I think my CD RW has a worm..help!

My CD RW doesn't to want to work. It recognizes CD's, but once I try to access them, it won't respond. It also makes a little sound, I dont know. I was thinking about just buying an external drive, but before I do that, I wanted to know if there was a possibility of fixing it myself. Is there a way of checking if I have a worm or for that matter detecting a problem itself. Thanks.

 

it makes a rattling sound

It tries to read the disc, but instead it just makes a rattling sond and then it stops responding.

 

Think Pete hit the nail on the head - your drive may well be DOA. At less than $25 for a new Lite-On at NewEgg, you'd probably be well advised to spend the day shopping.



edit: Couldn't pass it up - about the only way one can get a worm in a CDRW is to bury it in the back yard.

 

I just wonder if it is not something as simple as "Autorun" being turned off. Emayard, does anything show up for the drive when you look in My Computer or Windows Explorer?

You could boot with a boot disk (the Windows CD or a 98 startup disk) to test if it is only a problem within Windows.

I always like to test the piece of equipment on another computer before I bury it in the backyard

Matt

 

the first time...

i don't know, the 1st sing that made methink it was a virus was when the CD drive started to pop open on its own..so i dont know. What could have caused the drive to pen by itself?

 

I had that happen once, but, of course, it was a while ago and I cannot recall what fixed it

Some possibilities:
The drive does not like the media and is "spitting" it out.

The drive is having trouble loading the disk onto the drive spindle (although I think you should get an error warning).

Windows and "burning programs" can eject a CD. There may be a problem there.

I saw a post in the forums here that referred to a "joke" file that would cause the CD tray to eject, but that was not immediately after loading the CD, it was at random times (I THINK)...you could try a search of the forums for "eject ".

Personally, I think it may be due to a software problem...and specifically the burning program. If you have installed more than one burning program, they could be fighting over control of the drive. I had Nero installed, I installed Media Players "burner" which turned out to be Roxio's EasyCD, result no CD...uninstalled MP's burner...back to normal.

Matt

 

You can try www.symantec.com for a free virus check.