Disk Read Error During Install

  • Thread starter Thread starter JCO
  • Start date Start date
J

JCO

We are running XP Pro (sp2).

My son, preparing for College, was able to purchase Vista Ultimate upgrade
for 20 bucks. Can't beat that. However, when trying to upgrade to Vista,
we get a disk read error. This happens during the first reboot...after
vista has copied the files to the harddrive. So at that point, the system
is screwed and can no longer boot.

Fortunately, we have some intelligence dealing with computers. We have an
image of XP Pro saved on another partition. We did a restore and tried a
second time (getting the same error). I read somewhere that the cluster
size of NTFS has to be 4. Thought that was our solution but when I booted
with Acronis Disk Director, it says that we are already at a cluster size 4.
So that is not our issue.

What else would cause this issue? The drive has no errors on it.
I'm wondering if it has anything to do with Vista's NTFS vs the current XP's
version of NTFS? No where does it say that its converting the files to the
new NTFS.

After giving up on this, we decided to do the second option which is a clean
install of Vista Ultimate (which apparently is on the same DVD). We got the
same disk error. The disk has several partitions. I don't think that is
an issue.

I was one of the beta testers for Vista .. long before it came out. I
warned my son that there's no reason to change his Operating System but he
still wants to do it.

Any suggestions?
Thanks
 
Remember I'm not the one that wants Vista. My son is. I warned him many
times that it is not necessary. But he's 18 years of age and I can't always
tell him what to do. At least he listens to me when I told him to Image his
system so that he can recover.

Now if there's anything constructive about this issue, that can help me...
I'd like to hear it.
Thanks
 
Remember I'm not the one that wants Vista. My son is. I warned him many
times that it is not necessary. But he's 18 years of age and I can't always
tell him what to do. At least he listens to me when I told him to Image his
system so that he can recover.

Now if there's anything constructive about this issue, that can help me...
I'd like to hear it.
Thanks
Click to expand...

You are trying to get something helpful from one of these groups
resident trolls/morons/juveniles that look for opportunities to flame
each other... and when they aren't doing that, half of them promote
Linux and trash Vista.
 
JCO said:
We are running XP Pro (sp2).

My son, preparing for College, was able to purchase Vista Ultimate upgrade
for 20 bucks. Can't beat that. However, when trying to upgrade to Vista,
we get a disk read error. This happens during the first reboot...after
vista has copied the files to the harddrive. So at that point, the system
is screwed and can no longer boot.

Fortunately, we have some intelligence dealing with computers. We have an
image of XP Pro saved on another partition. We did a restore and tried a
second time (getting the same error). I read somewhere that the cluster
size of NTFS has to be 4. Thought that was our solution but when I booted
with Acronis Disk Director, it says that we are already at a cluster size
4. So that is not our issue.

What else would cause this issue? The drive has no errors on it.
I'm wondering if it has anything to do with Vista's NTFS vs the current
XP's
version of NTFS? No where does it say that its converting the files to
the new NTFS.

After giving up on this, we decided to do the second option which is a
clean
install of Vista Ultimate (which apparently is on the same DVD). We got
the
same disk error. The disk has several partitions. I don't think that is
an issue.

I was one of the beta testers for Vista .. long before it came out. I
warned my son that there's no reason to change his Operating System but he
still wants to do it.
Click to expand...

You've tried with three different operating systems so this isn't a software
(Vista) issue. It also doesn't have anything to do with the file system
(NTFS, FAT32, etc.) because that's software. Failure to install an
operating system happens because:

1. Bad install media. You know this can't be the case because you've tried
different disks.

2. Bad optical drive. This could be the culprit so first swap out the cable
because that's cheap and easy. Test. If no good, swap out the optical drive
for a known-working one. Also pretty easy to do.

3. Bad hard drive. Again, swapping out the cable comes first since that's
easy. You say the drive has no errors on it but don't say how you tested.
If you didn't download a diagnostic utility from the hard drive mftr.'s
website and do a thorough test, you can't know that the drive has no
errors. I usually do the quick test first because if it fails that, why
bother doing more. But even if it passes the quick test I'd do the full
thorough test. If the drive fails any physical tests, replace it.

4. Bad RAM. I like Memtest86+ which you can get from www.memtest.org. If the
RAM fails any tests, replace it.

5. Bad PSU. Unlikely, but if it isn't providing enough juice to keep
everything going your OS install will fail.

6. And finally, bad motherboard/processor. This is the least usual thing but
of course can't be ruled out.

HTH,

Malke
 
JCO said:
Guess I will try another NG
Click to expand...

If you find one with ppl who know Vista and how to fix some of the
problems with it please email me the name of the NG.

Chipmunk.
 
Chipmunk said:
If you find one with ppl who know Vista and how to fix some of the
problems with it please email me the name of the NG.
Click to expand...

This is a perfectly good newsgroup for you to post your question in. The OP
was simply impatient. If you look at this thread, you'll see that many
people responded to him, including me. The MS public newsgroups are
peer-to-peer groups, meaning that the helpers are all volunteers who don't
work for Microsoft. They live all over the world in different time zones
and it may take a while to get answers. Patience is a virtue.

Make a new post describing your problem thoroughly. These links will show
you what details to include:

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Usenet
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375 - How to Ask a Question

Malke
 
Point taken.
Mean while, the issue deals with installation, therefore, I posted this
issue with "windows.vista.installation_setup".

That seems like a more appropriate NG for this issue.
Thanks again.
 
JCO said:
Point taken.
Mean while, the issue deals with installation, therefore, I posted this
issue with "windows.vista.installation_setup".
Click to expand...

Yes, except you *multi-posted* there instead of cross-posting. Since I
replied to you at length in this group and you've got an active thread,
you're better off sticking to this one instead of starting a new one in the
other group. Otherwise you've got two groups of people trying to help you;
one thread not knowing what has been written in the other thread.

I gave you a lot of suggestions. Have you tried any of them? Can I give you
any further details that might help you?

Malke
 
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