Computer Lock up

[Esoteric]

HI
I have a problem with my computer that evry time i insert a cd into 1 of the the drives i have the computer locks up after spinning the cd and reading it to the point there nothing but the reset button will get the computer off.
I have done just about evrything i know and can think of to fix the problem.
The only thing i can think of now is that either my HDD is fired some how if that is possible or there is a conflict between hardware.
About 3 months ago i bought new parts, A graphics card, Motherboard, Power supply and a DVD burner. I strongly doubt its the CD drive as i have removed it and triedn 2 others, I also removed the graphics card to see if that was teh problem but it wasnt. Basicly its come down to either my proccessor which is also new. my HDD or the motherboard.

If anyone can help please let men know. Since i just reformatted to try fix this problem i can not install anything, Although i was able for some reason to install programs and not games. Must be something with the Autorun or something a game cd contains VS a program cd :confused:

[Ashnook]

Check the connector cables coming from the harddrive and disk drives...try replacing them and see if that helps any...only think that I can think of.

[Sylvander]

Sounds like "Autoplay" is starting up an application [what kind of CD? Audio? CD Player running?] and that software running is causing the lockup.

Try running the CD in "msconfig->Diagnostic Startup->Normal" [it's like Safe Mode, but with CD access] and see what happens.

[Paul Komski]

What operating system please?

When putting in a CD keep the shift button depressed long enough to supress any autorun features; then RClick on the Drive Letter and choose Explore to see if you can read the contents in Explorer without any problems.

[Esoteric]

Im Running windows XP SP2 Home
and i will try changing cables. i already changed the IDE cable for the drivers but not the hard drive.
The drives work fine i can read all the contents and evrything but when i insert a cd a Gaming cd mainly since this is what i have been trying the computer locks up?
I have a stron feeling it may be some autoplay error but i though reformatting would fix i guess not?

[Paul Komski]

Explore the CD using the method above to suppress autorun.

Examine autorun.inf (open with Notepad) to see which .exe it is starting; (there will probably also be an autorun.ico file which you can disregard).

See if clicking on that exe yourself causes the same "freeze".

Look for a setup.exe or install.exe file if different from the file indicated by autorun.inf and see if that can run the install/setup for you.

Auto-running can initiate things from a whole variety of applications and we are trying to discover just which one might be the problematic one.

[Sylvander]

Inclined to think it's a software conflict, hence "Diagnostic Startup" to eliminate that.
When it happens, have you tried "Ctrl+Alt+Del" to close down conflicting Prog's?
May not succeed, even if it is a software conflict, but worth a try.

[Esoteric]

I tried the auto run method and it worked for a bit. Mainly the game im trying to install is World of Warcraft. I can get the first cd to startup and work so that it installs, then on the seocond cd when i put it in it locks up after reading the cd, i tried opening the cd and using the installer and not auto play but not would load on the screen although the process was there in task manager?
When it does freeze nothing works NOTHING , not the mouse the keyboard nothing it locks and i have to reset the power. basicly its come down to the autorun problem as far as i can tell, as long as the drives dont try run teh cd it doesnt crash.
I tried looking at event viewer because i saw in another forums said to check it and i have a lot of errors for atapi and some cdrom errors this is what the atapi one says "The device, \Device\Ide\IdePort1, did not respond within the timeout period." and the cdrom says "The driver detected a controller error on \Device\CdRom0.
" there are also some warnings above for the cdrom "An error was detected on device \Device\CdRom0 during a paging operation." event 51 for all of them. not sure if this helps, and if you want to see the code data it has let me know and i will add.

[Paul Komski]

Are these original CDs? I think, for example, that copy protection as well as malformed audio tracks, can give rise to your sort of problem - particularly on copies.

[Esoteric]

these are the orginals , pluse its not only these cds it mainly all my gaming cds, but i havnt tried any programs yet really although i was able to install stuff before it like Nortan and nero and nothing happened, I removed Nero tho since i heard it may has some affect but nothing.

[Esoteric]

Ok after some testing i have found that it is Computer games locking ym system up some how and not say a program so now i have to assume that something with autoplay or code protection not sure exactly is doing this?

[Sylvander]

Perhaps the "Timeout Period" is set too short?
I don't know where that configuration setting would be altered.

[Esoteric]

Well i just tryes this program from microsoft called autofix which trys to fix any autoplay erros BUT when i ran the test which makes you open and close a cd drive inserting a cd as it reads how it reacts the mouse and keyboard froze althiough i could see the status bar still moving up. When it got to the end under Autoplay V2 Event it had a button to repair since there were errors BUT i could click it as the mouse and keyboard were dead so i had to restart.

[Esoteric]

and i ran a search about the error just now and it says
Details
Product: Windows Operating System
ID: 9
Source: atapi
Version: 5.2
Symbolic Name: IO_ERR_TIMEOUT
Message: The device, %1, did not respond within the timeout period.

Explanation
The attempt to read or write data timed out.


User Action
If there is a disc in the CD-ROM drive, it might need replacing or cleaning.



Version: 5.0
Component: System Event Log
Symbolic Name: IO_ERR_TIMEOUT
Message: The device, %1, did not respond within the timeout period.

Explanation
The attempt to read or write data timed out.


User Action
If there is a disc in the CD-ROM drive, it might need replacing or cleaning.


But i dont know how to fix it or extend the time period, these CD's are not dirty i know that since they are new and the orginals. Atleast i know its only games that are doing this.

*To add i also dont think it could be the drives but mainly just autoplay. I tried this before might give it another go, i made ISO's of the cds so i didnt have to use the drives and tried to mount them and install but even doing that cuased my comp to lock up

[Paul Komski]

On a different tack, maybe try dxdiag from the run box and test out sound, music and video.

If there is a disc in the CD-ROM drive, it might need replacing or cleaning.
... or unlikely but perhaps the drives lens needs cleaning??

[Esoteric]

done , nothing wrong with sound or video

[Sylvander]

Have you checked in Device Manager to see if all's well there [particularly with the IDE controller controlling the CD-drive]?

[Esoteric]

nope they work in my other computer and one of them is new

[Esoteric]

could this be one possible thing that maybe the mother board connector where you put the IDE cable is damaged and not reading right beacause i know its not the dirves plus i reinstalled windows and it didnt help so then either its that connector on the mobo or is the hard drive damaged in some way to do this?

[Esoteric]

WEll GOOD NEWS
i finally got my drives working i did another reinstall of XP and now its working?
I have a felling it may have had something to do with windows update or a program installed since its not happening again.
Thank you to all those that tried to help me see you all later.