Disk Drive or CD-ROM Access Light Blinks Every Few Seconds

• Microsoft Windows 95
• Microsoft Windows 98

SYMPTOMS

Your computer's disk drive or CD-ROM access light may blink every few seconds, even though your computer is idle.

CAUSE

If the Auto Insert Notification option is enabled in Device Manager, Windows checks for the presence of a CD-ROM in the CD-ROM drive every few seconds. Most CD-ROM drives return an answer directly, but some drives blink the drive light before returning an answer. This behavior can occur with IDE, SCSI, and proprietary CD-ROM drives.

If your computer contains a SCSI controller, Windows polls the SCSI bus periodically to determine the status of the bus and the devices installed on the bus. On some computers, the disk drive access light on the front panel turns on when any SCSI device, or the SCSI bus itself, is accessed. On these computers, the disk drive access light turns on each time Windows polls the SCSI bus. In addition, if the computer contains a SCSI CD-ROM drive, the CD-ROM access light may blink in conjunction with the disk drive access light. This blinking of the CD-ROM access light is independent of the Auto Insert Notification option discussed above.

RESOLUTION

You do not need to take any action. However, if you do not want the CD-ROM access light to blink, you may be able to prevent this behavior by disabling the Auto Insert Notification option in Device Manager. To do so, follow these steps:

1. In Control Panel, double-click System.



2. Click the Device Manager tab, double-click CD-ROM, and then double- click the installed CD-ROM device.



3. Click the Settings tab, and then click the Auto Insert Notification check box to clear it.



4. Click the Close button. When you are prompted to restart your computer, do so.

Additional query words: 98

Keywords          : kbenv kbhw win95 cddrive 
Version           : 95 98
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbprb 

Last Reviewed: March 3, 1999