A disk read error occured when reading bootable USB

Question

How would I extract the conditionals below into a method?

I want both to set a new value to the variable AND return the iterated item's value.

my_variable = 0

collection_one.each do |item|
  if item.some_attribute != my_variable 
    my_variable = item.some_attribute
    item.some_attribute
  end
  # do other stuff
end

collection_two.each do |item|
  if item.some_attribute != my_variable 
    my_variable = item.some_attribute
    item.some_attribute
  end
  # do other stuff
end

Solution 1

Sometimes an USB stick error happens when having a lot of files in root folder. If there's more stuff than actually the files needed to make the Windows install, try to move them to some safe device/computer.

Some times is the file system of the USB and/or operative system. USB sticks are often FAT 32, or FAT 16. In some cases people install Windows XP in FAT 32. I guess your Windows 7 is in NTFS file system, as usual. Might happen some issue related to this.

Did you check that in the defective laptop BIOS menu, you have USB listed in boot sequence/options ? You might have it configured differently or laptop BIOS not supporting USB boot at all.

Solution 2

If the same USB drive works in another system, then the problem must lie with your XP system. You could try a BIOS update if there is a later version available. If that does not help, make an Easy2Boot v1.91B USB drive and add the Win7 ISO to it (_ISO\WINDOWS\WIN7 folder). Do NOT set the boot order to boot from the USB drive - instead use a F key (e.g. F8, F10, F11, F12 or whatever) to invoke the BIOS Boot Selection pop-up box and then select the USB drive as the boot drive. Use a USB 2 port. As soon as it starts to boot, immediately press and hold down the SHIFT key. This will install the grub4dos USB 2 driver which may be less buggy than your BIOS's USB driver. You should see a message about 1 Device found (0x80). Then select the Windows Install - Win7 menu and try installing Windows 7 usual.

Comments

[Moab]

Not sure if you are trying to install Windows 7 or repair the XP installation? Please clarify exactly what you are trying to accomplish, use the edit feature to modify your question.

[Shawn Mclean]

I'm trying to install windows 7 from a USB boot stick.\

[Moab]

It was your second paragraph that had me wondering. Will it boot from any other bootable usb device? Did you try all the usb ports?

[Moab]

Do you get the same disk read error when you boot from the hard drive?, if you do, it may not be trying to boot from USB at all.

[Shawn Mclean]

@Moab I tried all USB ports. I did not get any error for trying to boot from the hard drive. It loaded up the windows xp bot screen.

[Moab]

It must be some kind of bios USB limitation, have you checked for any bios settings regarding USB, like enable/disable legacy support?

[Shawn Mclean]

Just turned off support for legacy USB and now it doesn't find the usb stick when I choose to select boot device.

[Moab]

All that is left is to update (flash) the bios to the latest version if it is not already.

[joseramonc]

you want to return an array?

[Fellow Stranger]

i tried to return [item.some_attribute, my_variable], but the new my_variable value is not persisting to the next time the method is run..

[Shawn Mclean]

So what I did was to move the USB drive to be booted at the top of the list. It gives this error when I try to select it in the boot device manager.

[Pierre]

This definitely sorted me out. Tried: "Rufus", "Universal USB installer", "MS Windows USB DVD Tool", "Windows 7 USB edition", "WinToUSB", and couple other methods. None worked except this. #OldPCProblems

[stackprotector]

@ShawnMclean And what exactly solved your problem?

[Shawn Mclean]

@Thomas the first sentence. That bios at the time allowed me to reorder the boot devices instead of selecting them.