When I use my CD or DVD drive, after 5 to 15 minutes, I crash to the desktop. This just started a week and a half ago, and I can think of nothing I've done that would cause it. When I take the CD out of whichever drive it's in, it extremely hot. I haven't been able to use the drives for longer than I stated, and it's pretty frusterating. Could it be that my fan is bad. My computer is a Gateway, and it is only 8 months old.:(

Welcome to PCGuide!

It could be that your fan is bad, but it may simply be that it isn't enough. Have you checked to see if the fan is running when you have the problem? It may be possible to simply add another fan to deal with the problem. This can be done through an open port in the front or an expansion slot, there are fans designed for both. However, it also could be a problem with the drive or the power supply, so I wouldn't necessarily run out and buy a fan. If it is still under warranty (and it should be after only 8 months) I would check with Gateway before doing anything.

Also, it is important to note that the CPU is usually the hottest part in the computer, so it is quite odd if the CDRom is getting hot.

Good luck,
Budfred

Thank you for your reply Budfred. I'll check the fan while a CD is in one of the drives. Also, I really hate sounding dumb, but are there any programs to use to check the temperature of my CPU? Thanks again for the advice.

pheonix,

Yes there are, but I am afraid someone else is going to have to direct you to them. The one I had came with a cd I had from Intel for some reason. However, you motherboard would have to have a temperature sensor for that to work.

In rereading your original post, I noticed that the said the actual CD is hot. This suggests strongly that there is something wrong with your CD drive since if the CPU was causing that much heat, you would probably feel it through the case. You might want to touch the side of the case away from the CD drive and then near it to see if it seems to be the source of the heat. However, I would avoid running it much until you talk to Gateway if possible. Gateway can also tell you if they have a handy way of monitoring the temp of the CPU.

Good luck,
Budfred

Thank you once again. I'll call Gateway in the morning, as when I email, the replies are less than helpful. You have been very helpful though, and I'm going to put a CD or DVD in one of the drives now, and feel the side of the case when I crash to the desktop...

Pheonix
Two shareware programs that I have tried for this purpose are Hmonitor (20 day free,$20 after that), and speed fan (Free). Both can be downloaded from http://download.com.com

Motherboard Monitor 5.1.9.1, found at http://mbm.livewiredev.com/

As mentioned, your motherboard will have to have temperature sensors built in for any software monitoring program to work. Before you try any monitoring software, check the BIOS for something like PC Health or similar that shows the CPU, board and/or system temps, as well as the various voltage rails. If the BIOS has nothing like this, then chances are extremely high that the motherboard does not have any built-in sensors.

Alternatively, you can purchase something like a Hardcano2 or 3, a DigiDoc5, etc. that come with thermal probes that you can put anywhere.

I don't know the configuration of your system, but are both the CD Rom and DVD Rom stacked on top of one another. Do you have enough drive bays that you could switch them so there is an empty drive bay between them? Some DVD drives do generate a good deal of heat and discs that have been in use can come out pretty warm.
Maybe look into geting a lens cleaning disc too. Might be having reading troubles and constantly trying to read the same spot which can generate more heat than usual.

Luck.

Thanks to all of you. I downloaded the two programs from download.com and the one from livewaredev. The two drives are sitting one right on top of the other, and there isn't an extra bay where I can put one of them. The person I spoke with at Gateway didn't have any idea why both drives would be getting hot suddenly, and crashing, but said he'd find out and return my call. I haven't heard, though I have been working and not home a lot this week. I intend to contact Gateway again in the morning, and hang on until someone helps me with my problem, or they send a tech over to fix them, or replace them.

I have a CD burner sandwiched between two DVD drives and I have never had a problem with them getting hot or crashing. On the other hand, I have never run them continuously for a long period of time. If you are playing music, it is possible that your drives have more time to heat up. You'd think that my triple decked drives would be more prone to problems that your double deck though.

Budfred