This post is more than 5 years old
5 Posts
0
13413
Blank CD Crashes System
I have a Dell 3000 [Amin Note: Service Tag Edited per TOU policy] running XP. As soon as I install a blank CD or DVD in either one of my drives, the system crashes. It does not crash if I insert a CD or DVD that I have already recorded on - just a blank CD or DVD. I have the AnyDVD software running, which automatically peeks at the drive whenever I put something in the drive, and I verified that I have the latest version of this software.
I have an internal TSST CD/DVD drive and a Sony Sony 840 USB drive, and a blank CD in either drive will cause the crash. I am running XP with SP3. The machine also runs "dog slow", but I have been living with this. How slow is "dog slow"? Can you say 45 seconds for a page refresh? Think back to an 8080 running CP/M with 8-inch floppies. Maybe that is an exageration, as my machine is not that fast.
I have an internal TSST CD/DVD drive and a Sony Sony 840 USB drive, and a blank CD in either drive will cause the crash. I am running XP with SP3. The machine also runs "dog slow", but I have been living with this. How slow is "dog slow"? Can you say 45 seconds for a page refresh? Think back to an 8080 running CP/M with 8-inch floppies. Maybe that is an exageration, as my machine is not that fast.
What do I do to correct this?
bobwms
5 Posts
1
June 1st, 2012 11:00
I believe that the problem is solved. My thanks to all who made suggestions. The suggestion winner was Osprey4, which got me going on the right track.
Here is basically what I did...
1. From the "Start" button, I selected "Help and Support"
2. Under "Pick a task", I selected the System Restore option.
3. I dropped back about a week and was not happy with that copy of XP, so I replaced it with a copy that was a little newer, using the same process.
4. I now had no CD devices at all, and "Ad-Aware" kept trying to install itself after I had blown all of it's directories away.
5. I could not un-install Ad-Aware, so I went to their web site. Their site directed me to some hustlers in India, who kept me on the phone for about an hour, tried to sell me a $300 support contract (on a $100 computer), and didn't solve a damned thing except wasting an hour that I will never get back.
6. I used Microsoft Helper dude (I think it was the Microsoft Fixit Center) to resolve the un-install problem and got that POS Ad-Aware off of my system.
7. Then I pointed the Microsoft Fixit dude to the problem with my CD drives, and he got both working. I was impressed with that piece of software.
Now both of my CD/DVD drives work fine, and Ad-Aware messes with me no longer.
Thanx to one and all!
DELL-Kaushal P
2 Posts
0
May 29th, 2012 15:00
Hi
Welcome to Dell Community.
It appears to be a problem with Cd/DVD drive. I would like to know few things first so that I can help you in better manner. Would like to know how old this CD/DVD drive and since how long have u been facing this issue?
Did you check the drive by booting on to a bootable media cd(out of the operating system)?
If yes then did it work properly out of the (operating system environment)
Do you get the Cd/DVD icon with in the windows?
You can also follow the steps in the following link in order to resolve the issue.
• http://dell.to/lrkAcE
Thanks
Dell-Kaushal P
osprey4
4 Operator
4 Operator
•
34.2K Posts
0
May 29th, 2012 16:00
Hi bobwms,
To add to Dell-Kaushal P's suggestions, in my experience, this problem is usually caused by the use of a packet-writing program such as Sonic DLA or Roxio Drag-to-disc. If you have either of those installed, uninstall them. If that does not help, try uninstalling AnyDVD just for troubleshooting purposes.
It sounds to me that you would benefit greatly from a clean reinstallation of Windows XP. That will restore the speed your system had when you first got it. Let me know if you're interested in exploring that option.
celavey
49 Posts
0
May 29th, 2012 23:00
This might cause other problems in the future. I would also suggest what I have experienced. Back up everything (files, programs, etc..), then reformat your unit.
bobwms
5 Posts
0
May 31st, 2012 12:00
Thank you for your response. With all due respect to the others who submitted responses, I am reasonably sure that your evaluation is correct, and the problem is not a hardware issue. Both drives read data fine, and both are from different manufacturers.
My thinking on this is that a re-install of XP would be a good bet. I believe that the hard drive already has a virgin copy of the OS in one of the hidden partitions. Would I lose all of the software in the "Programs File"? What are the downsides of this install?
Thanx.
bobwms
5 Posts
0
May 31st, 2012 12:00
Previous post was a response to Osprey4.
osprey4
4 Operator
4 Operator
•
34.2K Posts
0
May 31st, 2012 13:00
Hi Bobwms,
If the problem is caused by the use of a packet writing program, reinstalling will fix the problem only if the packet writing program is not reinstalled. If, for example, Sonic DLA is installed when you restore the OS, then you need to remove it.
If there is a different cause, then reinstalling will probably work. Here is the procedure to restore the original drive image.
osprey4
4 Operator
4 Operator
•
34.2K Posts
0
June 1st, 2012 12:00
Excellent. Glad I was able to help.