CD ROM Tray keeps opening and closing by itself

Purple lady,

Thank you for using the DellTalk forum.

Here is some CDROM troubleshooting information.
If the information below does not help, call tech support
directly to see about getting the drive replaced.
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What Steps Should I Take to Troubleshoot My CD or DVD Drive If It Stops Working?

Check the Media
Try another CD in the drive. The media you are trying to use could be bad. Make sure that the label is on the top of the disk when inserted as well. If the drive tray will not eject, skip down to checking the hardware since this could be an indication of a bad drive or power cable.
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Check for a Virus
Another important item to check for is a virus. Most of the common boot sector viruses that are out there will cause the CD or DVD to "disappear." If your system has Windows® 95 or 98 installed, to check for a possible virus, perform the following steps:

Right-click the My Computer icon.
Click Properties.
Click the Performance tab.
Does the Performance area display that you are using MS-DOS® compatibility mode? Does Performance display that something has modified the boot sector? If the answer to either of these questions is yes, then it is likely you have a virus.
If you might have a virus, download anti-virus software and get rid of the virus.

Execute the CHKDSK command from MS-DOS:
To boot to MS-DOS mode, perform one of the following:
Method 1
Restart your computer.
While your computer restarts, press down and hold the [Ctrl] key until the Windows Startup menu appears.
Choose "Command Prompt Only" from the Startup menu.
Press the Enter key.

To execute the CHKDSK command, perform the following steps:
At the C:\ prompt type: CD\Windows\Command and press ENTER.
The C:\Windows\Command directory appears.
Type CHKDSK and press Enter.
You should now get a memory count:
Look for the entry Total Bytes Memory this should read, 655,360
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Reseat (disconnect and then reconnect) the data ribbon (a flat, wide cable with red stripe along one side) from the IDE controller on the motherboard and from the backs of the drive. Reseat the Power cable going to the drive as well.
You may need to refer to the following web page, for diagrams on how to
add/remove cables and devices.
http://docs.us.dell.com/docs/systems/dalex/Removing.htm

If you have added hardware recently to the system, try removing it as a test. If you can use the drive after returning the system to it’s prior configuration, consult the documentation for the device that you are adding to make sure that it is configured correctly.

If the CD or DVD is an IDE or SCSI drive, it should appear listed on the screen when the system is booting shortly after the hard drive is detected. If it does not, you may need to open the system (if you have a Desktop computer) and reseat the cables. Try disconnecting and reconnecting both the power and data cables to check for a loose connection. Check the pins and connectors on the cables, drive and system board. Reseat both ends of the data cable.
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To reset the "System Bios" defaults take these steps.

1.Entering Bios:
Turn on (or restart) your system.
When the blue Dell logo appears, press Delete Key "Several Times"
If you wait too long and the operating system begins to load into memory, let the system complete the load operation. Then shut down the system and try again.
If you succeed you will get a screen that reads Dell Dimension XPS Dxxx Setup.

2.Once in Bios:
Use the Right Arrow key to move over to Advanced.
Use the Down Arrow key to go down to Reset Configuration Data
Use the -/+ keys to change the Reset Config Data to YES
Then press the F10 key, say YES to "Save Changes and Exit."

3.Reset the settings.
Go back into the System Bios.
One's inside the System Bios, press the F9 key.
Say YES to "Setup Default Configuration"
Press the F10 key, and say YES to "Save Changes and Exit."
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Additionally, for Windows 95 or 98, you may try deleting the controller to force Windows to redetect the hardware. To remove the IDE Controller:

Click Start, point to Settings, and click Control Panel.
Double-click the System icon.
Click on the Device Manager tab.
Check for any red X’s or yellow !’s.
If you see any of these, write down the device name for future reference or additional troubleshooting, click on the device and click Remove for each one. Allow the system to reboot to test these changes. If you reboot, repeat steps 1 to 3 to return to the Device Manager and proceed with step 5.
If you do not see any red X’s or yellow !’s, proceed with step 5.
Double-click on the Hard Disk Controllers.
Click on the controller to select them.
Click on Remove.
Allow the system to reboot and redetect the controllers.

Check for the Windows Registry, NOIDE error.
Click on Start, Run and type in: Regedit
Then click OK
You will get a Registry Editor window.
Click on Edit, Find
Type in: NOIDE
Click Find Next
If the search finds any icons with NOIDE, delete those icons.
Then close all windows, and reboot the system.
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Run the Dell Diagnostics:

1.Go to the following web page:<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed / replaced from this post by Dell>

2.Type in your service tag number, in the "Service Tag" field. 

Then click the "GO" button.
3.Click on "Downloads for your Dell"
Under the "Downloads" section of the page.
4.On the Upper Right hand side of the screen,
"Search Keywords or File Names,"
Type in the following file name: D1066100.exe
Then click the "Go" button.
5.Click on the Link that is brought up, and download the
"Floppy" version of the file.

This file contains a compressed (or zipped) set of files. Download the file to a folder on your hard drive, and then run (double-click) it to unzip the set of 1-5 files. Follow the instructions to create a set of floppy diskettes, and then use the diskettes to complete the installation.

To start the diagnostic tests boot the computer with the diagnostic disk in the appropriate drive.
The files will automatically load into the system.
The system will prompt for one several choices, depending on the extent and specificity of the tests to be run. For example, the choices will include:
Run 16-bit Diagnostics, Run All Tests, Run Quick Tests, Run Specific Tests, and Exit to MS-DOS. Depending on the Diagnostic version,
some of these choices may not be available.
You should try running the Run All Test if any errors are encountered
when try to use this choice, then use the 16-bit Diagnostics.
If any errors are encountered when the Diagnostics program is running,
then it is an actual hardware failure.
Run All Tests will run an entire, comprehensive test on the computer system.
Run Quick Tests will run all tests on the entire system, without running as an exhaustive test on the hard drive as the Run All Tests selection will.
Run Specific Tests allows for the testing of specific components in the system; this choice is used if there is good reason to suspect a specific component may be the cause of the failure.
Within Run Specific Tests are several specific tests which individually test RAM, System Set (the chipset on the motherboard), Video, Keyboard, Mouse, Drives, Ports (serial and parallel), SCSI Devices, and Network Interfaces.
Exit to MS-DOS will exit the diagnostics to a command prompt.

NOTE: For most situations, you should Run Quick Tests.
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You must have the Dell Resource CD or Windows CD, in the CDROM or DVD drive.
If you have a CDRW-Drive you must also have a blank formatted CDRW disk in that drive.
Disconnect all devices from the back of the system other then the, mouse,
keyboard, and monitor.
If you have a USB keyboard or mouse, you must switch to a PS2 keyboard or mouse. USB devices are not recognized by diagnostics.
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What is the results of the Diagnostics test???