[martinb]

Hi,
I put a new graphics card into my computer and re started all was well. Later on I turned the PC back on and an error message came up 'A Disk Read Error has Occurred' so I turned it off and reinstalled the old graphics card. The message is still coming up. Please help I'm really stuck with what to do.

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Welcome martinb

First inspect the hard drive ribbon and power cables, make sure both ends are seated firmly and that they didn't get knocked loose.

Next, your BIOS may have become corrupted detecting the new card. Try clearing your BIOS/CMOS using the clear jumper on the motherboard, or by disconnecting the power and removing the battery for at least five minutes.

Let us know how that works.

[admin]

Welcome martinb

First inspect the hard drive ribbon and power cables, make sure both ends are seated firmly and that they didn't get knocked loose.

Next, your BIOS may have become corrupted detecting the new card. Try clearing your BIOS/CMOS using the clear jumper on the motherboard, or by disconnecting the power and removing the battery for at least five minutes.

Let us know how that works.

[JPratt]

Hoping somebody is still checking this thread.

I am having the same issue with my computer as martinb.

I have confirmed that the power and connection cables for the Hard drive are still connected. Where is the clear jumper on the motherboard? Or the Battery? Will this cause any damage to data on hard drive?

[wannabe1]

Hello JPratt...

Will this cause any damage to data on hard drive?

No...this will not effect the data on the HDD...providing you use caution where static discharge is concerned.

Here are the generic instructions for clearing the CMOS. If you would like more specific information, I'll need the make and model of the motherboard.

Clearing the CMOS. Power down the machine and disconnect from the power source (wall plug). To do this, you need to remove the CMOS battery. It's about the size of a quarter and is usually located in the lower right quarter of the Motherboard. Near the battery (either below or to the right on most) you should see 3 small pins with a jumper block on them. It should look like this, where the underscore represents the jumper . . . Move the jumper to the other pins . . . for about 30 seconds and then move it back to it's original position. Put the battery back in, making sure to put it in + side up. Try to boot your machine.

Note that this will clear the date, time, and restore all default settings to the BIOS. You will have to reset any settings you have changed such as Boot Priority. If you are not using a static strap, keep one hand or your arm touching the metal part of the case to prevent static discharge damage to the Motherboard and it's components.

Let me know how it goes...

wannabe1

Edited by wannabe1, 09 March 2006 - 02:04 PM.

[JPratt]

Alright, that didn't work.

The motherboard is a Dell factory install. First boot up said Phoenix Bios A09. I presume that's the MB but I could be wrong.

Was able to remove battery. The only set of three pins I could find had a small blue tab between two of them. I switched it, left it there for 30 seconds, then switched it back. Replaced the battery. Upon connection to power source, the computer automatcally turned on. After a minute or so it went into setup mode. I corrected the date, and time. After leaving setup, the computer restarted, and the same error appeared.

I moved the hard drive to the beginning of the boot order (in lieu of the floppy drive, which was default), but still no difference.

Any further suggestions?

[wannabe1]

Ok...let's back up and regroup. I didn't realize you were not the original poster. Confusion like this is why we suggest that members start their own topics.

Do you get the error during the boot sequence or when windows loads?

[JPratt]

My apologies for the confusion. I searched for a topic that at leaast partly answered my question, and went from there.

My situation was identical to that of the original poster. I just installed a new video card, and this error began to appear.

Windows does not begin to load. The startup screen comes up (Dell, press F2 for Setup, F12 for boot options, etc.). After that, the black screen comes up, and before Windows begins to load the error comes up. "A Disk Read Error has Occurred. Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to reboot".

[wannabe1]

This could very well be a corrupted Master Boot Record (MBR). Do you have a floppy drive on both of your machines?

[JPratt]

Yes, both machines have a floppy.

[JPratt]

Would I be correct in assuming the installation of the new video card caused this?

In that event, is it alright for me to continue using the new Video Card?

[wannabe1]

Yeah, the video card probably has something to do with this...probably a driver issue. Good to know you have floppy drives...that will be handy is worst comes to worse.

Have you tried booting into Safe Mode to see what happens? Tap the F8 key during the boot sequence and choose the option for "Safe Mode".

[JPratt]

Tapping F8 on the intro screen did not do anything. Actually brought up a keyboard error. Then the same "disk read" error as before.

Edited by JPratt, 09 March 2006 - 05:58 PM.

[wannabe1]

Let's see if it's the MBR that's giving you fits.

Download this Win98SE OEM Startup Disk and save it to your desktop. Double click on the downloaded file and put a floppy disk in the drive when prompted to do so. to create the Startup Disk.

Put the diskette you just created into the drive on the dead machine and power it on. It should boot to a DOS options screen...press Shift + F5 for command prompt (A:\)

At the A:\ prompt, type fdisk /mbr (Note the space after fdisk) and press "Enter". When it returns to the A:\ prompt, remove the floppy and reboot. Does it boot to Windows?

Edited by wannabe1, 09 March 2006 - 06:09 PM.

[JPratt]

No. Still same error.

Does it matter that the fix disk is for Windows 98, and my computer is running XP?

Edited by JPratt, 09 March 2006 - 06:26 PM.

[wannabe1]

Does it matter that the fix disk is for Windows 98, and my computer is running XP?

Nope...they use the same MBR. Win98 uses one floppy to do this...WinXP uses 6 to accomplish the same thing...

Do you have your XP installation CD?