MovieTime

Q: I have Windows XP with the above item. I was able to watch movies in the DVD-ROM slot and it went on the blink. I then went to the upper slot DVD+RW/CD-RW and watched movies from that, but sad to say, that also stopped working. I tried the upper slot a while ago, the light blinks, and there is a grinding noise. After four minutes the blue rectangle came on the screen, but no movie. When I checked the directions tab, the word play had no check mark by it as in the previous occasions when it was working. I clicked on play, but nothing happened.
Hayden
A: There are few moving parts within a computer and when they have problems it is obvious. As a rule of thumb, any grinding sound coming from a computer is not a good thing, but I suspect that you know this already. Optical drives like CD and DVD ROM drives lifespan is dependent on two main variables, environment and uses.
The more that you use it, the faster that it will die on you. This is probably even more prevalent with optical drives that are also burners. The simple truth may be that both drives just expired on you and they will need replacing, but I find the timing of their problems suspicious.
This is where environmental factors come into play. Variables such as power surges and heat build up are among the leading culprits. Heat build up in your computer is often found in places where they are exposed to a significant amount of dust and smoke. Both collect inside the computer and not only act as an insulator for the heat that is a natural byproduct of computer use, but they also hinder optical drives in another way. The build up of dust and ashes that find their way into CD and DVD drives can accumulate on the lenses of those drives. It essentially blinds the optical drive, making it more difficult for the drive to read disks. This means that the disc spins in the drive continuously or it may even begin to spin faster as the drive tries to compensate for the degraded ability to read the disc. This can lead to excessive wear on the drive causing the bands and gears that move the drive to become misaligned, and just like that you have a grinding sound.
Let’s hope that this is the problem. If it is, then your drive may become operable again with the assistance of a can of air, although grinding sound may be yours to keep. Also, this warning sign may serve to save your computer as whole, by allowing you to clean out your entire computer before your processor over heats or you experience motherboard problems. In which case it would be game over. If a through dusting of your computer and drives doesn’t allow you to view DVD’s then you may need to replace the drives.