DVD rom wont read discs

ryanoj

Hi folks, My DVD drive wont read dvds or cds. It wont auto run discs & if I double click the desktop icon it asks me to insert the disc!
Also my DVD RW drive wont read DVDs, but will read cds (its a 2nd drive).
Any input would be appreaciated.

Ruu_Old

Is there any lights showing on the DVD ROM or any spinning noises coming from it?

mr_disc

check Device manager, see if there is a problem indicated in there ( ususally with an exclamation mark, or it even could be disabled, which will also be indicated in there ), did you insttall any 3rd party software ( burning ) recently ?

ryanoj

The device manager shows no probs, the dvd rom flashes for a few minutes and then stops, the dvd rw drive flashes for a few secs and then stops. I didnt install any 3rd party software recently.

yoyo

ryanoj wrote:

Hi folks, My DVD drive wont read dvds or cds. It wont auto run discs & if I double click the desktop icon it asks me to insert the disc!
Also my DVD RW drive wont read DVDs, but will read cds (its a 2nd drive).
Any input would be appreaciated.

Sounds like a starforce copy protection problem, unfortunately the drives might be screwed if this is the case :S I reccomend visiting this site : http://www.glop.org/starforce/, you will find removal instructions and get helpful advice on their forum aswell. I had the same problem with starforce, it was a gradual decrease, burner went from burning coasters down to bad error handling and then kaput! Hope this helps

Regards

Nick

Edit: Have a look at the game site above if you need to see if your game was starforce protected

mr_disc

Are u using the same disc each time ?... could be just an issue with that dvd / cd ?

ryanoj

No, different discs,even movies. What is starforce??

mr_disc

My question exactly... what is star force ? !

yoyo

ryanoj wrote:

No, different discs,even movies. What is starforce??

A game copy protection m8, you prob wont know it, therefore I recomend reading the website http://www.glop.org/starforce/ for more info, it installs virus drivers and changes the way your drives mechanism operates, this causes drive failure, and it happened lots of people like me, as both your drives are kaput thats why I'm worried, and unfortunately starforce company will slag u, call you a pirate and wont help you,

Hope this helps, need any more advice ask me

Nick

CuLT

ryanoj wrote:

No, different discs,even movies. What is starforce??

The website linked three posts above wrote:

Starforce is a software copy protection tool installed by PC game publishers, which is designed to prevent the casual copying of retail CDROM applications. It installs as a hidden device driver, without the end-user's knowledge or consent.

^

mr_disc

ya but ryanoj didnt mention he was copying etc ??

yoyo

mr_disc wrote:

ya but ryanoj didnt mention he was copying etc ??

No m8, this software ruins your system as a legal, honest purchaser, I own 2 games, Dead to rights and KillSwitch which caused my drive failure, please read the forums contained in the link above to hear peoples troubles with the system, btw in the states ubisoft were sued millions for using this protection! So its as buggy and dangerous as your going to get, even with a legal disc, the game will refuse your disc and mess up your drives...

Nick

ryanoj

The last game I installed was "Warhammer 40,000 Fire Warrior" got an error on installation, and clicked on "ignore" and everything seemed fine. I dont make a habit of copying games btw.

yoyo

ryanoj wrote:

The last game I installed was "Warhammer 40,000 Fire Warrior" got an error on installation, and clicked on "ignore" and everything seemed fine. I dont make a habit of copying games btw.

Have you installed any games on the starforce list on that site in the past? AFAIK Warhammer isnt Starforce

Regards

Nick

ryanoj

Yes, Brothers in arms, Earned in blood. Checked device manager and I have "Starforce" drivers! what should I do? Please don't tell me my drives are f**ked.

mr_disc

i dunno, but i dont think it is anything to do with protected material, its a software r hardware issue, try re-installing the drives ( through device manager will be grand for this ), , if no joy, just boot with one drive hooked up and see if that makes a difference... try the drives on anothe rpc if u can........

8T8

ryanoj wrote:

Yes, Brothers in arms, Earned in blood. Checked device manager and I have "Starforce" drivers! what should I do? Please don't tell me my drives are f**ked.

While no fan of Starforce & it's awfully intrusive DRM I've never seen conclusive proof that it has damaged any DVDRW drives but that has been argued to death over the net.

If you wish to remove the Starforce drivers download this program, run it and they will be removed on the next reboot.

As for your problem DVDRW drives partially failing are a common occurrence due to the cheap components used in the vast majority of the drives if the Starforce removal doesn't change anything, then I would suggest updating the firmware of the drive as this can sometimes restore it to working order.

The next common interference is that you may have installed any drivers like NVIDIA's IDE driver if you have one of there motherboards as their drivers have a habit of messing with DVDRW drives.

Of course it could be the mechanics of the drive are faulty and I have had it happen many a time where it simply refuses to read one type of disc or the other in which case a replacement is the only answer.

Last but not least change the IDE cable or remove the drive and test it an a friend's PC to see if the issue persists if it does then you know the drive is defective and it is not a software issue.

zilog_jones

Yeah, i'd also recommend trying the drive in another PC.

yoyo

I have a dead Samsung CDRW drive here courtesy of Starforce, I'm not tryin to scare ya m8 but 2 drives going isnt just "coincidence" which is why I put the blame on starforce, I reccomend trying the drive in another pc, and see if they work there, if not the drives could be destroyed, as you can see go to the forums on the site I mentioned, optical drive failure and hard drive failure are a common starforce problem, and is caused by the starforce drivers, as for what you can do, I don't know but I know for a fact if you get new optical drive you can contact UBISOFT about the problem and maybe get them to compensate but thats a long shot,

Good luck m8

Nick