CD-DRIVE issues..

[basepointdesignz]

Hi,

Here at work, we have 2 desktop PCs that have the same issues:

Basically, the CD-Drive or related isn't working properly. When a cd is put in the drive, windows shows the folder but when a file from that is opened, the computer crashes. Most of the time it just hangs, sometimes it shows an error msg about not enough memory to open it, but either way the pc is left redundant..

However, if the cd is left in and the pc rebooted, the files on the cd can be opened perfectly. Its everytime a new cd is loaded the problem occurs..

The drivers are all up to date for the cd-drive and we've had our IT guy remotely check on things but to no avail apart from suggesting a new cd-drive, which i put in but still the same problems..

Any ideas?

Cheers,

Paul
basepointdesignzltd..
XP Pro..
Pentium Core 2 Q6600 Quad Core
ASUS P5N-E SLI Motherboard
4GB DDR2 RAM
2 x SLI NVIDIA 8500GT SLi 1024MB DDR2 PCI-Express Graphics Cards

 

[kjv1611]

Sounds to me like the problem is related to an application running that is tying up things with the optical drive. It could be a security app, but I'm actually thinking more along the lines of a CD/DVD app specifically, or else a media app... anything that monitors the optical drive at all...

Here's how I'd check for that: (same for each PC, of course - but if you find the problem on one, you can probably skip some steps on the 2nd)
1. Reboot machine in safe mode - do you have the exact same issues still? If so, then it's not what I was suspecting as the most likely culprit.
2. If that DID fix the issue, check the startup and service items, and look for anything at all suspicious as would have to do with your optical drive working/not working.... and really this could go 2 ways:
I. First way would be to start normal mode, deselect first suspicious startup or service item, then reboot... continue until you've eliminated the problem, or stopped all startup items and services (I'd start with startup items first, and THEN move to services, myself).
II. Once you find the startup or service item that seems to be the culprit, it wouldn't hurt do do a little research, but at least in the mean time, you can leave that disabled, and re-enable everything else you disabled to that point...
III. Reboot with just the offending item disabled, and see if problem gone... if so, then it's fixed for now... but I'd research that item to see what program it belongs to, and whether it can be removed as an option, or whether you need to check into an alternative for that program altogether. After all, someone could end up re-enabling that item later on in another error finding/fixing run.

If it's nothing in the startup/service items, then I would next look in the BIOS settings. Check to see that there are no quiet/speed options set on the optical drive. If there are, turn them off/disable them, and reboot, see if that fixed the issue.

My # 1 guess is the optical/media program.
My # 2 guess is the BIOS
My # 3 guess is the Security app
And a # 4 guess would be an odd form of malware... And if that ends up being the case, it'd be a whole nother issue altogether.

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[BadBigBen]

IDE or are they SATA?

if IDE, then uninstall the drivers for the IDE CONTROLLER and reboot...

also worth a try, is to replace the cable...

are any of these apps installed, NERO or ROXIO?

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[DTracy]

I had a similar problem the other day with an optical drive on a Vista machine. Flashed the BIOS and it solved the problem.

Regards,
David.