PC Reboots when accessing CD Drives

village_life

My Desktop PC has taken a tendancy to reboot itself when accessing either of my two CD drives (one is a CD-RW, the other is a DVD-ROM)....

The problem first appeared occasionally when my missus was playing SIMS2 on it, but is now happening much more regularly as I'm using iTUNES a lot more.

At first I thought it was a dodgy drive but it happens on both drives at the same interval suggesting a more common problem....

anyone got any thoughts what the problem may be on this one? Ive checked the event log on the PC and nothing is reported, nor do I get a Blue screen, it just goes black, reboots and then gets locked in a cycle of rebooting itself before finally (After numerous failed attempts) lets me log in [this occurs when loading in safe mode too]

Thanks
Paul

PZH

village_life wrote: »

My Desktop PC has taken a tendancy to reboot itself when accessing either of my two CD drives (one is a CD-RW, the other is a DVD-ROM)....

The problem first appeared occasionally when my missus was playing SIMS2 on it, but is now happening much more regularly as I'm using iTUNES a lot more.

At first I thought it was a dodgy drive but it happens on both drives at the same interval suggesting a more common problem....

anyone got any thoughts what the problem may be on this one? Ive checked the event log on the PC and nothing is reported, nor do I get a Blue screen, it just goes black, reboots and then gets locked in a cycle of rebooting itself before finally (After numerous failed attempts) lets me log in [this occurs when loading in safe mode too]

Thanks
Paul

Turn off "Auto Restart" and you should get the BSOD:-

Right mouse click the "My Computer" icon and select Properties.
Select the "Advanced" tab and then click the "Settings" button under the Startup and Recovery option.
Uncheck the "Automatically Restart" option under the "System Failure" section.

System failures like this are hard to track down - but usually caused by one of several common themes.

Mine was being caused by a faulty RAM module - which was detected by a program called MEMTEST86+ ( Freeware ). Only problem is - it comes as an .ISO file so you would need to burn it to a CD and if your PC reboots when it accesses the drives then you may have a problem.

Another commmon problem is overheating - get a hardware checker ( e.g. SpeedFan - again freeware ) and check the CPU temperature.

village_life

phoodless wrote: »

Turn off "Auto Restart" and you should get the BSOD:-

Right mouse click the "My Computer" icon and select Properties.
Select the "Advanced" tab and then click the "Settings" button under the Startup and Recovery option.
Uncheck the "Automatically Restart" option under the "System Failure" section.

System failures like this are hard to track down - but usually caused by one of several common themes.

Mine was being caused by a faulty RAM module - which was detected by a program called MEMTEST86+ ( Freeware ). Only problem is - it comes as an .ISO file so you would need to burn it to a CD and if your PC reboots when it accesses the drives then you may have a problem.

Another commmon problem is overheating - get a hardware checker ( e.g. SpeedFan - again freeware ) and check the CPU temperature.

Hey thanks for the advice, I've disabled the auto recovery setting but I dont get a BSOD - it just does the same thing as before.

I've also heard that faulty RAM could be trhe cause, as too could be the power supply? - I've downloaded SpeedFan but not sure how to interpret it, for example it shows

Temp1: 51c
Temp2: 65c
HDD: 47c

I presume these are the figures I am interested in? There are also all the voltage figures but not sure what they mean also, but for example they say:

VCORE = 1.66V
+3.3V = 3.25V
+5V = 4.73V
+12V = 11.49V
-12V = 1.71V
-5V = 3.00V
+5VSB = 5.35V
VBAT = 0.08V

Fan1: 0RPM
Fan2: 5488RPM

CPU Usage = 12%

............. no idea if these are good figures or not???

Thanks
Paul

PZH

village_life wrote: »

Hey thanks for the advice, I've disabled the auto recovery setting but I dont get a BSOD - it just does the same thing as before.

I've also heard that faulty RAM could be trhe cause, as too could be the power supply? - I've downloaded SpeedFan but not sure how to interpret it, for example it shows

Temp1: 51c
Temp2: 65c
HDD: 47c

Thanks
Paul

I suspect that Temp1 is the motherboard temp and that Temp2 is the CPU which in my opinion is a little high.

What CPU are you running ? ( AMD's run slightly hotter than Intels )
My AMD 3200+ is currently showing 53C at 5% load.

Have you checked that the CPU fan and cooling fins are clear of dust ?

village_life

phoodless wrote: »

I suspect that Temp1 is the motherboard temp and that Temp2 is the CPU which in my opinion is a little high.

What CPU are you running ? ( AMD's run slightly hotter than Intels )
My AMD 3200+ is currently showing 53C at 5% load.

Have you checked that the CPU fan and cooling fins are clear of dust ?

Its an Athlon 2800..... Havent checked the components for dust yet - I'm a bit loathe to go start opening it up without a good idea of what is wrong with it..... I'm off out for the day now so will open it up tomorrow to take a look

Thanks for your help.... will keep you posted....

Paul

village_life

Just looked in the BIOS to confirm that the CPU is running at 65 degrees and the Motherboard 47 Degrees...

To correct the CPU and get that temp lower what do I need to do?

PZH

village_life wrote: »

Just looked in the BIOS to confirm that the CPU is running at 65 degrees and the Motherboard 47 Degrees...

To correct the CPU and get that temp lower what do I need to do?

Shut down the PC and turn off at the wall socket - but leave it plugged in ( it will help to earth the chasis ). Remove the cover or side panel and have a look inside the case ( no need to disturb anything yet )

Look for the CPU and cooling fan and see if there is a build up of dust on the fan blades and heatsink fins below.

If there is, then there are various techniques you could try:-

With the wall socket turned OFF - hold the metal chasis to earth yourself to avoid static shocks to any of the components - GENTLY use a vacuum cleaner with a small attachment and also a soft brush ( a very small paint brush for example ) to suck away as much dust as possible.

Use can also either blow hard or use an air can ( available from Maplins, etc ) to try and dislodge some of the dust.

If the dust is well and truely stuck - VERY GENTLY and very CAREFULLY use an implement to reach between the fins and dislodge the dust ( e.g. a very small screwdriver or blade ) - HOWEVER, this may be awkward and definitely needs a steady hand.

If the fan and fins look clear, then you may need to take off the fan, clean the base, apply some heatsink compound and reseat the fan - however, although this sounds simple and straightforward, it can be very difficult in practice and could lead to irreversible damage if not done right. If this looks as if it may be the problem, then use google and read up on how best to do it. ( When I changed my CPU fan I found it best to remove the motherboard and replace the heatsink whilst it was out of the case )

village_life

Hi

Ive cleaned up the CPU fan (didnt do the stuff about cleaning the base etc) and using Speedfan I can now see that the CPU is running at 60 Degrees.... so I guess a 5 degree reduction is an improvement, but from what I am reading I think I need to get it down at least another 10 degrees if possible????

How do I make that change?

Thanks

village_life

have just looked round the back of the PC and the PSU fan isnt spinning it seems???

PZH

village_life wrote: »

have just looked round the back of the PC and the PSU fan isnt spinning it seems???

That's not good then - could be the PSU after all - and the absence of a PSU fan could increase the case temp ( and therefore the CPU temp ? ). Either way - the PSU would probably reset itself when it got too hot ( and hence the having to try several times to reboot as it cooled down )

If you can't get it going, then it needs to be replaced. Get a decent make ( not a cheap, low budget one ) and make sure the power ( Watts ) is at least the same if not greater than the one fitted now.

wacko911

I would have said PSU sounds dodgy as using the CD/DVD drive would be pulling extra amps, and low would cause a lockup or reboot of the system. A broken PSU fan would confirm that.