Disk Read Error + Black screen with cursor?

Question

On my Sony VAIO VPCEA36FM, when I try booting up, I get a  "a disk read error occurred. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart" screen.  For the few times that it is able to boot up into Windows 7 (after taking a very long time at the startup screen), I'm greeted with a black screen and I can only move my cursor around. Is my hard drive dying, or is something else going on?

I can boot from external devices just fine, by the way.

Answer 1

All I was doing before the problem occured was running Recuva to recover a file I had mistakenly deleted. It was taking up a lot of system peformance, and after about 6 hours of running the program, the screen went black except for the cursor.

I did not try installing any other operating system.

I've  tried booting into Safe Mode from a Windows 7 Home Premium installation disk (from another computer) and now it just gets stuck on loading Windows files. (\windows\system32\drivers\disk.sys)

Unable to enter Startup Repair, it doesn't appear on the boot menu.

Answer 2

Hi,

I understand that you are unable to boot the computer to the desktop. Let us work together to troubleshoot the issue.

Just a few questions to get a clear picture of the issue.

1. Did you make any changes to the computer recently?
2. Have you been trying to install any other operating system on the computer?

Method 1: Safe Mode starts Windows with a limited set of files and drivers. Startup programs don't run in safe mode, and only the basic drivers needed to start Windows are installed. Check if the issue persists in Safe Mode.

Start your computer in safe mode

**Method 2:**I would suggest you to access Windows Recovery Environment Options by pressing F8 key(Repair your computer) and then try Startup repair.

Startup Repair

Startup Repair is a Windows recovery tool that can fix certain system problems that might prevent Windows from starting. Startup Repair scans your computer for the problem and then tries to fix it so your computer can start correctly.

What are the system recovery options in Windows?

Startup Repair: frequently asked questions

Hope this helps. If the issue persists please get back to us, we will be glad to assist you.