CD/DVD-ROM Failures

pensrock68 · 03-29-2007, 08:06 PM

Hello! This is going to sound odd, but here goes.

I am the family tech support guy and I find that I know my way around a computer...but this one has me stumped. My parents originally had a custom built PC, but they always had trouble with the CDRW drive in it. It would stop working every few weeks/months. Most times you could hear it grinding while the door was trying to open, but it would never open. You could open by force only. Rebooting the machine never helped, even moving the CDRW drive to my PC did not help, same noise, same failure. This probably happened with 3 or 4 CDRW drives in all - each time with very similar symptoms. One time I found that a mini rubber belt had gave way and broke.

I swore that it was them, pushing and pulling on the drive tray or something, but they swore they did not. Well, in August we bought them a new PC - factory built. I just got word today that the same thing has happened AGAIN! It is toast, and I have confirmed that I cannot get this device to work in their machine or my own.

My question to the forum is... does anyone have any ideas? I have gone down paths that could make sense to those that don't really make sense and I keep coming up empty. I have never seen anything like this. 4 total CDRW drives and now a DVDRW drive in just over 3 years!!!?? I mean c'mon, that is too often to be coincidence don't you think?

Could it be something with their power source? I mean, could that really do something to the CD/DVD drive? What about temperature? The cabinet they keep it in is open on the back end and never feels that warm.

For the record, they use Windows XP SP2 and the drives have varied from Sony to Memorex to some off-brand name and now to Dell's version.

Does anyone have any suggestions at all for something like this?

I appreciate any help, and I will try to respond with any answers to your questions if it helps!!!

~~Punktech~~ · 03-30-2007, 12:50 AM

I would think it is the way some one who is using those drives.

Duckster · 03-30-2007, 01:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Punktech

I would think it is the way some one who is using those drives.

Agreed. Power Supply would not make it sound like it's grinding gears. Well, in theory I guess it could, what voltage is it?

dai · 03-30-2007, 02:25 AM

one of my sons drive suffered the same affect,he had a habit of not checking the disk was seated and causing the tray to jam
continualy having to force it open did in the tray mechanism
he's more careful now he has to pay for his own

03-29-2007, 08:06 PM	#1 (permalink)
pensrock68 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 1 OS: Vista Ultimate	CD/DVD-ROM Failures Hello! This is going to sound odd, but here goes. I am the family tech support guy and I find that I know my way around a computer...but this one has me stumped. My parents originally had a custom built PC, but they always had trouble with the CDRW drive in it. It would stop working every few weeks/months. Most times you could hear it grinding while the door was trying to open, but it would never open. You could open by force only. Rebooting the machine never helped, even moving the CDRW drive to my PC did not help, same noise, same failure. This probably happened with 3 or 4 CDRW drives in all - each time with very similar symptoms. One time I found that a mini rubber belt had gave way and broke. I swore that it was them, pushing and pulling on the drive tray or something, but they swore they did not. Well, in August we bought them a new PC - factory built. I just got word today that the same thing has happened AGAIN! It is toast, and I have confirmed that I cannot get this device to work in their machine or my own. My question to the forum is... does anyone have any ideas? I have gone down paths that could make sense to those that don't really make sense and I keep coming up empty. I have never seen anything like this. 4 total CDRW drives and now a DVDRW drive in just over 3 years!!!?? I mean c'mon, that is too often to be coincidence don't you think? Could it be something with their power source? I mean, could that really do something to the CD/DVD drive? What about temperature? The cabinet they keep it in is open on the back end and never feels that warm. For the record, they use Windows XP SP2 and the drives have varied from Sony to Memorex to some off-brand name and now to Dell's version. Does anyone have any suggestions at all for something like this? I appreciate any help, and I will try to respond with any answers to your questions if it helps!!!

03-30-2007, 12:50 AM	#2 (permalink)
~~Punktech~~ Register user Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 113 OS: xp	Re: CD/DVD-ROM Failures I would think it is the way some one who is using those drives.

03-30-2007, 02:25 AM	#4 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,732 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	Re: CD/DVD-ROM Failures one of my sons drive suffered the same affect,he had a habit of not checking the disk was seated and causing the tray to jam continualy having to force it open did in the tray mechanism he's more careful now he has to pay for his own __________________