Failed to read block ?

[dzien50]

I get this error meeage a lot when my game crashes, can someone tell me exactly what it means ?
Cheers
PJ

 

[JCitron]

I get this error meeage a lot when my game crashes, can someone tell me exactly what it means ?
Cheers
PJ

Are there any other errors? A message like this could mean there's something wrong with your hard drive. Disks are divided up into blocks.

John

 

[fran1]

PJ
Try defragging the drive, it may throw some light on it. If it is a drive problem run check disc (chkdsk).
Just in case, copy the local folder (trainz) to a different drive. If the drive does fail you still have your content.

 

[john259]

Agreed, that looks like a hard disk problem.

If you have anything else that you value on that drive (not just Trainz but anything) then it would be worth backing it up to another physical drive, CD, DVD or a flash drive etc - if you haven't already done so of course.

John

 

[dzien50]

Thanks one and all, I only use this comp for trainz, nothing else on it other than internet for downloads and email + any internal programmes. I run defrag regularly and all seems ok I have 640 hard drive with 64% free space.
All trainz stuff is backed up on an independant hard drive
Fran where do I find this " check disk " ? and what am I looking for when I run it ?
I'm using TRS2006sp1
Cheers
PJ

 

[john259]

where do I find this " check disk " ?

In Windows XP:
My Computer or Windows Explorer, right-click on the drive, then Properties > Tools > Error Checking

Vista and Win7 may differ but it's likely to be in there somewhere.

Shut down as many programs as possible before running it, and disable the screensaver.

It will tell you if it finds problems.

HTH, John

 

[dzien50]

Hi John
I've just tried this, after waiting about an hour to go through " phase 2 " I got a message " windows unable to complete disk check " ?
So I'm a bit stuck now, any ideas ?
Cheers
PJ

 

[john259]

Try a Google search for that error message. I haven't explored in depth but there seems to be quite a bit of advice out there.

John

 

[shaneturner12]

To do a proper disk check, you will need it to automatically fix file system errors and do a deeper scan. To do this:
1.Go into (My) Computer
2.Right-click the drive with the problem
3.Choose Properties.
4.Click the Tools tab (at the top of the box that appears)
5.Click Check Now.
6.Tick Both boxes at the top, then click Start.
7. Windows will ask if you want to schedule the disk check on next system restart: Click Yes/Schedule Disk Check
8.Restart the computer - the disk check will take place during the restart.

This applies to XP,Vista and Windows 7.

Shane

 

[dzien50]

Thanks Shane, I'll do it today
Cheers
PJ

 

[EdrickV]

Another way to run chkdsk is to pop up a command prompt (start|run and type cmd) and type:

chkdsk c: /f /r

The c: is obviously the drive letter.
The /f tells it to automatically fix errors if it finds any.
The /r tells it to look for bad sectors on the disk and try to recover data from them.

For general purposes the /r isn't usually needed, though in this particular case it may be justified. It increases the time it takes to check the drive quite a bit since it will check every single sector of the drive to make sure it is still usable. If it has trouble doing this, it might be worth doing a check without the /r followed by a second check with /r.

 

[dzien50]

I did the deeper scan, it took a very long time but I hope iys sorted the problem...only time will tell
Thanks one and all for your help
Cheers
PJ