A disk error occurred

[Grant]

Hi all
I hope someone can help me.
To be to the point I have a laptop with windows Xp.
I've had it for a while.
All of a sudden, "A disk read error occurred Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart".
It restarts but the same error comes up.
How can I fix it (I have lost the disks for it, so if I need to reload software where can I download it).

Please help
Grant

[Allan]

Click START - RUN and type: cmd
Press ENTER
When the command prompt comes up type: chkdsk /r
Press Enter
When asked if you want to run it at the next boot say YES
If necessary, press ENTER
Type: Exit
Press ENTER

Reboot and let checkdisk run to completion

NOTE: when you type chkdsk /r make sure there is a space between chkdsk and the forward slash

[Grant]

The same error comes up as soon as I start up.

[Allan]

You could not possibly have run chkdsk /r in that period of time.

[Grant]

As I switch laptop on the error comes up!
I might be having a blonde moment but it doesn't even startup and give me the option to go start -run.

[Allan]

I had no way of knowing you got the message at boot. When you ask for help on a support forum you need to provide as much information as possible in your initial post.

First, if you have a cd or dvd in the optical drive, remove it and reboot. Do you still get the same error? If so, go to the website of your hard drive manufacturer, download their diagnostic utility, burn it to disc, boot to it and run the diagnostic.

[Grant]

Sorry I didn't give enough info.
I will try your sugestion.
Thnks for the help.