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I am using Windows 7 (x64) and my DVD drive starts spinning slowly, then goes faster and keeps running so for tens of minutes: exactly the same behaviour as to normally use a disk, but with no disk! In addition to be noisy, this consumes a lot of memory and processor resources.

My PC is a desktop unit, custom system (from China through french retailer Grosbill) with:

Initially, it happened only when connected, while running a video or visiting a site built with Flash. When the video stops or the site is sleepy, the DVD keeps running, but it stops if I kill the involved tab.

So I suspected something wrong with the Flash plugin of my Firefox (both always up to date). But recently I experienced the same behaviour while Firefox was launching, without any culpry page to restore.

I have also noticed that this behaviour happened during reboot, beginning just after connecting to my profile! Then I had the idea to open the DVD drive to stop it: but it has immediately closed itself! And the process continued running about 20 minutes, then stopped, exactly like if a real job had been executed.

What could be happening? Any comment will be greatly welcome.

UPDATE:

Today a new the drive happened to run by itself. Using “MS Process Explorer” I observed that the app which seemed to be responsible of that was AcroRd32.exe: very strange, since no Acrobat Reader was running!

Nevertheless, the DVD activity stopped a few seconds after I killed the 2 AcroRd32.exe instances.

Here you may look at process activity and resources consumed while it’s running:

enter image description here

UPDATE:

Thanks to @Blackbeagle and @Nate Barbettini, I identified that the problem has nothing to do with the DVD drive: it is a fan that makes this sound incredibly similar to the DVD spinning!
I installed the CoreTemp utility (thanks to it, very simple installation), which showed the incredible variation of CPU temperature when the noise sounds: for a max admissible temp of (Celsius) 105°, and a usual temp about 60°, it was going up to 98°!

So I had requalified my question: I modified its title and added appropriate tags; nevertheless I have not removed the "DVD" tag, since it is a serious culprit candidate until informed...

Now I can assert that the problem is: at times, with no identified reason the Acrobat Reader AcroRd32.exe Windows service starts to consume CPU and memory resources, while simultaneously causing a significant increase in CPU temperature.
Its responsibility is clearly confirmed by the fact that stopping the service drastically brings down the temperature after a few tens of seconds.

And the real question becomes two questions:

  1. Why this service is suddenly working at a high level, without any reason?
  2. Why is it causing a significant increase in CPU temperature?

Thanks in advance for your comments.

cFreed
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2 Answers2

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I don't think it's your DVD drive you're hearing - it's a fan running at a high speed due to high CPU activity or high system temperatures. Cooling fans, especially the smaller ones, can sound very similar to a disc drive spinning up.

Check the Task Manager and see if any processes are maxing out the CPU. Try exiting or disabling unneeded background processes using msconfig to eliminate any culprits.

The fan noise could be an indication that your system is overheating, either because of improper airflow, or improperly installed or malfunctioning cooling devices. If you're comfortable doing so, check to make sure your CPU heatsink is seated properly and that your system has adequate internal airflow.

Nate Barbettini
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Seems to involve video. You said it happens on websites with Flash and Adobe. Try and unplug the power from the drive - you don't need it normally anyway. Test again. If you still get that whirring, I'm going to guess the video card fan as the culprit. To test that theory, run with the case off and go to a known site that caused the issue and see if the video card fan spins up. If you put your finger on the edge of the card's fan housing, you may get an idea of the vibration before and during the site visit to see if you get more vibration while you're at the site.

It is possible for it to also be the CPU fan as well - not sure how much Adobe and Flash are CPU or GPU bounded.

Blackbeagle
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