pc freeze; music froze with the 'b,r,r,r,r,' sound during smashing pumpkins disarm

[alternate]

'b, r, r, r,' as one forum poster previously so concisely described the sound..

this is the first time my system has done something like this. 1. I am wondering if faulty hardware could have caused this and if so which piece.

2. Otherwise, did some software do this?

3. General question about software. Can faulty software destroy hardware?

BTW, I wasn't using the computer when it happened. I don't believe I used it at all after turning on and playing music. All it was doing was playing music and one instance of freezing; it was okay after push reset button.

4. Perhaps the song is not to its taste? By 'it,' i mean my computer.

[Paleo Pete]

A couple of possibilities come to mind. The most likely is the CD ROM drive needs cleaning and got hung up trying to read a CD it couldn't read. The lens gets dirty and the drive can't read the data reflected back by the laser, so it stutters. The same can happen if the CD itself is scratched or smudged with fingerprints, or maybe that pistachio ice cream...

CD cleaners can be purchased at department stores and electronics outlets. They have a set of brushes that clean the lens and should be run about every 10-20 hours of drive use, depending on who you ask.

CD (disk) cleaners are also available to remove scratches. To remove fingerprints and other smudges wash gently in soapy water no hotter than body temp, rinse and dry with a soft cloth wiping RADIALLY only, which means from the middle out, never in a circle. To prevent this always handle CD's by the edges only and keep them stored in their jewel cases or sleeves when not in use. Never lay a CD shiny side down so it can get moved and scratched or on top of anything lumpier than a closed book. (that rules out anywhere on my desk... :D )

Next I might suspect that it overloaded memory/swap file and ran out of memory space to cache the data on the CD. (insufficient buffer) In that case a reboot will usually solve it. This can be compounded by lots of background applications running, shutting down programs that run at startup may help. Depending on system specs adding RAM as well might or might not be advisable. Changing buffer size could help but is not often necessary, most CD player software does a pretty good job of it at default settings. I never have to touch the settings on my win98 machine, the built in CD player works perfect.

Then the CD player software can simply lock up, same as any other software, but this is unusual. A reboot should cure that too.

[alternate]

ach! (german sound). thanks paleo pete, but I should mention now that the music was played in mp3 format stored on hard drive...