How To Recover Files After Disk Read Error?

Updated on July 10, 2022

Hi all, I have immense problem!!! Yesterday my computer was working fine. But today morning when I clicked on a partition to access files, I got error message which reads as “A disk read error occurred. Press Ctrl + Alt + Del to restart”. I have followed whatever Windows suggested but same thing repeated. Does anyone know how can I get rid of this error message?

A common problem of MS Windows users who use dual operating system or attempt to install over a previous version of Windows OS is getting a disk read error message as stated above. With a dual booting operating system, Windows user can install more than one operating system on their computer and they can choose which operating system to boot while starting the system. Hence dual booting configures exactly two operating systems on single computer and gives the user an opportunity to avail the benefits of both operating systems. As nothing in this world is without flaws, it has been noticed that computer which has dual boot, renders various compatibility issues and at times the situation becomes so worse that you are presented with disk read error message while trying to read disk data.

How To Access Files After Disk Read Errors?

A Disk read errors can occur when there is a logical problem with your hard drive; issues with your hardware or when there is problem with your software. Most of the times, disk read error occurs when there is a problem with all three. Although troubleshooting a disk read error can be very difficult, there are few simple steps that you can pursue to get the problem cleared up. Follow these steps to resolve your problem.

  • Hit on the Windows globe logo at the bottom of the desktop to show the Start menu. Select Computer option from the menu to open a window
  • Right-click on the drive letter; for example, "C", "D" or other in order to show a pop-up menu. Choose Properties from the menu to open a dialog box
  • Press on the Tools tab to bring it to the front of the box. Hit the Check Now button in the Error-checking section
  • Put a check mark into the box next to both the options i.e. Automatically fix file system errors and Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors
  • Click on the Start option provided. Wait and watch the screen while your Windows detects and corrects disk errors including the disk read error message. You will see status messages during and a report at the end of the process

In many cases, above steps successfully works and you will get access to the drive which used to display disk error message. But one of the drawbacks of this method is that it will delete few files present in the drive while correcting errors. So, if the files that you lost are of great importance then it is suggested to make use of appropriate hard drive recovery software.

How To Recover Data After Disk Read Error?

Yodot Hard Drive Recovery software is highly suggested to get back files which you lost after disk read error. This application reads your hard drive and then extracts lost data from it without damaging it further. It has the potential to restore important photo, videos, music files, MS Office files, PDF files, archive files and many more which you lost as a result of disk error. You can even add file type of your choice, if it is not listed by software. This software is the most preferred application to retrieve data from crashed, inaccessible and failed hard drive/external hard drives. Before saving recovered files, it allows you to save recovered data using “Save Recovery Session” option, which helps users to avoid re-scanning of hard drive again after purchasing software to save recovered data.

Steps To Recover Files After Disk Read Error:

  • Download Yodot Hard Drive Recovery software to your Windows computer
  • Run the software and follow the simple steps mentioned onscreen
  • Choose Partition Recovery option out of the two options
  • Now select the drive from which data needs to be retrieved
  • Now let the software finish the scanning procedure
  • As the scanning process finishes, the software displays the file types which are recoverable
  • You can Preview media file to confirm your selection
  • Browse the destination location on your system to Save the rescued files

Tips To Avoid Losing Data:

  • It is suggested to keep backup of important files, since disk read error or other error messages can occur at any time.
  • Installing multiple OS is good, but make sure that you can manage it properly.

Other Popular Software

Yodot Photo Recovery (Windows)

Recover and restore deleted photos lost from your digital camera memory card or the images from your Windows PC. The software can recover all popular image types including popular audio and video files.

Yodot Mac File Recovery

The only undelete application for Mac that can recover deleted files from HFS+, HFSX partitions on Mac. The software also has the ability to recover lost files using RAW signature method.