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Disk read error after install of windows xp

Ideas:

  • I had a new hard drive professionally installed. I went to install Windows XP on my computer. It ran through the first step but after copying the files it would not reboot. It leads me over and over to a screen that says: A disk read error occurred, Press cntrl alt delete to restart and then it looks like it will reboot but hten goees back to the same screen. How can it be a disk error if it went through the setup and I never touched the disk afterwards? Now I can't do anything with it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Answer
Answer
Failure to install an operating system is usually caused by (in order of probability):

1. You are attempting to install with other devices connected to the computer. Disconnect them before trying to do an installation.

2. Faulty installation media. Check the installation CD/DVD for scratches, smudges. Test in another machine.

3. Faulty optical drive. Test with another bootable CD/DVD or swap it out for a known-working one.

4. Faulty RAM. Test with Memtest86+ from www.memtest.org . You will download the .iso to make a bootable cd. Burn the file with third-party burning software* - as an image, not as data. Then boot with the media you made (you may need to change the boot priority in your BIOS so that the optical drive is the first boot device). The test will run immediately. Let the test run for an hour or two - unless errors are seen immediately. If you get any errors, replace the RAM.

A good free choice is ImgBurn from www.imgburn.com .

5. Faulty hard drive. Test with a diagnostic utility downloaded from the drive mftr.'s website. You will create a bootable CD with the file you download. Burn the file with third-party burning software - as an image, not as data. Boot with the CD you made and do a thorough test of the drive. If it fails any physical tests, replace it.

(Note: Since you just replaced your hard drive this is probably not the cause. However, you should still test because it is not uncommon for new hard drives to fail out of the box.)

6. Other hardware components are faulty.
MS-MVP - Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!

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Last updated August 12, 2023 Views 8,592 Applies to: