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CD ROM drive will not stay closed


FuzzDuckie

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At the risk of getting my butt chewed out...again..First, yes I attempted to google my problem. Not a lot came up...and most of it was related to macs (!).I was away for a week, so therefore the cmputer was shut down.Upon returning home, I booted up the computer but the first thing it did was a chkdisk. I thought that was...odd. I have no idea if my sister and/or niece was ever on or not (they haven't said). I do know that the power went out here a day or so ago so don't know if that affected my machine.Everything else was fine while I was online except for a brief cut off of DSL (that always happens).This morning my father went online on his account (2 accounts on XP). He said he was looking at his emal when all of a sudden the CD Rom drive few open. He tried to close it...it wouldn't STAY closed. He wound up rebooting anyway becaue the mouse pointer froze (this part has happened to me before as well and a good cold reboot always works as C-A-D won't).The drive STILL won't stay closed.What could be the issue? loose cable? I may open it up to check anyway but want to be sure before I go spelunking in there...as it was FINE when I left and fine when I first booted up last night, minus the error checking. Could the drive be dead?Specs:Dell Dimensions 4400 (I think)- purchased 3/2002CD ROM drive is an HP cd-writer cd16 series- this replaced the one that came with the Dell (THAT one died as it would not read ANYTHING). The HP was bought around 2000-2001 as I had planned to put it in my Gateway (never did as Greyhound lost my Gateway...(Windows XP Home SP21.6.Gig HD512 MB RAMRan AVG- that came up clean- twiceRunning AdAware right nowDad ran a online WebRoot scan...it CLAIMS that I have a trojan- 99% of the time the "trojans" it has found in the past were communications software like mIRC and the old ATT Communications Manager for our old Dialup (it nabbed those two last time)Spybot not yet runAny other ideas? Or is the thing dead? I doubt very much that something is blocking it as it was fine the entire time I was online last night (about 5-6 hours), then left it up- the monitor goes into standby mode.Thanks

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Guest LilBambi

Always fun, huh?Here are a few additional things to check ... loose wiringheads may need cleaningCD drive is badOr maybe someone installed a program to open and close the CD tray and it's malfunctioning or do you have any teens or pre-teens in the house who would be having a little fun with you? :hysterical:

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Explore what is in the startup folder. Does anything look different?Also search for something with eject, like eject.exe. Maybe someone is playing a trick and put a tiny program on the computer.

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:hysterical: B)
:lol: yes, software eject! :lol:
:hysterical: LOLwell...I considered that there may be dirt in there so will probably check the inside after I finish posting here.The only way there could be a tiny program on here is remotely. AdAware scan came up with Zilch...nothing except the MRU lists. The pre teen here is 9 and she doesn't care too much for computers except as a homework tool and occasionally playing games or chatting. The 3 year old...maybe...I shudder to think if HE did anything to it lmao.Thanks for other things to look at too. I'll figure this out.I had considered that the drive may be dead. Was bought around 2000/2001 as I said but it wasn't really used that much (it isn't a DVD reader)Off to do a bit more sleuthing...
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Ahhh... unplug the data cable from the drive, leave power plug in; bootup the puter and use it for a while. If the door still opens then you've got a bum drive; if it doesn't open, then when you reboot with the cable back it does open, then it is being commanded to open with software and that's where you need to concentrate your search. My instant guess, somebody picked up a bit of malware that you just haven't found yet.

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Hm...will try that but the odd thing is that it wll close and open TWICE when the computer is booting up. and it stays open all the time unless I push the button. It won't read a CD either. My guess it IS a bum drive. I don't know how or where else to look for any malware. AVG comes up clean all the time, AdAware came up with 0 right after I came back from vacation (had run a scan before I left too). Webroot was run and it found 1 "trojan" but I don't entirely trust webroot- it found 2 "trojans" last time and both were mIRC exe and the Communications Manager exe for the old AT & T dialup software we had.As it is...NOW my NIC Card has seemingly died. Windows is complaiining that it is not plugged in (it is) and the DSL won't connect. Right now I'm using the USB connector for the DSL....grrr...4 years of heavy use on this computer...sigh....We may get a new onw (any recommendations for a system under 1,500?...heh....) and have Dad take this one (with new NIC and CD/DVD burner).Can you tell I'm not a happy camper? :(

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Hi,Can you post the programs running in the Task Manager. Previously I had the same problem. but i dont remm the exact exe file. Also, I am not sure whether the tray is going in after some time and opens again.Solomon

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Ahhh... unplug the data cable from the drive, leave power plug in; bootup the puter and use it for a while. If the door still opens then you've got a bum drive; if it doesn't open, then when you reboot with the cable back it does open, then it is being commanded to open with software and that's where you need to concentrate your search. My instant guess, somebody picked up a bit of malware that you just haven't found yet.
Well if I unplugged the right thing...the long flat cable....The drive is dead. After cleaning out more dust (discovered that you can lift out the plastic fan!)...unplugging the data cable...messed about with the NIC card (yup that's still dead too :hysterical: ).Am runniing now with the data cable off and the drive still is opening by itself and staying open.blech.Thanks all for the help! Looks like I'm in the market for new CD/DVD drive & NIC card.As it is we may be getting a new computer for me, give this one to dad...with reasonable replacements of the above...just have to find one under 1,500. Would love to build my own but I don;t have THAT kind of money as I want the best if I do it myself. Not thrilled at the choices of OSes either...Windows Media Center 2005??? :lol: I'm a casualy user of photos and don't really use the 'puter for TV....maybe DVDs....
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Some OEM's give you the option during ordering to select XP-Home instead of Media center. and of course for a few extra bucks upgrade to XP-Pro. :hmm:

Edited by Rons
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yeah they do...I didn't see that with a quick look through on Dell's. Gateway's there is a choice of the 3. Liking Dell (with the included monitor lol)....Too many choices....Gateway, Dell, HP, Compaq, eMachines...Have heard horror stories on all of them...and good things on all of them....

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fwiw it sounds like a bad cd drive. I suspect (Have a lot of HP's in the company I work for and this happens alot) that the carrier jumped a tooth or 2 and it is trying to self protect itself. Even if you do get it closed it is not going to read. Time for a new drive. I'd grab a DL DVDRW for under $70. Build yourself one or buy a DIY kit or assembled PC from any of the better parts suppliers. Don't settle for whatever you can get from Dell or HP or ? (insert your favorite brand).

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I bought this one a couple of months ago and put it into an external enclosure. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16827152058 It will read & write CDs and DVDs, it's dual layered, it's $37.89 with free shipping this weekend.I burned a CD with it this week and all went well, 460 MB of my favorite programs and MS Security Updates since SP2 came out.

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