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Author Topic: Strange CD/DVD behavior  (Read 1845 times)

walter.sk

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Strange CD/DVD behavior
« on: June 18, 2010, 02:56:57 pm »

I'm stymied, and hope there is a simple solution here.  I've been running Windows7 64bit on a Dell XPS 730 with 8Gb RAM and a quad core Intel processor with no problems.  About a week ago I noticed that the optical drive, which has been fine for 3 years, opened when I turned the computer on and Windows came up.  I tried closing it but it reopened by itself.  I tried my Roxio Creator software and told it to close the drive, which it did.

When I shut down the computer, the drive opened just before the computer shut off.  I manually closed the drive, but on boot up the drive opened again.  Looking more closely I found that when the drive was closed, Windows thought it was open.  When it opened, I found that the little light that reads the CD's was on and trying to read, even though the drawer was wide open.

I can trick the drive into playing a CD but the computer continues after that to think the drive is closed when it is actualy open.  Has anybody experienced this?  How do I get out of this cycle?
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Persio

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Strange CD/DVD behavior
« Reply #1 on: July 10, 2010, 09:35:22 pm »

Quote from: walter.sk
I'm stymied, and hope there is a simple solution here.  I've been running Windows7 64bit on a Dell XPS 730 with 8Gb RAM and a quad core Intel processor with no problems.  About a week ago I noticed that the optical drive, which has been fine for 3 years, opened when I turned the computer on and Windows came up.  I tried closing it but it reopened by itself.  I tried my Roxio Creator software and told it to close the drive, which it did.

When I shut down the computer, the drive opened just before the computer shut off.  I manually closed the drive, but on boot up the drive opened again.  Looking more closely I found that when the drive was closed, Windows thought it was open.  When it opened, I found that the little light that reads the CD's was on and trying to read, even though the drawer was wide open.

I can trick the drive into playing a CD but the computer continues after that to think the drive is closed when it is actualy open.  Has anybody experienced this?  How do I get out of this cycle?

Walter,
My experience may not have anything to do with your problem but my CD/DVD drives (I have 2 units) simply disappeared from my system (Windows 7 x64) after I installed an update to iTunes (cannot recall the version number - 9.1.2 maybe). I did some research and the Apple site had a workaround to the problem. I recovered Windows to a state prior to the iTunes upgrade and the system returned to normal behavior. I have since upgraded iTunes to version 9.2.0.61 without a problem.
Hope this helps.
Persio.
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walter.sk

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Strange CD/DVD behavior
« Reply #2 on: July 11, 2010, 01:25:56 pm »

Quote from: Persio
Walter,
My experience may not have anything to do with your problem but my CD/DVD drives (I have 2 units) simply disappeared from my system (Windows 7 x64) after I installed an update to iTunes (cannot recall the version number - 9.1.2 maybe). I did some research and the Apple site had a workaround to the problem. I recovered Windows to a state prior to the iTunes upgrade and the system returned to normal behavior. I have since upgraded iTunes to version 9.2.0.61 without a problem.
Hope this helps.
Persio.
Well, my problem is solved.  Dell replaced the drive with another, and said that the gears in the drive got off-track.
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kpmedia

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Re: Strange CD/DVD behavior
« Reply #3 on: August 15, 2010, 11:06:27 pm »

The OEM drives used by Dell generally are not very good, neither for reading nor writing.
Ideally, you should think about replacing it yourself with a Pioneer burner, currently $25 at Amazon.
That's the best drive you can get.
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Long time Nikon user. Currently using D200 + D3s for sports photography.
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