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When I switched on my computer this afternoon, this error popped up after the displaying the Motherboard start screen (before Windows):

Disc read error.
Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to restart.

Now, I'm not sure what's causing this but after changing to a different SATA port (if that's what you call them), this error disappeared and I was able to enter Windows normally. Tried searching other tech websites and there are too many inconsistencies.

My question is, what is the reason for this and what should I do at the moment?

For the record, here's my computer specs:
Pentium 4 520 2.8GHz HT
ASUS P5GD1-Pro
1GB DDR PC3200 RAM
GALAXY Geforce 6600
Western Digital 80GB Hard Drive (WDC WD800JD-00MSA1)
BenQ DVD-RW ROM and the regular BenQ DVD-ROM

One of my work colleges had the exact same error message last week and it turned out his hard drive had overheated and was fried.
However, if you managed to get the message to go away by shifting SATA port, then perhaps it is the SATA port in question which is faulty, and for that I know no way to solve it without changing the motherboard. And if you have no apparent instability issues or problems by using the different SATA, then I'll just do that for now. If you can access the hard drive, I'd hurry and back up what needs backing up in case it goes out on you again.

If you have the option to do so, then you could try testing another hard drive in the SATA or perhaps the hard drive on another motherboard. This of course is difficult unless you either know somebody who'll let you do it, or have additional hardware yourself. There are also some tools for harddrives which can test them for various problems, but not having had the need myself, I can't guide you towards any.


Sorry I can't give you any concrete information to go by, but as you have discovered by searching, it is a rather generic error for some serious problems.

Thanks for the reply. I managed to back up most of the essential files when I managed to access the hard drive. So far so good. No 'Disc Read Error' yet.

Xandax wrote: Sorry I can't give you any concrete information to go by, but as you have discovered by searching, it is a rather generic error for some serious problems.

When I did the search, many people that encountered this problem had either re-formatted their computer with a different file format (NTFS or FAT32), or bought new hardware and encountered this problem to name a few and as a result, I had a hard time understanding what the source of the problem was.

That error is rather generic, as it basically means that your computer has problems from reading something from the HD for any reasons.

Is the HD old? And does your computer make strange noise when reading from it? If yes, then itäs definately going to get broken. Happened to me few times.

Also, as you said already, it may be that computer has problems with reading if the type is wrong (FAT32 or something else), but I believe this is not the problem you are experiencing, as you haven't formated your HD lately...?

Oh, and does it take longer than usual when the computer is loading something, especially Windows?

Kipi wrote: Is the HD old? And does your computer make strange noise when reading from it? If yes, then itäs definately going to get broken. Happened to me few times.

No weird sounds at all. I bought this hard drive a year ago to replace my previous hard drive that broke.

Kipi wrote: Also, as you said already, it may be that computer has problems with reading if the type is wrong (FAT32 or something else), but I believe this is not the problem you are experiencing, as you haven't formated your HD lately...?

After I formatted my hard drive 2 or 3 days ago (full format, NTFS), then this problem arose. During the installation of Windows, I did encountered quite a number of BSOD appearances before finally getting Windows to install properly on my hard drive.

Kipi wrote: Oh, and does it take longer than usual when the computer is loading something, especially Windows?

Well, Windows loaded fine, but when I access some folders (quite random), it does take a little longer than usual.

DesR85 wrote:No weird sounds at all. I bought this hard drive a year ago to replace my previous hard drive that broke.


After I formatted my hard drive 2 or 3 days ago (full format, NTFS), then this problem arose. During the installation of Windows, I did encountered quite a number of BSOD appearances before finally getting Windows to install properly on my hard drive.


Well, Windows loaded fine, but when I access some folders (quite random), it does take a little longer than usual.

Basing on that, I would say that there is two possibilities:
a) You are using wrong type. Maybe you could try to reformat and use FAT32 instead? (I'm actually thinking this is the problem)
b) Your HD is going to end the working deal very soon.

I think it's the alternative a), as the problem occured after formating. Though it may also be just a coincide...

Kipi wrote: I think it's the alternative a), as the problem occured after formating. Though it may also be just a coincide...

I hope so. Otherwise, I might have to go shopping for a new hard drive. I will do a format soon and see whether the problem still persist.

What version of Windows do you run?
There should be no problem at all with NTFS in 2000, XP and Vista.

Windows XP Pro. As I mentioned previously, I will try to reformat my computer again to see if this problem still persist.

I seem to have quite a few settings in my BIOS related to both ports. Have you tried tweaking those? The BIOS is something I personally tend to forget about.

Tricky wrote:I seem to have quite a few settings in my BIOS related to both ports. Have you tried tweaking those? The BIOS is something I personally tend to forget about.

No. I never fiddle around with the BIOS settings because I'm afraid that I will mess up the whole system if I do.