Computer rebooting when I use CD/DVD drive..

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Any advice appreciated, I am new to fiddling with computer hardware. Have basic software knowledge but not much confidence.

When I insert a CD in my old and now the new DVD burner I bought, my computer reboots.

A friend is going to have a look at it for me in a fortnight;

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for me. I am not good at logically eliminating things, I have trouble sequencing.

I have XP with Service Pack 2, although not a legit version. I have Ad-aware, and a version of Norton which is set to scan as you go, but I can't work out how to do a system scan.

I am afraid of unticking a box and forgetting which one it was.

Specifications:
AMD Sempron 2200+ 1.49GHz
512mb RAM

I had a Samsung CDRW-DVD ROM previously installed, and have replaced it with a Pioneer DVD Burner today. But I am still having the same trouble.

I have uninstalled Nero and Power DVD, but I can't reinstall them because the computer reboots.

Please help..

I'm not exactly aure of this but if I were you I'd remove Ad-Aware, as I heard that that only puts more junk on your computer. Just stick to norton.

...sounds like you might have a device conflict with the new DVD burner...check your IRQ's...I would also re-check the jumper settings for the new drive (internal drive right?)...and see if you can cable it differently...

...if it's an USB external drive...change ports.

I have to disagree 180 degrees with deep-techno. Ad-aware is a marvellous free program. Use it to clean your system, and then double check its work with another adware program -- you'll see that it doesn't install *any* adware.

I don't know how good of a job Norton does, but you won't be able to uninstall Norton system works without *editing the registry*. Ad-aware uninstalls just fine via 'Add/Remove Programs'.

First of all does it do it with only one disk or is it always re-booting when you use the drive? Does it act the same in "Safe Mode"? Pressing F8 while the computer POSTS will open the boot menu usually and allow you to enter "Safe Mode" as Windows boots.

Also, double check all the jumpers on the back of the drive. There will be a legend on the side or you could google for the specific model's jumper settings. Make sure if you have it in a "Slave" setting that the proper jumper configuration is set. If it's a "Master" it should be set up as Master and the cable should use the end not a second connection point in the middle. Some computers are more sensitive to a misconfiguration than others, so check it carefully.

If you only have 2 IDE devices it's easier if you also have 2 IDE channels, most do, so use both channels. There will be 2 cables, use one for HDD and one for opitical.

Definitely check for system conflicts, but if this problem started before you installed the new drive you may have a real problem with Windows.

What I mean is, I'm a little concerned about using an illegal copy of Windows. MS has tried to eliminate all of us cheaters and if you have it set up to get automatic updates, you may be screwed already. During the summer they sent dozens of little pieces of a program that will identify any illegal copies of Windows and shut them down. The program is now complete and you may not be able to do much with that computer until you get legit, if you have the "Genuine Microsoft Notification" software completely active on your machine.

That's personal experience speaking, I had to re-install Windows on one of my seldom used machines to solve this, but I can no longer use the Windows Update site, for the reasons I mentioned. I also had to hack the activation functions to convince the machine Windows was activated. I can get the updates they allow you to download as a System Administrator, like SP2 and certain critical patches, but if I try to hook it to the net you get the Notification software behind the scenes and it shuts us down again. I hope this is not your problem, because it's a PITA to work around. Of course I don't recommend anyone using illegal software to begin with ... as I roll my eyes melodramatically.

As much as I like to read Deep Techno's posts, I disagree about Lavasoft AdAware. I've used it for years and had no problems and what spyware it finds, quickly and easily, doesn't belong in your machine anyway.

So mainly I'm thinking IRQ conflicts, improper jumper settings or cabling, least likely would be a software conflict between the new DVD software and an incomplete uninstall of the previous software used for the CDR. (Fix this in safe mode) Last and worst case would be "Microsoft Genuine Notification" on an illegit Windows install, but only if you are getting automatic updates ... usually.

Good Luck!

Can you access the CD (still in the drive) after the system reboots or does trying to access it reboot the system as well? Did it do this with your old drive too? ("I am still having the same trouble")

A few points...

Having a friend take a look is a good idea
You should get a legit copy of XP
Ad-aware is good software, not spyware
Norton is indeed legit, but not good IMO
Probably not an IRQ or jumper problem, but possible
Check drive functionality in Safe Mode
Possibly a conflict with software for the old drive

Of course, if you had the same problem before installing the new drive, that would point to a bad hardware issue (MB or cables), software conflict (old burning software), major windows problem (virus/spyware), or "hidden" CD driver or software (copy protection/DRM from game or audio cd).

Thanks for replying

I need to research the cabling, I think. In the meantime I will save up for XP.

btw is it easy to change to Linux or not?

Indeed it is, try http://www.ubuntulinux.com

You can order a CD free but that takes a few weeks so ask a friend to download the iso and burn one for you

all my primary machines run Kubuntu (the version with KDE), my server runs Ubuntu, the version with GNOME (installed that way to tweak a few things, now need to remove GNOME when I can be bothered)

It's possible that your new disc drive is drawing too much power, forcing a reboot. Try a more powerful power supply unit.

Well it turned out the heat sink fell off the extra video card that my friend put in it. So we took the video card out and that fixed the problem!!