System crashes when I insert an audio CD in my DVD drive

[DigitalBear]

Good day techies...I beg for your help.

Not sure if this falls into the "hardware troubleshooting" category...but I wasn't sure where else to go first.

I have a new system, just bought it in September. Everything's relatively stable except for a little problem; whenever I insert an "audio cd" into my DVD drive...it almost immediately crashes my computer. As in, my computer acts as though someone hit the power button. It just completely reboots. When it boots back up...I'm told "Windows has recovered frm a serious error". No doubt.

This does not happen with DVDs, Data CDs, Data DVDs. Only CDs with music on them.

I was using Winamp to play my CDs. The problem seems to be exacerbated with Winamp. Sometimes, if I don't have Winamp running, I can get CDs to play music via Windows Media Player...but it still doesn't stop the computer from booting when I insert a different audio CD. I have done everything I can think of to Winamp, but I do not think Winamp is the source of the problem.

Checklist of stuff I've tried...
Problem happens with both purchased and burnt CDs.
I have changed the bitrate on my sound card from 96 to 48 khz, but this doesn't fix the problem.
I have disassociated Winamp from CD audio playback including unchecking CDA filetypes in the Winamp prefs. No luck.
I have made sure Windows XP is NOT set up to "auctomatically" play CDs when they are inserted. DVDs will autorun, but CDs will not.
I have a second CD Drive installed in my tower. If I put a CD in THAT drive, it's fine. Unfortunately, it's a crappy CD player as it's old old old.
I have made sure that I am using the most up to date drivers for my DVD Drive. Firmware is also most recent version.

I am at my wits end on this one. Please, if anyone has any suggestions or is experiencing the same problem, I would greatly appreciate your help.

I am dying to fill my super huge hard drive with music from my CD collection.

System Specs
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual
Core Processor 4200+
2.21 GHz
1.00 GB of RAM
Windows XP Pro
Service Pack 1

DVD Drive is a:
Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-111D

I thank you all in advance.

 

[Triple-X]

Have you tried switching your other drive with the DVD drive? As in swap connectors? I also have a pioneer dvd-r/rw etc. but mine is DVR-108. When I insert audio discs it plays them fine, so it could also be your actual drive that is the problem. I would try to swap places with the cd drive and see how that works. If not, you might want to RMA the dvd drive. I don't know what else could be the problem.

 

[DigitalBear]

Thank you.

My secondary CD Drive is using IDE cable while the new Pioneer one is SATA. This makes switching the connectors pointless as they are very different. Perhaps I will try disabling the older CD Drive completely as it's pretty much useless at this point.

Any other suggestions? I am ready to pull my hair out.

 

[Triple-X]

So you said you were able to play the cd from the dvd drive momentarily correct? Using WMP? You might want to uninstall/reinstall winamp, and maybe upgrade WMP to 10 or 11. What is the manufacturer of your PC? You might want to give them a call and see if they can replace the drive. I wouldn't think that the PC would reboot when CD is put in because of some software or settings. I'm pretty sure something's up with the drive. If all else fails you can try a reinstall of Windows. Since you recently got the PC it should be easy to back-up all necessary data.

 

[DigitalBear]

Addendum

So, since posting originally...I have some additions to make.

The problem seems to be random. I can usually get the drive to read about 1 or 2 audio CDs before it crashes on either the second or third. Sometimes it's the first CD that makes it crash.

I can put the CD in the drive..the drive light goes "on" and it reads the contents. The problems occurs when I try to read the contents of the CD by double clicking on the "DVD Drive" icon on the "My Computer" page. Or if I try to have ANY media player (Winamp, BS Player, Windows Media Player 10) play the disc. Yes, I updated Windows Media Player to see if this corrects the problem. It does not.

I was erroneous by stating that the other CD Rom Drive does not create this problem. It does, in fact, happen if I put an audio CD in that drive as well. So, this would eliminate the possibility that it's a hardware problem with the DVD Drive. This must be a software problem. The strange thing is that if it were a software problem you would assume that it would do the exact same thing each time an audio CD is inserted. This is not the case. As I mentioned before it seems to happen every second or third time. Sometimes even with the first CD I put in it. Everything seems to be kosher until I try to double click on the drive icon and see what's on the CD. This is where the problem originates and this is when it crashes.

Hair pulling has begun. I will look a lot more like Homer Simpson if this isn't resolved soon.

 

[Drizo]

Do a recovery install of XP, not a fresh one. Just insert the XP cd and reboot the pc, and let it enter setup instead of loading XP... then choose recovery install. See if that helps, it could just be some corrupted driver.

 

[DigitalBear]

Re: Repair Install of Windows XP

Wouldn't it be the same thing to just "update" the driver using the Windows XP install disc? I really do not want to do the repair install...as I'm sure certain settings I have enabled will default to their initial settings...making further troubleshooting even more difficult.

Any other suggestions? The help is truly appreciated.

 

[DigitalBear]

So, I have uninstalled the device driver for my DVD Drive. Then, using the Windows XP install disc...I have reinstalled the driver. Did a reboot, put in a CD and it crashed as soon as I tried to see the contents of the CD in "explorer". Problem is still there. I have passed Frustration Street and am about to arrive at Wits End.

 

[DigitalBear]

When I look at the "Driver Details" of my Pioneer DVD Rom - it shows me a "Microsoft Driver".

Driver Provider: Microsoft
Driver Date: 01/07/2001
Driver Version: 5.1.2535.0
Digital Signer: Microsoft Windows XP Publisher

Now, besides this NOT being a Pioneer Driver - it's quite OLD. Is this correct? How could I get a more up to date DVD Driver? I have tried to locate one from pioneer, but all I ever get is the opportunity to download Firmware updates - and I'm told I have the most up to date version of the firmware. I can't seem to locate an actual Pioneer "DRIVER" as such. Should it be Pioneer or Microsoft?