CD drive runs with nothing in it:

[The Boston Rag]

Greetings,

I'm hoping someone can solve this little problem I've been having with
my CD drive.

Certain games cause it to start up and whirr at top speed even when
there is no CD in the drive. (it may be a fan, but to me it sounds
like the drive...)
In both instances, it was a game I downloaded off the net, burned to a
CD and later copied the CD to my hard drive.
The reason I loaded these games onto the hard drive in the first place
was so I wouldn't have to listen to the drive while playing the game.
When playing the game with the CD in the drive, the thing just whirrs
constantly. When playing it without the CD it whirrs sporadically. I
try alt/control/delete at times to see what process is running, but
a/c/d causes the whirring to stop before I can see what's going on.
Of course, the whirring starts up again the instant the game is
resumed.
I should note that both these games are possibly dos-based or
something...they both completely take over the system in a different
way than other games I've tried.

The games are: a Hoyle's card game, and MS Links 2003 (golf)

I guess these games need to be installed in a different way.
Can anyone offer any advice as to what may be going on, and possible
fixes.

Thanks very much.
-TBR

Final note: I just talked with a friend who has a similar problem
with Netflix videos in his laptop drive.
The drive plays the videos, but it spins constantly and loudly...only
with the netflix vids.
Is there a possible fix for him ?

Thanks again.

 

[Noozer]

The games are: a Hoyle's card game, and MS Links 2003 (golf)

I know that Hoyles put a big load on the CPU. When I have that running my
CPU fan will start running at top speed.

Try disconnecting the power from your CD drive and then playing. I bet the
sound is still there.

 

[The Boston Rag]

I know that Hoyles put a big load on the CPU. When I have that running my
CPU fan will start running at top speed.

Try disconnecting the power from your CD drive and then playing. I bet the
sound is still there.

Thanks for the advice.
That's a bit drastic, but I might give it a try...just to see what
happens. It would be a pain to have to reconnect it every time I want
to use the drive though...

Now that I think of it, it must be the fan, since the noise persists
even when I open the CD player...

Thanks again for your input.

-TBR