Author Topic: DVD lost in Update (was Regular laptop freeze issue)  (Read 1215 times)

DVD lost in Update (was Regular laptop freeze issue)
« on: 02 January, 2022, 12:11:59 am »
Sure I posted on here ... but can't find it.

~10 yo laptop, win7, 8GB Ram, i5 2.6GHz, HD Graphics 4600.

For the last month it has started to freeze after running for a bit (usually minutes, but it appears to be able to run browsers for longer - office or copying data seems to make it freeze faster).  Seems to be linked to trying to open iTunes.  It's an old work laptop which has not auto-updated since 2015.
It works fine on safe mode.

Any ideas?  Could it be an overheating/fan issue or is it likely an HDD issue?  I have tried scf and chkdsk which have yielded sweet fa.  Any thoughts on the likelihood that a new SDD hard disk would sort it out?

Also, it can't run my son's minecraft for shit.  Which makes no sense as it is well above min specs.  Could this be a "hasn't updated since the dark ages" issue?

Finally, I could update to Win10 - but graphics drivers are not "fully" supported.  No idea what that means. 
simplicity, truth, equality, peace

Re: Regular laptop freeze issue
« Reply #1 on: 02 January, 2022, 08:20:04 am »
Anything in the Windows event log ?

Reason I ask is that my current W10 laptop is prone to freezes, usually when I'm using my browser (which is mostly what I use the laptop for nowadays) and normally resolves itself after a couple of minutes although very occasionally it needs a complete reboot.

I'm not next to the machine at the mo, but I'll look up the exact event log message that's created when that happens and post it later.

jiberjaber

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Re: Regular laptop freeze issue
« Reply #2 on: 02 January, 2022, 09:22:47 am »
Sure I posted on here ... but can't find it.

~10 yo laptop, win7, 8GB Ram, i5 2.6GHz, HD Graphics 4600.

For the last month it has started to freeze after running for a bit (usually minutes, but it appears to be able to run browsers for longer - office or copying data seems to make it freeze faster).  Seems to be linked to trying to open iTunes.  It's an old work laptop which has not auto-updated since 2015.
It works fine on safe mode.

Any ideas?  Could it be an overheating/fan issue or is it likely an HDD issue?  I have tried scf and chkdsk which have yielded sweet fa.  Any thoughts on the likelihood that a new SDD hard disk would sort it out?

Also, it can't run my son's minecraft for shit.  Which makes no sense as it is well above min specs.  Could this be a "hasn't updated since the dark ages" issue?

Finally, I could update to Win10 - but graphics drivers are not "fully" supported.  No idea what that means.

HDD issue would be my guess, on our similar vintage (Lenovo) machine the HDD was a hybrid mechanical with SSD cache and when the cache starts to fail it would sit there unusable as though something in the background was using up all the resources. A new HDD (SSD one) solved the problem.
Regards,

Joergen

Re: Regular laptop freeze issue
« Reply #3 on: 02 January, 2022, 09:29:46 am »
If it is fine in safe mode, it points to a crap driver is installed. As above look at the errors in the event log.

Re: Regular laptop freeze issue
« Reply #4 on: 02 January, 2022, 01:07:04 pm »
I've checked my W10 event log, and the error that corresponds to my disk freezes is as follows:

Source: iaStorA
Level: Warning
Event ID: 129
Reset to device, \Device\RaidPort0, was issued.

Happens once or twice a week, on average, with maybe one unrecoverable freeze per month.

Re: Regular laptop freeze issue
« Reply #5 on: 08 January, 2022, 06:51:28 pm »
Spent a couple hours backing everything up on a brand new external hard drive, then discovered when I installed Win10 that all the files would be stored in a Windows.old directory ...

Appears not to be crashing.  I may spring for an SSD anyway, though possibly this would be overkill as he machine struggles to run minecraft.
simplicity, truth, equality, peace

Re: DVD lost in Update (was Regular laptop freeze issue)
« Reply #6 on: 09 January, 2022, 11:18:26 am »
In an attempt not to flood the sub forum with another post:
I have updated to Win10 and the laptop no longer sees my DVD/CD Drive (MATSHITA DVD-RAM UJ8E2).  Apparently drivers date back to 2006 but it doesn't find any updates to install.  In Device Manager the DVD Player doesn't appear unless I "show hidden" in view.

Following a number of online suggestions, but any thoughts would always help.  Tried removing and reinstalling drivers which worked - for 5 seconds!  Restarted and could see the DVD player, but then it vanished from "this PC".
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Mr Larrington

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Re: DVD lost in Update (was Regular laptop freeze issue)
« Reply #7 on: 09 January, 2022, 11:40:41 am »
After reinstalling Windows 10 last weekend my CD/DVD/Bluray drive no longer shows up in Explorer either, which I'm sure it used to, but it's still there and still works if you prod the button on the drive and bung a disc in it.  Whereupon Explorer suddenly cries “Oh look, there it is after all!”  Until the next reboot.
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Re: DVD lost in Update (was Regular laptop freeze issue)
« Reply #8 on: 09 January, 2022, 12:05:34 pm »
I remove drivers and restart - it sees my CD for long enough for iTunes do rip one track off the album, then the devce disappears!
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Wombat

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Re: DVD lost in Update (was Regular laptop freeze issue)
« Reply #9 on: 09 January, 2022, 12:06:57 pm »
Yes. this, precisely...
Win10 doesn't seem to understand optical drives, and refuses to believe that my blu-ray drive is anything other than a CD drive, but then when I put a blu-ray in it, I can see the drive contents, but put anything else in it and it can't.  It still actually works just fine, but I've given up expecting explorer to see it properly, and have to go straight for an application that uses it.  If I want to copy files from a round shiny thing onto the PC, I need to plug in my external DVD drive.  Barmy...
Wombat

Re: DVD lost in Update (was Regular laptop freeze issue)
« Reply #10 on: 09 January, 2022, 12:37:36 pm »
Well, I just got my external CD drive from 1million years ago, but plug it in and it is not recognised.  I reckon all I need to do is identify the drive and install drivers - but my only clue is that it's a black box that has "COMPACT DISC" written on it.
simplicity, truth, equality, peace

Kim

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Re: DVD lost in Update (was Regular laptop freeze issue)
« Reply #11 on: 09 January, 2022, 05:09:59 pm »
Windows will never be ready for the desktop while users have to put up with this sort of rubbish...

Feanor

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Re: DVD lost in Update (was Regular laptop freeze issue)
« Reply #12 on: 09 January, 2022, 05:51:51 pm »
Windows will by default hide empty drives.
In Windows Explorer, go to View, and navigate to Options.
On the View tab,  un-check 'Hide Empty Drives:


HideEmptyDrives by Ron Lowe, on Flickr

ian

Re: DVD lost in Update (was Regular laptop freeze issue)
« Reply #13 on: 09 January, 2022, 06:21:52 pm »
Erm, what an incredibly useful feature.

Feanor

  • It's mostly downhill from here.
Re: DVD lost in Update (was Regular laptop freeze issue)
« Reply #14 on: 09 January, 2022, 06:29:40 pm »
Not as stupidly dangerous as the following option to 'hide extensions for known file types'!

Re: DVD lost in Update (was Regular laptop freeze issue)
« Reply #15 on: 09 January, 2022, 09:05:08 pm »
Thanks, it actually loses the CD/DVD player - as mentioned stopped ripping a CD after 1 track and no sign of it again until the next restart.

My workaround is that the work laptop I have can rip CDs using WMP, then I just copy over the files using the external hard drive.  Sadly the work laptop requires portable drives to be bitlockered and that took about 3 hours to encrypt.  Add on some features of iTunes which added more trouble than was necessary - but in the end I have something that sorta works - just not on one laptop.

Seeing as the CD player is for the occasional ripping of CDs (requiring me to buy a CD, e.g. there is something new out there I want that isn't cheaper/easier to mo3 download) I reckon I can live with it.

V pleased that the laptop is working again - must have been the outdated driver issues.  Seeing as I was braced to spend in excess of £500 for i5 and 16GB of RAM, having i5 and 8GB of ram at the cost of a working CD player is pretty sweet.
simplicity, truth, equality, peace

Re: DVD lost in Update (was Regular laptop freeze issue)
« Reply #16 on: 09 January, 2022, 09:21:54 pm »
Even older DVD drives can work with more modern drivers. The problem is that removing a driver via device manager usually still leaves the driver in your installed driver folder. When Windows does a driver search it will reinstall the old one. If you remove the old DVD driver by the command line that usually does the job. Windows will then install a modern W10 generic one that’s compatible.

I had the old DVD driver problem when trying to get W10 to boot in UEFI secure boot mode which requires hardware compatibility signed drivers to work.