Argh, 2 days ago my computer was having problems.
First, I remembered entered a CD-R which I burn but couldn’t read, this shouldn’t happen!
After that, my computer started responding very very slow. I shut it down and stopped using it for a day.
When I boot it up the next day, I get the error message “A disk read error occurred. Press ctrl+alt+delete to restart”. However, CMOS detects the hard drive.
I searched around the internet and forums, and no one had the exact fix for this problem.
Hardware Analysis has the biggest discussion on this problem with 171 replies.

Some fixed it by the following methods and some unable to fix it.
1. Changing IDE cables
2. Change the jumper settings and not using Cable Select
3. Use recovery console and type fixboot
4. Use recovery console and type fixmbr

I first tried fixing it by playing around with the hardwares but unable to fix it.
Then I have no choice but to use software which will risk loosing my datas. I tried running chkdsk but unable to.
I also tried fixboot and nothing happens. Still the same error message. Finally I tried fixmbr and it says successfully fixed my master boot record.
Boot it up, and still unable to boot up to Windows. I boot it up to recovery console but this time I am able to see the C:\ drive.
When I list the directory, oh my, all the unknown/unreadable characters listed out. I know then, my hard drive is corrupted!
I’ve got no choice but to hook it up on another computer, run a disk recovery program to get back all my datas and reinstall Windows.
After reinstalling the Windows, it still has problems. I ran chkdsk and found BAD SECTORS! The nightmare of hard disk.
I formatted my hard disk with low level format with PowerMax from Maxtor FOR Maxtor.
After doing that, I scan my hard disk and voila, everything is okay.

It seems that this problem is caused by sharing your Hard disk with CD ROM on the same IDE cable.
Explanation by Davy Dane.
When connecting HD and CDROM/CDRW/DVD etc. to your computer you should follow these standards.
Don’t connect a HD and CDROM/CDRW/DVD to the same IDE port.
Connect the HD to IDE 1 and Connect the CDROM/CDRW/DVD to IDE 2 unless
You have an SATA HD then you can connect the CDROM/CDRW/DVD to IDE 1 but still never connect a HD and CDROM/CDRW/DVD on the same IDE port.
I believe there are now new DVD drives that run at 100 speed (DMA 5). If you have a 100/133 Speed HD and a 100 speed DVD drive then it’s ok to connect to the same IDE port.
When setting jumpers on HD and CDROM/CDRW/DVD drive always set the master to “MASTER ONLY” and the slave to “SLAVE”.
NEVER CHOOSE “MASTER W/ SLAVE (even if you have a slave)” or “CABLE SELECT” or “32 GB LIMIT”.
Make sure you have the correct speed cable on your HD. You need a 133 speed cable on your HD. It’s the thinner cable with the coloured end. The thicker cable for your CDROM/CDRW/DVD only runs at 66 (DMA 4).
One way of checking the speed of your HD is by going to the device manager/IDE Controllers right clicking on the channel and choose advanced settings. Your HD should be set to DMA 5 or DMA 6 (primary IDE). If it’s DMA 4 then you have the wrong speed cable connected to your HD.
Plug the Black end connector of your cable in your “MASTER” and the grey middle connector in your “SLAVE”.
Never plug the middle grey in the MASTER.

That makes sense doesn’t it? ;)

That’s not the end of my computer problems. I tried reinstalling Windows again after low level format, and it kept on giving blue screen during installation. I took off the unneeded hardwares such as Network Card, Sound Card, etc… one by one and tried installing the Windows.
Finally, i had 3 RAMs, 512 on slot 1, 256 on slot 2 and another 256 on slot 3. I took off slot 2 and 3 and tried installing Windows and this time no problem. I used a tool Memtest86+ and ran test on my RAM, and yes indeed there are problems with my 2nd and 3rd ram.

Here’s the memory test i conducted:
Test 1: Slot 1 – 512MB + Slot 2 – 256MB (stick 1)
Result: Got error on Slot 2

Test 2: Slot 1 – 512MB + Slot 2 – 256MB (stick 2)
Result: Got error on Slot 2

From the 2 test above, looks obvious that both my 256MB RAM has problems.
But wait, there is another test to conduct.

Test 3: Slot 1 – 512MB + Slot 3 – 256MB (stick 1)
Result: NO ERROR. (Can you believe that?)

Test 4: Slot 1 – 512MB + Slot 3 – 256MB (stick 2)
Result: No ERROR. ( I can’t believe it too!)

My conclusion is, the Slot 2 on my mother for RAM is damaged. And, for desktop PC, I would use FAT32 rather than NTFS on drives that contains Windows Operating System. I don’t want to go through all that again…

Davy Dane did said that “Most people think this has to be a HD problem but that’s not true. I had this problem when I had a bad VIDEO CARD, RAM, and MODEM before.”
I think he’s probably right too. The bad memory might have given wrong information on bad sectors. DUH!

Update: I tried to use Slot 1 and Slot 3 to install Windows XP and doesn’t work. I can only stick with 512MB of memory for the time being…