Well it was bound to happen but I am hoping there is an easy fix.

We have a Windows XP laptop that just recently refuses to startup. The error message is " A disk read error occurred, press control+alt+delete to restart". well I did that multiple times. I even let the battery run down completely then recharged the battery, no luck. I have opened and closed the DVD drawer and checked all the other ports and there is nothing in or connected.

Any suggestions?

could be a dying or dead hd

try downloading the Ultimate Boot CD: i keep a copy here boot from it and try running some of the hd diagnostic apps

It seems like the harddisk is dead

Would it be dead if I hear it spinning?

Thanks Todd, I will give the ultimate boot cd a shot.

yep it could still be dead w/ the platters still spinning.

Spinning is no sign of the hdd being ok. Probably best to try Todd's boot CD and get whatever data off it you can, then RMA if possible.

Ok, now I can't get the laptop to read/boot from the cd I just burned. Am I supposed to use a dos command? Or wut?

Tried turning off then turning on while pressing F8, F1 and even chanted Ohmmmm. No dice.

Edited December 12, 200916 yr by Augsburger

You need to hit the magic key as it boots to reach BIOS. It may briefly tell you that as it starts to boot. If not, google how to do it for your laptop. Once you get into BIOS, change the boot setting so it tries CD before HD. Here is a link to generic instructions.

Hitting magic key on startup as suggested by Google sites has not effect, still getting the disk error message. I think I am fooked.

You should be able to boot into bios before getting any disk related errors. It's often F2 to access the bios and F10 to just access the boot selection menu.

Yep F2 got me into bios but still no luck with booting cd.

did you change the boot order so the cd/dvd drive is listed before the hd?

yep---

"1st Boot device [CD/DVD: PS-Slimtype] "