If the error occurs frequently when booting the Windows system – an error occurred while reading the hard disk. Press Ctrl + Alt + Del to restart your computer. Here are a few steps you can try to solve.

If this error occurs, then there is a problem with your hard drives. It occurs when you try to start Windows. As a Windows user pointed out, this error can lead to problems with the boot cycle. More importantly, you may be concerned about the data stored on your drives. The problem may be related to the boot sector or master boot record (MBR) file. However, this is not the case for all users. We have found several common causes of hard drive read errors.

There can be many reasons for errors, but we can narrow them down to three main ones:

  • Incorrect MBR configuration. The most common causes of MBR misconfiguration are hard disk write errors and virus attacks. To some extent, troubleshooting at the software level can solve this problem without replacing the hard drive.
  • Misconfigured partition table: If the partition table is not properly configured, this problem can still be solved at the software level.
  • The problem may be in the physical hard drive itself.

Run CHKDSK from CMD

You cannot run CHKDSK from the command line. So try starting from the Advanced Options menu and click “Command Prompt”.

  • After opening the command line, type the following command:
  • chkdsk X: / f / x / r
  • Note. In the above command, X: / is the root drive.
  • If any problems are detected, they will be resolved and you will get an error report. Otherwise the following message is displayed:
  • “Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems”.

Run Bootrec to fix the hard disk read error

If any errors occur while installing or configuring the boot loader, you might also get the error “An error occurred while reading the hard disk, press Ctrl + Alt + Del to reboot”.

You can fix this error by following these steps.

Step 1. Press Win + R to open the Run dialog box. Type cmd and click OK.

Step 2. In the command prompt window, type the following commands and press Enter.

  • bootrec / fixmbr
  • bootrec / fixboot
  • bootrec / rebuildbcd

Step 3. Reboot your system and let bootrec rebuild the MBR.

Update the system BIOS.

Well, it’s complicated and you don’t know it, don’t try it. Improperly updating the BIOS can cause problems. However, it is known that these problems will be solved at the same time. So, update the BIOS of your Windows system. You may need to download the BIOS from the manufacturer’s website and create a multimedia CD/DVD for this process. If the problem persists despite the BIOS update, you can assume that the problem is hardware related.

Windows 10 hard drive read error occurs rarely. However, in this case, the user will lose access to all their files, folders and personal data because the system cannot be started. This can be due to BIOS misconfiguration, disk corruption or boot sector and system partition problem.

The guide will take you step by step through how to fix Windows 10 hard drive read error. If you have important or business-critical data on your system, it is better to remove the hard drive from the system and save the data. Then skip to the steps on how to repair Fix Errors.