Problem with Winamp & Freezing Problem with DVD/CD Rom

Hey all,

Alright, so I am running into more problems with this computer. again, this is a computer I havne't used in two years, and was only turned on once a month by my mother to make sure it ran a bit.

Here are the specs:

Intel Pent 4 HP Pavilion
3.2 Gig Processor
Windows XP
512 Megs of Ram
HP DVD/CD Writer
HP CD Player

Here are the problems:

1.) Whenever I put in a new DVD, it will randomly freeze up solid. I don't mean the program, but the entire computer. This has happened with DVD movies and blank DVD's.

2.) Winamp worked when I first used it a week ago. Now it refuses to play movies. Winamp can be closed, but videos do not start. It does play music though. I have tried reinstallation twice, including uninstalling Winampand then reinstalling it.

3.) Other things I have noticed is if I try to use my burning program, Sonic Record Now! and use the short-cut, it can't find the program. The path is correct though, and I can run the program if I go to the executable myself. Furthermore, once I use it, the .exe files does NOT shut down. If I do a Ctrl-Alt-Del, it is still there and I have to kill it manually.

I am one step away from reinstalling Windows (presuming I find the disc(s)), but wondered what in the world is going on here. And oh, for the problem with it starting up in my previous thread, I went ahead and reset the values to default setting in the BIOS and SO FAR things have been OK. Not sure how long that will last though...

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Based on the problems you were having in your earlier post, I would suspect either the video card, or video drivers (the fact that you can't get a display upon boot makes me suspect the former.) If you have one available, I would swap out for another video card. If you have on board video, just install a PCI video card and use that instead. If you still have the issues with no video, then look into finding and installing the correct video codec. You can use a program, such as gspot to identify the codec (I prefer this to simply downloading a codec pack, which adds a lot of unnecessary items.) Another way to go about doing this, would be to use a media player that comes with built in support for a wide range of formats (such as VLC).But if all else fails you can always attempt to do a clean re-install.

As for the optical drive, I would first download the latest drivers from HP's (or the manufacturers) web site. If that still doesn't work, see if there is a firmware update avilaible. If that doesn't work, then open the case and make sure the IDE cable is seated into the drive and main board. If that still doesn't fix it, you may want to consider replacing the drive.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Well, so far so good with updating the drivers.

The only issues now are 1) Winamp refusing to play any videos (note that other programs like Media Player does it just fine) and 2) Sonic RecordNow! not terminating correctly. Winamps really confuses me seeing as how it was working before.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

For the Winamp problem, are you opening a single video, or multiple videos in different formats? And have you tried performing a repair on Sonic Record Now!?. This can usually be done via the Add/Remove programs applet in the Control Panel, or by running the installer again. If the app is already installed you will be presented with an option to repair the installation, which should correct the problem shortcut (and may correct the hanging/burning problems.)

How ya doing, buddy?

For Winamp, I have tried multiple video formats to no avail. Didn't try your suggestion on RecordNow! Unfortunately, the DVD burner/freeze problem hit again. It SEEMS less frequent, but maybe I have just been super lucky...

How ya doing, buddy?

I kinda had the same problem with inserting dvds but I solved by asking my best friend google.
http://www.google.com.ph/search?q=in...ient=firefox-a

Basically its either:

- A background nasty is running (antivirus, antispyware etc)
- The DVD/CD drives drivers need updating
- You need to install ASPI drivers
- You need to enable DMA mode
- The DVD/CD disc is bad
- The DVD/CD drive's IDE cable is bad
- Lack of System memory.


unfortunately I dont remember which link I read, good luck!

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I think it's kind of strange that these problems have appeared out of nowhere, assuming your mother hasn't upgraded drivers and software while using the system. These out-of-nowhere problems always indicate some kind of trouble with the hardware, so you should first do a generic hardware check. That means: harddrive, cpu, chipset, ram, video card

What you shouldn't do: reinstall the system
It won't work when one of components I stated above is faulty. You will have the same problem again, or it will come again in the next weeks. That means another reinstall and so on, it only costs time and does nothing.

Get yourself some recent LiveCD that includes system check tools. Something like a Knoppix disc or else. Most of these discs include a memtest86 image. Use it for checking your memory (it will also check the chipset if your RAM is not accessed by the CPU itself).
Then use something like cpuburn for CPU stress testing. cpuburn should also include burnBX and burnMMX which are very good for combined memory and chipset checking. badblocks can check you harddisc for errors (only use the read-only mode if you don't want to damage your data, OR the safe write-read mode).
If that works you can reinstall Win and test 3D acceleration there. 3Dmark should do it.

Additional Spam:

Originally Posted by Roan

- The DVD/CD drives drivers need updating

There are no 'special' drivers for optical drives. Only one generic driver which wasn't updated in quite some time.

Originally Posted by Roan

- You need to install ASPI drivers

Don't do it. All recent tools use SPTI to send SCSI commands to the drives. You should only install some ASPI driver if your application really depends on it.

Originally Posted by Roan

- You need to enable DMA mode

It is in fact better to enable DMA because it takes work from the CPU. But if PIO-mode crashes the system then something else is wrong. And you should first check that before switching to DMA. That would be ignoring the real problem....

Originally Posted by Roan

- The DVD/CD disc is bad

Shouldn't affect the system. Can slow down extraction or make it impossible but nothing more.

Originally Posted by Roan

- The DVD/CD drive's IDE cable is bad

Could be indeed a problem. Confuses the interface and maybe the driver can't cope with that.

Originally Posted by Roan

- Lack of System memory.

Generates a warning message that Windows is expanding the swap.

FELIPE NO

Acid: Actually, I think the DVD/CD problem occured long before I left. Maybe even when I first got the computer. It's been quite a while but I vaguely remember that being an issue, but with me leaving and all, I felt it wasn't worth the effort to fix it up.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?