Dell E1505 Freezes on disc insertion

[djzed]

Hello,

I have had a Dell E1505 for about 2 years. It has a persistent problem that I can't seem to solve. Often, but not always, it freezes when any kind of disc is inserted into the CD/DVD drive. There is no blue screen but the mouse cursor and everything comes to a complete stop. If there happens to be sound playing it will freeze on whatever tone is playing. The only way out is a hard re-boot. It is often, but not always, necessary to re-boot 3 or 4 times to get it going again. After that it may work for 3 or more disc insertions before doing it all over again. It doesn't usually freeze up unless a disc is inserted. (Well, no more than any Windows machine does anyway)

I've tried new firmware etc... with no change.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Tmagic650]

It's time to replace the drive

 

[djzed]

I probably wasn't clear in the first post - this problem has continued since the computer was new. I contacted Dell but, as usual, they weren't very helpful.

 

[Tmagic650]

The drive may have been defective from the start. Why didn't you get the system checked when it was under warranty?

 

[djzed]

Mistaken post

 

[djzed]

I contacted Dell when I first got the computer but they weren't very helpful. I don't remember what they said was causing the problem, but it wasn't logical. It's always hard to get help with an intermittent problem. Also, I was getting ready to leave for an extended stay overseas (Africa) without communication and I needed the computer. I just got back to civilization so I'm trying to fix the problem myself.

Replacing the drive seems drastic when it works fine otherwise. I imagine I'm just stuck living with the problem.

Thanks anyway.

 

[Tmagic650]

Optical drives aren't hard to replace and they are cheaper now too. There's no need to be afraid to replace it. Have you tried an operating system restore

 

[insoman]

don't suppose you have Ahead InCD installed do you?

 

[djzed]

Yea, that installs with Nero, right?

 

[insoman]

run the nero remove tool(completely removes it unlike uninstalling) see if that changes anything

 

[djzed]

OK, I'll try that but what can I use to burn disks then? Is there a way to make it work? I

 

[Tmagic650]

You can reinstall Nero depending on what version... Stay away from Nero 7 and do not install anything but Nero Express itself

 

[insoman]

I second that