Is all hope lost?

fordmanchester

Hi NiftyDigits

I followed the instructions on the How-To Geek page, but it didn't work. The original message I received on Ubuntu when I tried to access my Windows drive said "Unable to access 250GB Volume... No such file or directory", which is different to the message given on the How-To Geek page. I still continued to follow the instructions given, but to no avail unfortunately.

Will check my PM. Thank you for all the time you've spent helping me.

kwikbreaks

In days of long ago the disks didn't autodetect and you had to enter structure info into the CMOS settings which would eventually be lost if the battery went flat.

Does anybody know if that was ancient history even when this machine was built or if there is a chance that the wrong time and hard drive issues are not coincidence but all part of the same problem - a stuffed CMOS battery.

Unfortunately if that is the case how to get that sorted out with a non-techy owner wouldn't be my forte...

Strider590

fordmanchester wrote: »

Hi

I was having a stupid problem with the clock in my PC taskbar, and a friend suggested that I used the chkdsk /r command to correct the problem.

I SO wish I hadn't listened to my friend!

The chkdsk /r thing completed but now my pc won't start properly. I'm stuck in a loop with the message "A disk read error occurred. Press Ctrl + Alt + Del" appearing repeatedly, no matter what I try to do.

I tried to boot from the original Windows Cd in the hope that I could do some kind of repair, but I can't even do that because the "A disk read error occurred... " message appears even then.

Is all hope lost?

My PC is an old desktop running Windows XP Service Pack 3.

Thanks

I'm afraid your friend probably got that advice for a completely different problem.
In fact it might even be idle gossip they heard when they walk into the middle of a conversation.

There is nothing that chkdsk could do that would fix the clock.

What you need to do is use the XP CD and try to repair it, but to do this you need to head into the BIOS to change the boot sequence so that the CD boots first (before the HDD). Just don't select to install windows or format the drive, there is still a chance you can recover your personal data by installing the drive into a USB caddy and plugging it into another PC.

jeffkey1

My advice is to find a local PC Fixer in the Local Papers and agree what you are willing to pay up front. i.e decide what you data is worth. Decide if you want the data recovered (Documents, address books, music etc) so you can copy it to a new machine or if you want the machine repaired (i.e fit a new drive).
If you have the original XP disks he/she should be able to add a new drive to boot the machine, install the operating system and then recover the old data in about a couple of hours.

Nilrem

kwikbreaks wrote: »

In days of long ago the disks didn't autodetect and you had to enter structure info into the CMOS settings which would eventually be lost if the battery went flat.

Does anybody know if that was ancient history even when this machine was built or if there is a chance that the wrong time and hard drive issues are not coincidence but all part of the same problem - a stuffed CMOS battery.

Unfortunately if that is the case how to get that sorted out with a non-techy owner wouldn't be my forte...

Fortunately long gone, I think the drives started to provide the information on their blocks and sectors to the drive controller with IDE33/DMA33 around the same time that the optical drive standard was incorporated into the controller spec (those were the days, with Sony, Creative etc all using their own optical drive controllers that had the same cable type as the hard drive).

I remember it from old RLL* and MFM drives, but can't remember ever having to do it with IDE (thankfully).

Rereading that, I've just realised I probably sound really old, and probably have some of the newer techy types wondering what the hell he's talking about


*The work of the devil, I had one that suffered from "this isn't the temperature at which the disk was written" syndrome (if the room temp or drive temp varied too much it wouldn't read).

debitcardmayhem

Mr Rochester...do you have an external hdd to recover your stuff to? I note you did a backup about 2 mnths ago)

fordmanchester

Hi Strider590
I tried to use the XP CD to try and repair the problem, and changed the boot sequence so that the CD booted first as you suggested. But when the CD started to run, the same "A disk read error occurred Press Crtrl + Alt + Del to restart" message appeared, and so I was back to where I started again.

fordmanchester

Hi debitcardmayhem

I don't have an external HDD, no. All I do every month or so is save important files and documents onto USB sticks. Stupidly I wasn't up to speed this month.

fordmanchester

jeffkey1 hi

I think you may be right. Everyone's been really helpful here but I think I may have to find some extra money to get someone to take a look at my dying PC.

NiftyDigits was basically right earlier when he said "The cost is not an issue. Your data is the issue." It IS a matter of priorities. And another lesson learned about keeping important files properly backed up, and up to date.

NiftyDigits

fordmanchester wrote: »

Hi debitcardmayhem

I don't have an external HDD, no. All I do every month or so is save important files and documents onto USB sticks. Stupidly I wasn't up to speed this month.

How are you getting on with the disc? Once you have the data, we can identify the Motherboard, replace the CMOS(battery) if necessary and repair/replace the OS.
Hurry up though..as I'm busy and travelling soon.

You can do it yourself. Don't waste money that you haven't got to spare.