atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Computers & Programming Computers, Software, Accessories PC reboots when accessing the DVD drive.

My (older) PC will reboot when I put a disk in the CD/DVD drive. The disk will spin up and the PC will reboot.

After rebooting the PC will be able to access the disk perfectly. Which to me rules out a hardware problem.

The PC is an AMD Athlon running Win XP Home with all the latest updates. 1.5 GB of Ram.

Truly annoying. I don't run a lot of disks through the machine (mostly CDs for backups) but it's becoming a real PITA.

So annoying that I'm thinking about upgrading/changing - but that will be a separate topic.

Anybody have any ideas?

I'm really getting to hate windows.


Sam

1. There is a very slight chance that your PC power supply is beginning to fail.

2. Are you running CD Stomper or InCD?

3. Remove and Reinstall: Right click on My Computer and choose Properties. Click on the Hardware tab and then the Device Manager button. Expand the DVD/CD-ROM drives list and delete the device in question. Power off the computer (don't simply reboot). XP will find the device on powerup and reinstall the driver.

4. Turn of Auto Reboot: Right click on My Computer and choose Properties. Click on the Advanced tab and choose Settings (under Startup and Recovery) and uncheck "Automatically restart".

Dagwoodsystems -

Thanks for the hints - I'll try them out this weekend.

I changed the Power Supply a year or so ago, so I think it's probably OK - but you never know. I'm not running either of those two programs - are they are a problem?

Of course this doesn't happen all the time so we'll have to wait and see.

Sam

Well, I tried both things and sure enough - run the PC for a day or three, put a CD in the drive, attempt to access it and BAM! System reboot. After the reboot (not a shutdown) I can access the CD without a problem.

I'm running EZ CD Creator 5 Basic and Power DVD. I generally access the CDs with Windows Explorer.

Anybody got any other ideas?

Sam

EZ CD Creator is a program that does not cause a lot of problems, it causes a whole BOATLOAD of problems, even after you completely uninstall it. Definitely remove this program and hope it fixes the problem.

If this does not fix the problem, take a look at the web site for CD Creator and search for troubleshooting information and uninstaller programs there.

If this does not fix the problem, install another CD burner program. There are now a number of free CD burners available on download.com and filehippo.com. Use one of these instead, or buy Nero.

If this does not fix the problem, the only thing I can think of is to reinstall Windows in a new folder or to backup your data and do a clean reinstall.

OY!

"Backup your data and do a clean reinstall of Windows"

I've heard that too many times. That Mac is looking better and better.

Damn, I miss OS/2. I never had any of this sort of troubles when I used it.

Sam

Have you booted to the safe mode and tried?

Wouldn't help. Once I reboot (to regular mode) everything is fine - for a while. Then it does it again. These days, pretty much like clockwork.

Access the optical drive and down she goes.

Sam

Maybe God is sending you a hint to make a backup of your data before your hard drive breaks. Nothing lives forever.

Did you try any of the things I sugested? Why do you jump to the last one and dismiss it?

Here's another hint: Take a look at the Windows Event Manager to get a clue as to what is causing the reboot.

Another thing you can do before reinstalling Windows is to uninstall your CD drive in Device manager, then reboot and let it reinstall itself.

Lighten up, Grim. Everybody knows that Roxio Rulez LOL

I smooched CD creator goodbye at 3.0 and went to the various incantations of Nero.

Roxio is one of the first things that goes away on a new PC.

Sam, for about $80 or so, you might try adding an external CD/DVD. Open it carefully, because you might find that there's more going on than just the CD and you can return it. That's where it pays to use and abuse the big box stores.

Carl