PC locks up when installing from CD-RW

[Gravel Rash]

I've recently rebuilt a PC based around a 1.33Ghz Athlon. All the parts
involved have been verified as working and the system itself has managed to
install XP and run the usual stability tests (Prime95 & SANDRA) without any
errors or lockups. The system is not overclocked and all voltages have been
checked under MBM5 and seem satisfactory.

However, everytime I try to install software from CD-ROM, the PC freezes
half way through. I've had this problem half a dozen times with both Nortons
System Works and Office XP and can't find any likely sources of the problem.
The CDRW in question was working fine two days ago in another system, and
has no problems reading from CDs in explorer. Likewise, both CDs have
installed faultlessly on other systems previously. The point at which the
PCs lock up is also seemingly random points during the install, as opposed
to at the same point every time.

Anyone got any ideas?

 

[mike]

I've recently rebuilt a PC based around a 1.33Ghz Athlon. All the parts
involved have been verified as working and the system itself has managed to
install XP and run the usual stability tests (Prime95 & SANDRA) without any
errors or lockups. The system is not overclocked and all voltages have been
checked under MBM5 and seem satisfactory.

However, everytime I try to install software from CD-ROM, the PC freezes
half way through. I've had this problem half a dozen times with both Nortons
System Works and Office XP and can't find any likely sources of the problem.
The CDRW in question was working fine two days ago in another system, and
has no problems reading from CDs in explorer. Likewise, both CDs have
installed faultlessly on other systems previously. The point at which the
PCs lock up is also seemingly random points during the install, as opposed
to at the same point every time.

Anyone got any ideas?

I had a similar problem last year with an athlon 950 machine from Fry's.
Darn thing passed every diagnostic test I could throw at it, just
wouldn't load software.
Took it back and got a celeron. CD problems went away.
Was nice to meet all those other people in the return line with their
athlon machines. So, I guess it wasn't just me.
mike

--
Bunch of stuff For Sale and Wanted at the link below.
21' RV, 400cc Dirt Bike
Police Scanner, LCD overhead projector
Tek 2465, ham radio, 30pS pulser
Tektronix Concept Books, spot welding head...
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Monitor/4710/

 

[Gravel Rash]

There is no inherent problem with Athlon processors that should give rise to
an inability to load software. There can be issues relating to the IDE
drivers used with the VIA chipsets that find their way into Athlon
machines - and which the change to the Celeron eliminated. An updated IDE
driver (or the use of Windows XPs own IDE driver for VIA) would probably
have done the trick. VIA has produced a large variety of updates over time -
some clearly better than others.

Agreed. Prior to the current rebuild, my Athlon 1.33Ghz performed with great
stability and a good deal better performance than any equivalent Celeron or
Pentium. It makes the problem all the more frustrating, since the CD-RW in
question performed faultlessly in a similar previous setup. I'll try a few
different IDE drivers and see how I go.

Notwithstanding the indications that this illegally shared around software
maybe pirate copies of dubious merit,

I'm not too sure what "indications" you're basing this on - I have two OEM
versions of Windows XP for the two PCs here and the woman from Microsoft I
spoke to on the phone was satisfied that I was entitled to reinstall and
reactivate one of these CDs alongside an upgrade edition of Office XP (I
also own an old Office 97 CD) on my rebuilt PC.

the likely cause of this issue is a
weak CD reader that is having difficulty reading the CDR material.

Possibly - it's a Ricoh 7125A 32x21x6x CDRW which has had minimal usage over
two years. Any ideas of a diagnostic program that could confirm this?

 

[Graham Mayor]

I'm not too sure what "indications" you're basing this on - I have
two OEM versions of Windows XP for the two PCs here and the woman
from Microsoft I spoke to on the phone was satisfied that I was
entitled to reinstall and reactivate one of these CDs alongside an
upgrade edition of Office XP (I also own an old Office 97 CD) on my
rebuilt PC.

I did not mean to cast unwarranted aspersions - however, you indicated that
you had tried the CDRW in another machine and I took this to mean the disc
as opposed to the drive, which apparently you meant - so apologies.

Possibly - it's a Ricoh 7125A 32x21x6x CDRW which has had minimal
usage over two years. Any ideas of a diagnostic program that could
confirm this?

Ricoh drives have in the past suffered from lubrication problems. The
lubrication dries out which randomly causes the tracking mechanism to
stick. Whether this is your problem or not is hard to say, but is certainly
a possibility given the age of the unit. If you search at Google for Ricoh
Lube, you should be able to find the references and instructions for
re-lubrication.