before you attempt to reboot it. Pull the battery too, and put it back in.

 

[Merebear1101]

I have tried everything for her laptop.

 

[softwareFREEk]

10 common reasons why Windows crashes?

in no particular order

1. Bad Memory Or Motherboard
2. BIOS Settings
3. Corrupt Registry
4. Virus Or Trojan
5. Hard Drive Problems
6. Hardware Conflicts
7. Power issues
8. Incorrect Or Corrupt Drivers
9. Software
10. Overheating

Edit:
Read more: Source

 

[Gnosis]

A laptop can be a pretty hostile environment for any hardware installed, esp. if it is left in a car during the summer with the car windows up. That is how my cousin cooked his with one try.

 

[Littlebits]

The laptop is 12 years old? so it was made in 2001 before Windows XP?

That is much older then the basic lifespan, time to buy a new one.
It is too old to waste money on repairs, it would be much cheaper to buy a new one.

Thanks.

 

[Fiery]

It's a pretty old laptop..

Can you access the Windows XP Recovery Console? If so, you can try typing the following in the recovery console after each process has been done

chkdsk /r
fixboot c:
fixmbr

 

[Merebear1101]

Thank you for all your help. My wife checked it out last night. She said the hard drive finally died. She knew it was matter of time. Now we have to save up our money and get a new one. I am so thankful that I have my smartphone.