a disc read error occured

Hello all

This is my first post and I am not very computer literate so please be gentle with me, LOL
I switched my compaq presario cq61-110sa everything was fine up until 2 days ago when the message "a disc read error occurred" came up on the screen, I am unable to start the laptop up, its states to press ctrl alt del but this just brings me back to the same error message, I have tried to do a system restore but it wont even start it, I have a bad battery in the laptop I m not sure if that would have anything to do with it, Please help, as I mentioned Im not very computer literate so please keep any replies as simple as possible for me LOL.

Thank you all very much in advance.

 

Hi Skinnyone1,

I wouldnt expect it to be battery, but to be on the safe side remove the battery and try booting with just the power cable in. Also check the CD drive and remove any CD. Its not likely to be the cause but it may be trying to boot from CD

Most likely cause is a failing hard disk You need to know the manufacturer of the HD and we can then run the diagnostic tests.

I assume that your laptop is out of warenty? if not then ignore anything below and send it back for repair.

Look on the underside of the laptop. There should be one or more removable panels that are secured in place with small philips screws. There are normally 2 panels, one is for your RAM and the other is for the Hard Disk (HD). This is typically near the front, underneath the palm rest and on the oposite side to the CD drive. This may vary though. Carefully remove the screws and remove the panel. You should then be able to see the hard disk

It will look like this
http://www2.multithread.co.uk/linitx.com/products/Toshiba_250GB_2.5__SATA_5400_8MB_Cache_-_MK2576GSX_main_large.jpg

Dont remove it but just write down the manufacturer and model (if you can see it) then replace the panel. Post this info back and we can point you in the right direction for diagnostics.

 

Thanks for your reply Tueur Ill get the info required and post back, thanks again.