rogerb

Tootec/Plastic Nev, Back again - sorry. I have not yet installed the replacement drive you recommended. Hope to be able to do so next week. That drive (the TEACDW 224E DVD/CD Rom) will do everything except recognise a blank DVD -RW. Everything else on that drive works fine (including DVD -RW that I have recorded onto) The other drive I have on the laptop is a Ma****a DVD-RAM UJ815A. This one only seems to play and recognise SOME prerecorded DVD's not all of them. I can't distinguish what determines why it will read some and not others of the pre-recorded. It doesn't seem to recognise any blank disks of any format and will not read any disks that I have recorded to. Is this drive faulty as well or could this be a software or other problem, Thanks in anticipation Roger

Tootec, Thanks I'll get a replacement. Yes it is a laptop. I do have another DVD -RAM drive (Ma****a DVD-RAM UJ815A) in the laptop but this only seems to read pre -recorded DVDs. Is that all it is designed to do? Sorry to be thick but I don't understand the different functions of the two drives.

Thanks Plastic Nev and Tootec. Not doubting your assessment but does the fact that the drive will read both DVD -R and DVD-RW disks that contain burned video without any problem change your view. Roger

Toottech, Thanks. I've been through device manager as you suggested and uninstalled drive and rebooted. Now when I put a disk in the drive the drive light continues to blink and if I select the drive I get a message " Windows cannot read from this disk it may be corrupted or could be using a format that is not compatible with windows". Still plays audio CDs

Stuck again but I remember the support you gave me last time so back again!!! I have a TEAC DW 224E DVD/CD Rom which will read recorded DVD's and CD's and record music to CDs (-R) but will not read blank DVD-RW disks so wont let me burn to them. I used to be able to burn DVD's using this drive (I'm almost certain!!!). Device manager tells me that the drive is working correctly. I have run a check for driver up dates from one of the programmes on the internet and it doesn't list any updates available for the drive - although the driver installed seems to date back to 2002. I've tried two different manufacturers blank DVD -RW discs and get the same effect from both. The drive will read DVD -RAM disks but havn't got any blank DVD-R to try. Thanks in anticipation Roger

Hi Plastic Nev, Sounds like I might have just struck lucky. Will take your advice re the vacuum cleaner etc in future. All still running fine at the moment - will post again if the problem recurs. I appreciate the support from all of you.

I'm holding my breath and hoping now. The problem seems to be solved - at the moment. just wonder if the apparent cause and solution surprises people. I backed every thing up and worked through the restore to factory settings and then re-installing the basic programs and driver updates etc. No difference at all and the problem still persisted. Tried the get to the fans to clear and clean dust etc but I was not brave enough to dismantle as much as seemed necessary to get access so gave up and resorted to a brush and strong vacuum of the air vents surrounding the fans. Result = at the moment video from the CD Drive works perfectly no other issues with the operation of the laptop. The machine is running noticeably cooler with fans cutting in far less frequently. Seems like overheating was causing the problem and causing high CPU usage - or do you think I have inadvertantly done something during my efforts to dismantle and re assemble (coincidentally) to cure?

No I have never touched the heatsink/fan etc and the fan runs most of the time!!

Just seen reference on another thread to high and spiked CPU usage caused by cooling fan and wonder if this might provide a clue to my problem. My laptop is 4 years old and is turned on most of the time. The fan runs a lot of the time and the machine is quite hot most of the time. I didn't realise the fan would effect CPU usage but if it does could this explain why I get the freezing on video from CD? When playing video the CPU usage from the CD player is c 50% - could the spike in CPU usage caused by the fan take up the hearoom and cause the problem? When watching fron YouTube the usage by explorer is much lower and would give more headroom when the fan kicks in so CPU is not "maxed out". - Just novice's guess!!

Sorry for delay in coming back. Took some time to backup, recover key numbers, restore factory settings and get connected again. Has not resolved the problem with video from CD freezing etc but downloads from You tube now seem OK with little CPU usage when they are being run. Still getting high CPU usage when CD is running and freezing. CD's themselves with video seem to take c 50% of CPU usage but now not showing high "services.exe" usage at time of "freezing". just "system idle" taking the bulk of the rest of CPU usage % . I havn't re-installed iTunes yet so can't try downloaded vids from them at the moment. Is this suggesting CD hardware drive is faulty? What else can I try?

Thanks BeeCeeBee. All backed up and am trying to find my Windows XP valiadation code before tackling the "restore to factory setting."

Thanks. I haven't yet backed up but was proposing to copy all of "My Docs" onto my external hard drive and to check that the iTunes items that I have purchased are copied to the external in My Music (although at the moment I have not re-installed iTunes). Is there anything else I need to do? I'll be back when this has been done but it might be later today or tomorrow.

Sorry if this thread seems interminable - I am computer illiterate and that probably doesn't help but at this rate I will be a lot wiser by the end of it and certainly less intimidated by the technology!!! The disks I have are: Product Recovery WinXP Home SP1 and System Security for AJP Products (the laptop supplier) Device Drivers and Utilities and User Manual (Clevo I Presume) The security software is Avast Anti Virus.

I have been through each of the folders and run all of the exe files that will run - with the exception of those that are for uninstalling. There were about 30. I didnt run those that were stated as earlier versions of windows. Some would not load giving me various error messages ie FGL panel "unable to detect hardware"/ GIG LAN "instruction@ 0x7c910f9 could not be read". Some of the exe files seem to be duplications of others within the head folder. No difference in the problem and I now can't get any sound and the manual buttons at the front of the laptop won't adjust volume.

RandyL I have downloaded all of the drivers from the Clevo website that relate to my model. I have installed the video and audio ones only - I think/hope!!! I am not at all confident abouwhat I am doing with these. Each download is a zip folder which when I open has other folders with a number of different files and several with .exe extensions. Do I need to "run" every file with an exe extension?

Yes with both uninstalled. The effect of "pause" is that the CPU usage drops after a minute or so and then the video will play again and repeat the problem. It takes a few seconds when you press play again after pausing to play properly. When the freezing starts and you try to press pause it is very slow to pause. The task manager shows "services.exe" jump then after a minute or so of pause drop back to 4-6%.

I have run a prerecorded DVD in the DVD slot and it runs fine with Task manager showing CPU usage at 18-20% and "services.exe" at 4-6% consistently. I have streamed a video from YouTube and that behaves in exactly the same way as the CD - freezing and stuttering after about 2mins and "services.exe" jumping to 30-50% at the same time. Other tasks on the computer don't seem to have a material effect on CPU usage of "services.exe"

I have just checked again when off-line. The same thing happens with CPU usage in "Services.exe" jumping a couple if minutes into the video from 4-5% usage to 30-50% usage at the same time that frame freezing and stuttering begins.

I have now uninstalled iTunes/QuickTime and other Apple programmes to see if these were causing or contributing to the problem. No change - just as bad. It seems that the problem starts 2-3mins into the programme whether that be the CD with video on or You Tube. Both show 100% CPU usage when the freezing starts and then stays at that as mentioned above.

Thanks Plastic Nev. have done as you suggested. When the video from CD is playing properly the CPU usage from task manager allocated to CD is c.30 -50%. When the freezing etc starts the usage allocated to the CD is at the same level but services.exe jumps to c.30-50% also.

Tootech suggested earlier in thge thread that I download drivers from the Clevo website to ensure all are up to date. There are a number of different drivers listed against my model. Am I safe to download and run all of these or do I risk making matters worse. Is it worth a try?

Thanks forn this. I have run the speedtester.bt to see if this is causing the buffering on You tube and this seemed OK and the streaming indicator seems to show plenty of lead time. I get the same problem with iTunes that I have saved to my playlist. Whilst the DVD does exhibit the same effect it is nothing like as pronounced as the CD Drive playing CD's with video. I'll do as you suggest and watch this space. Thanks again for trying.

Sorry if I am using the wrong expression. What happens is that after a short while the video becomes "jerky" as though it freezes on a frame them jumps some and freezes again. Sometimes the audio continues with the frozen frame being displayed and sometimes the audio "drops out intermittently" also. I think this is the same effect that you get when streaming video sites sometimes? I have checked the Task Manager Performance tag whilst playing a CD with video on it. At the time the "freezing" etc occurs the CPU usage leaps to 100% and stays there or at high 90% while the effect is happening.

Thanks beeceebee thats reassuring as I appreciate your efforts. I think it just spikes as the "buffering" starts but I will check if it continues when I get back to the home computer in a couple of hours. I will let you know.

Have I breached a protocol that I don't know of and offended my helpers or am I not using the forum correctly or have we reached an impasse and the problem has stumped everybody? I hope it is none of these !