Home › Forums › Archives › Computer Support › Computer Support Discussion › Would formatting fix the dreaded Disk I/O error?
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December 9, 2006 at 8:32 pm #25747sniffbooMember
Ok so my computer died down on me 2 days ago. Ever since it simply won’t boot. It starts to…I get the Compaq window…the Windows XP window….but then nothing, the monitor switches back to standby and the whole cycle starts over again.
Now I’ve tried all the boot diskette tricks and such and nothing seems to work. It now gives a black screen, cursor and ‘Disk I/O error’. Urgh. I’ve made my peace with that and am ready to format it, but I’m not quite sure formatting can fix such a problem. Would it actually do anything?
December 10, 2006 at 2:01 am #155190SpikeMemberAccording to this site, it’s a MBR (Master Boot Record) error (possibly). Do the following:
- Insert your WinXP CD and reboot. Boot to the CD.
- When prompted, enter the “Recovery Console”.
- When the console is ready, type “fixmbr” no quotes.
- Also enter the command “fixboot” no quotes, after “fixmbr” is finished.
- Reboot your PC.
If it works, great! Your problem is solved. If not, your hard drive may be bad, depending on how old the computer is and how much you’ve used it. If it’s a desktop PC it should be fairly easy to replace, and not too costly, either. you could quite possibly do it yourself if you’re confident. 😉
December 10, 2006 at 2:13 am #155198sniffbooMemberThanks Spike
since I’m not in any way confident I’ll give this a try. My only question is that since I don’t have a WinXP CD boot. is it possible to make/ download one?
December 10, 2006 at 5:20 am #155191SpikeMemberYou should have a WinXP CD that came with your computer. It may also be called a “Recovery” disk, but it’s the same thing.
You may not be able to get to the recovery console as mentioned above… Compaq is notorious for making “recovery partitions” and “recovery CDs”, but the never actually give you a copy of Windows XP. It’s really stupid. You may just want to try and “recover” your computer with the disks it came with, however that’s done. I don’t know; I’m not a Compaq expert personally 😉
December 10, 2006 at 3:25 pm #155194BShink21MemberAfter you first turn your computer on hit F10 and it should bring you to the recovery partition. There you can choose the re-install windows or fully wipe out the hard drive and then re-install windows.
You might have to hit the F10 key a few timies but it should work.
December 10, 2006 at 8:42 pm #155199sniffbooMemberBy now I’m just pissed. I’d be willing to format the entire thing, lost files be damned. But I still don’t know if formatting would help fix the issue 🙁
December 10, 2006 at 9:15 pm #155195BShink21MemberDid you try what I had said, if you haven’t yet and do that will format your entire hard drive and I guessing it might fix your problem.
December 10, 2006 at 9:19 pm #155200sniffbooMember@BShink21 211454 wrote:
Did you try what I had said, if you haven’t yet and do that will format your entire hard drive and I guessing it might fix your problem.
I did, thank you but it didnt help.
Some people told me it might be a hardware issue and if so that formatting would not help. Thoughts?December 10, 2006 at 10:02 pm #155192SpikeMemberWell if you don’t have an XP CD, and you don’t have any of the CDs that came with your copmuter then you’re pretty much screwed because how are you going to format with no Windows XP CD? If you buy a new hard drive (this one seems like it’s crapped out on you), how are you going to put Windows on it? I recommend just buying a new computer altogether, you can get a new brand name computer for pretty cheap these days (we’re talking like under $400), and just ditch the old Compaq.
December 10, 2006 at 10:07 pm #155196BShink21MemberI agree with Spike then. You can get a computer quite cheap nowadays.
December 10, 2006 at 11:25 pm #155201sniffbooMemberNo I finally found the disks. Today actually. I tried Spike’s original suggestion but to no avail. Everything worked well but afterwards it still did not boot. So the million $ question; would formatting fix this?
December 12, 2006 at 1:51 am #155193SpikeMemberIt’s a bad hard drive then, for whatever reason. Get a new one and reinstall Windows, formatting would not fix the problem. Besides, your stuff is lost anyway, so why not try a format?
December 12, 2006 at 3:43 am #155197dvelez1985Member*omit*
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