CD Rom Drive hangs system

I have 98SE on Compaq Presario desktop 667cpu, 128mb ram, plenty of drive space. Drive E CD Rom drawer now rebels, sometimes spitting out spinning disc, always hangs entire system when disc loads. Perhaps software now corrupt. Is there a way to uninstall/reinstall this 98SE internal component or do I look to registry fixes or replacement? Ideas anyone? Thanks, MN

 

If that is the original drive, it's failure to work properly will hang up windows while it is waiting for the drive to provide data. It could be dying, or have a dirty lense.

 

Drivers?

Try going to Device Manager and remove the IDE Controller. It will be reinstalled on reboot.

Could also try removing the CD in Device Manager. Shutdown. Open the case, disconnect the cables to the drive. Do a full boot to Windows. Shutdown and reconnect the cables.

Borrow another drive to try.

Find the make and model of the CD drive. Check the drive's manufacturers website if there is a "firmware update" for that model.

Matt

 

Hi nicnorthwest

Just checking, you do not state "ALL" disc's react this way. I've had
"bad write disc's" that will hang my older ROM drive. If issue is with all disc's,
I would pursue drive firmware, driver(s) or hardware failure.

 

Right on Mattman, Dennis L and Markp62. Thanks for your assist. Am exploring suggestions. nnw

 

i agree. 99% chance your CDROM is faulty. Replace it.

One other thing you can check that may help, is if the CD drive is on its own IDE cable inside you PC. If possible, it is always best to have it on its own, as sometimes other CD players or the HDD can interfere with its operation. But it is rare, still likely to be faulty drive.

 

now what?

Thanks you all for the advice on the cd rom balk. I followed Mattman's suggestion of disconnecting IDE and other cables and rebooting to no avail. Bought cheap cd rom and installed, reconnected it (E). (It works, light comes on and drawer opens but onboard CD player software won't recognize it).... and also the cd rw drive (F) just as it had been connected. Now my devise manager and also "My Computer" doesn't even show either drive on the system. I did a registry check and no problem shown. Tried hardware install in Control Panel to see if any unrecognized devices showing...NOPE. I think F has the jumper and it is unmoved and is not on master or slave, but on "Cable ". Both drives linked to same IDE cable. Suggestions? Thanks folks. Those power supplies into the back of the drives are nasty on the fingers to remove! MN.