DVD/CD drive locks up laptop 5

[orypecos]

I reloaded a laptop using the dvd/cd drive, but now whenever I put anything in the drive, the drive spins up and down a couple of times then the screen freezes. The only thing that gets it running again is to press the power button for 5 seconds to turn it off. There is also a driver cd that needs to be loaded but of course the cd drive doesn't work so I can't load it. I tried transferring the driver CD to a flash card on another PC and loaded it as good as I could figure out, but the cd drive still doesn't work.

The problem started when I had a game CD in the drive when I turned it on and I think it scrambled the software.
The laptop has home XP on it. I can't check for updates needed as I can't connect to the internet.

everything worked fine before I put the game cd in the drive during turn on.

 

[DonMc67]

I had a similar problem with an HP laptop running XP Media Center. I had loaded Nero on it as well because I ended up hating Media Center.

I don't really remember what happened exactly but at one point all of the sudden I was having the same problem you are having.

I removed every other DVD player software from the machine and things got a little better. But, the problem wasn't totally resolved until I re-installed the OS...

yes... for now I'm stuck with media center because I won't load Vista on my LT

 

[Sympology]

Remove your drive from it's bay (if you can) and reseat it, (ideally before powering it on) Mine a little loose these days and does the same thing. Now have to slam it in mind.....

Only the truly stupid believe they know everything.
Stu.. 2004

 

[wahnula]

The problem started when I had a game CD in the drive when I turned it on and I think it scrambled the software

Not likely, but at this point anything's possible. You were on the right track, get to a PC with a working CD drive and copy the drive contents to flash drive. Then in Device Mangler (start-->Run-->devmgmt.msc) right-click the device (start with the network adapter) and select Update Driver, point it to the USB drive.

Or, alternatively, run Setup from the flash key if available. Once you're on the 'Net you can grab the rest of the drivers or get them from the key.

As for the CD drive, once you get connectivity you can try to flash the firmware if possible.

Tony

Users helping Users...

 

[cdogg]

orypecos,
Try creating a new user account in Windows. Log into it and see if it still has the problem. This will tell you if there's something hosed on the user-side of the registry.

If possible, also try the cd drive on another computer to make sure it's not a hardware issue (might have just been coincidence in loading that game when it stopped working).


If neither suggestion gives you any clues as to what the problem is, then you'll want to uninstall as many 3rd-party apps as you can (particularly apps that have anything to do with the cd drive) and mess with registry settings. This recent discussion might help with that:
thread602-1458737


If all else fails, you might be looking at a good time for a format and clean install !!


~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[orypecos]

I had already reloaded the laptop with the cd-rom that came with it. I formated the hard drive before that and deleted the original partition. I didn't load anything else on the computer because the cd locks up the computer. When I tried putting in a music CD in it ask me what I wanted to do with it. I said play it using MS audio player. It brought that up and then locked up.
I don't see a release on the bottom of the computer to pull out the cd drive.
I went to the Device Mangler and pointed it to the flash drive, and told it not to look at the cdrom. But it just says it is looking at the cd drive, that has nothing in it, then says that it doesn't see any driver to update the cd drive. When I look at the network for Device Mangler it only showed a PCMI. Nothing else for the cd drive or anything else. I don't know were to point the 'update driver' to on the flash drive.
I went through the files on the flash drive and didn't see any that mentioned the cd drive, except on on DVD. I installed it and any other 'install wizards' that I found on the flash drive.

 

[orypecos]

I found two other cd-roms for DVD and CD creator and copied those to the flash drive and loaded them but it still locks up. The laptop does have a ' roxio drag to disk' picture on the desk top like it use to when it worked, so at least I am getting somewhere.
When I look at the network adapters I see a 'HP WLAN' and a '10/100PCI adapter' which I believe is for wireless and wired lan. Should there be something else for the dvd/cd drive?
I tried to copy the titles info and past it in here that is on the driver cd, but the computer thinks I want to copy the whole disk(or in this case flash drive)and not just the titles.

 

[orypecos]

I tried setting up another account and accessing the drive then, but I get the same thing, the drive spools up, then down, then up, down, and then finally the computer locks up with the hour glass stuck on the screen.

 

[cdogg]

Unfortunately, it does seem to be a hardware issue with the cd-rom drive. A good indicator is still having problems after a fresh install of Windows and before you installed any third-pary applications.

There's a rare chance that the firmware on the cd-rom drive could be causing the problem in which a flash upgrade could fix. There's also the chance that the BIOS version could be an issue. Because both of those possibilities aren't likely, it might be best as your next move just to find a cheap replacement off eBay that will fit your laptop.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[orypecos]

Do U think that it could be the CD drive even though that is the drive that I use to reload the computer and I can do that with the first reload disk? It is just after I reload the operating system with the cd-rom that came with the laptop, that the cd drive no longer works.
I'm thinking that the reload disk has the wrong driver for the cd drive. I called HP, but they want to charge me $70 to talk to them. HPs internet site was fairly worthless.
If I don't get this fixed pretty soon my 'significant other' may downgrade me to her 'insignificant other' and look for someone with better computer skills.
I am going to look for another driver on the internet and put it on the flash drive.
It that doesn't work I may have to buy another cd drive or take it to the repair people here in town.

 

[orypecos]

I installed driver from

http://www.storage.toshiba.eu/index.php?id=8&pid=131&sid=4

but it said mscdex.exe can not be located. Drive must be copied to c:\dos\directory.
That is all beyond me. So I guess it's time to pay someone $70 to fix it.
It is weird too. It can see the tracks on the cd, but when it trys to play the songs it locks up.
I got it to start in safe mode and the cd drive works. I installed the drivers.
Toshiba says that

"Device Drivers
ATAPI CD-ROM and DVD Drivers
Toshiba's CD-ROM and DVD-ROM drives do not require any unique device drivers for Windows '95/'98/2000/XP/NT.
After installing your drive and re-booting, your system should recognize your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM. Win '95/'98/2000/XP/NT Operating Systems support all Toshiba ATAPI CD-ROM and DVD-ROM drives natively."

which makes me think that the software in on the XP software?? I haven't installed SP2 because the cd-rom wasn't working before, and I couldn't get it to go in the 'safe mode. But maybe I should do this now in safe mode?

Loading the drivers from the driver cd-rom did not fix it. Still same problem.

 

[BadBigBen]

XP uses generic drivers...

no need to install any other...

Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[cdogg]

orypecos,
As Ben pointed out, a generic driver is used in Windows for optical devices such as CD-ROM and DVD-ROM drives. Every drive will have its own personalized "firmware" onboard that does all the work in regards to operating the drive and interpreting data. Windows just uses that generic driver as a method of transport, which is why it can be generic to work with every drive out there.

So in a nutshell, it shouldn't be a driver issue.

I'm looking over this thread again, and I wander if you did a "clean" install of Windows or did you run the restore disk from HP. A restore would have included 3rd-party apps from HP and other vendors like Roxio. They shouldn't be causing the problem, but you never know. I suggest trying a totally clean install of Windows if you haven't already.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[orypecos]

The laptop comes with four disks. The first disk is from HP and is to load XP. I erased the partition, completely formated the hard drive and then loaded XP from the HP cd-rom.
So I didn't do a 'restore' as far as I know.
It gave me an option to try and fix the problem the first time I started to load it, but I didn't that, I just went directly to formating after erasing the partition for the current install.

 

[orypecos]

What does the cd drive working in safe mode tell me?

I can't believe how difficult this has been to load this laptop. I had a Toshiba about 8 years ago and it had one disk and U put it in and 19 minutes later U had a completely reloaded computer.

 

[BadBigBen]

The way it sounds it is an AUTO PLAY HANDLER or AUTORUN issue...

now whenever I put anything in the drive, the drive spins up and down a couple of times then the screen freezes

and the drive working in SafeMode, tells me that...

You could try the following:

Autoplay Repair Wizard

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...B6-E8FA-45C4-A171-1B389CFACDAD&displaylang=en

CleanHandlers - AutoPlay cleanup utility

http://windowsxp.mvps.org/autoplayhandlers.htm

Please list what other software you have installed, especially burn soft or DVD players...

Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[cdogg]

Yes, if it works in safe mode then the problem is in the registry. It could be a Windows setting such as Autoplay, it could be a lot of things...

It's just strange that it was a problem before and after you reloaded Windows. I assume you reloaded Roxio from when you said:

The laptop does have a ' roxio drag to disk' picture on the desk top like it use to when it worked

So how did you reload Roxio? From CD? Was the drive not working before you loaded it?

Also, here's something you can look at in the registry and try. I would suggest removing Roxio beforehand:
thread602-1458737

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[orypecos]

The cd drive didn't work(except in safe mode)after formating and reloading the laptop(with no other software on it).
I thought maybe it might work if I loaded Roxio and DVD creator in safemode from the supplied disks, but no luck. I tried deleting the drive and then rebooting. The computer said that it found new hardware, and then said it was ready to use,but no luck. So I removed all software(roxio DVD creator)and deleted the drive and rebooted again. Still locks up.
I looked at the Autoplay Repair Wizard and CleanHandlers information but didn't use them to try and fix it as I don't want to take a chance on my main computer getting messed up.(Probably not a possibility, but my computer confidence is not very high right now)
I appreciate everyones help on working on this, but I am going to take it over and have a expert fix it for me and pay.
I will post what fixed it.
Thanks again for your time.
I have learned a lot even if I didn't fix it.

 

[orypecos]

Well, I took the laptop over to a professional. He said that it most likely is the motherboard. He tried replacing the RAM, DVD/cd, and did a long diagnostic on the hard drive. He found dust in the fan outlet and got that out. It is still doing things intermittently like first reported.
The owner of the laptop, my girlfriend(possibly ex girlfriend) hasn't returned my calls since I have her the bad news. Oh well..... Thanks for everyones help. Just remember, don't try and fix a friends computer as it seems that 'no good deed will go unpunished'.

 

[wahnula]

The owner of the laptop, my girlfriend(possibly ex girlfriend)

Possibly??? If she hasn't returned your calls about the laptop I wonder if that laptop was what was holding the relationship together??? And if you could have fixed it she would have run into your arms, taken the laptop and continued running out the door. A pox on her and her kind...remember, Tek-Tippers will never do you like that.

Tony

Users helping Users...