Why does Windows freeze briefly when a CD/DVD is inserted?

[HyunYu]

This is something I've observed about the way Windows PCs (I don't know about Macs) behave when a CD/DVD drive is loaded. There is a brief pause of 12-14 seconds when the drive spins up and in the meantime nothing can be done on the computer. I think I first noticed it when I got an 8x CD-ROM back in the mid-90s and thought, "huh, the old 2x drive didn't do that..."

It appears the specific specs of PCs in question doesn't really matter--this happens pretty much universally, in my experience.

So, all these years, I've kinda written it off as a quirk in the way the OS handles removable media, but I was wondering if anyone knew the technical know-how behind this, and if there's a way to avoid it (other than not using the drive!).

 

[GeeFizzleDizzle]

I have a similar issue. When I insert a disc into one of my optical drives it causes my system to be 99.9% unresponsive for 5-10 seconds until the system has finished accessing the disc's data...I don't say 100% because I can still move my mouse around, just anything I try to do doesn't respond for those 5-10 seconds.

This is very irritating and I hope someone can offer a solution.

 

[Rubycon]

Been that way for ages. If you have network drives and the network is unavailable the browsing is very slow too. (on first open)

Insert a disk and open Nero - same thing. Takes a while. Quite annoying especially when you're in a hurry. (and who isn't?)

 

[PingSpike]

Yes, this is pretty irritating. Especially when you're putting the disk in for something you're going to do in a few minutes, while you're trying to do something else right now. You'd think they would have solved this by now...I don't see why the whole OS needs to come to a standstill just because some one put a CD in the drive.

I'd say it was the autorun thing...but it happens even when autorun is disabled!

 

[Tiamat]

Agreed. The pause is quite irritating. I've become accustomed to it, but it is very annoying nevertheless.

 

[sandeep108]

And none of these dual core and core duo help?

 

[gsellis]

IIRC, this problem is minimized if OS is on SATA and CD/DVD is on a secondary EIDE channel. This problem is MAXIMIZED if the OS or page file drive is on the same EIDE channel as the CD/DVD drive. Also, if you use something like InCD, your performance as you insert a disc will degrade. Same deal with Autorun enabled.

 

[JAG87]

I know there is a pause, but my computer can still be used... it just freezes anything that has to do with the drive such as explorer, any burning programs, and so on. But if I am on the internet surfing for example, and I put in a CD, it just spins up, it does not freeze my computer for 12 seconds...

 

[NuAlphaMan]

I get the same response as JAG. I can still use my PC, but if I try going into explorer or anything that uses the CD drive, it freezes until the CD has finished spinning. It's something you just get used too.

 

[Raduque]

This happened to me when I had my storage drive slaved to my DVDRW. Solution - put the optical drive on it's own cable with no other drives.

 

[Noema]

If there's something that can make my otherwise rock-stable rig crash or freeze, is the optical drive.

 

[Fishy007]

If the DVD drive is on the same channel as the drive with the OS, it'll pause. However, if they're on separate channels, the pause will be minimal. I've got my DVD drive on the IDE controller and my OS is on a SATA drive. When I pop in a DVD, I can do other things while I wait for Windows to recognize the disk.
I used to have the dvd drive on the same IDE channel as the hard drive about 2 years ago though and the system would just STOP whenever I inserted a disk.

 

[Ausm]

Originally posted by: Fishy007
If the DVD drive is on the same channel as the drive with the OS, it'll pause. However, if they're on separate channels, the pause will be minimal. I've got my DVD drive on the IDE controller and my OS is on a SATA drive. When I pop in a DVD, I can do other things while I wait for Windows to recognize the disk.
I used to have the dvd drive on the same IDE channel as the hard drive about 2 years ago though and the system would just STOP whenever I inserted a disk.

:thumbsup:

I agree my rig is setup this way and never pauses.


Ausm

 

[michal1980]

if the os and the cd are on the same ide cable you will get a pause.

the ide interface with master slave, allows acess to basically 1 drive at a time.

The pause in windows when its all on seprate drive. I would attribute to windows being dumb, and basically not allowing some hardware access while mounting the disk

 

[vulcanman]

The reason is the lock that is put on the bus (IDE in this case). Typically the bus is shared by multiple process ... each getting a time slice to do its stuff. If the process cannot get done within that time slice the system snatches it away and gives it to the next one in the queue ... that is unless the process makes a high-priority request that cannot be taken away until the task is done. CDROM access being one such action. There are other similar situations - have you ever had a process that you can never kill ? Even though in the past you were able to kill this very same program / process ? In this case the process is inside the smaller ring doing something that cannot be interrupted.

/\/

 

[acole1]

I remember getting this pause, but I dont remembering having it any time recently (last couple of years). I suppose it could align with my use of a SATA drive for OS.

This would agree with what everyone else is saying about it only being an issue when you have the drive and OS HD on the same cable.

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: Fishy007
{q}If the DVD drive is on the same channel as the drive with the OS, it'll pause. However, if they're on separate channels, the pause will be minimal. I've got my DVD drive on the IDE controller and my OS is on a SATA drive. When I pop in a DVD, I can do other things while I wait for Windows to recognize the disk./q]

I just ran an experiment. I have two DVD drives - one internal on IDE Controller 2, and the other external Firewire.

When playing DVD movie with PowerDVD 7 on the external Firewire drive, there is no perceptible delay. When I play it on the internal drive - there is a very slight delay. I have never had my CD or DVD drives on the same controller channel as my OS drive. I conclude that Fishy makes the point very well.

 

[Kakumba]

yup, both my DVD drives are on seperate cables, and I use SATA HDDs, so I dotn remember getting that pause on this computer. on other computers, its annoying.

 

[SparkyJJO]

No pauses here. HD on SATA, DVD burner and CD burner on IDE channel 1. Only pauses I get is if something (like Nero) is looking for info about the drive or what is in it when I first put a disc in, but hey it has to spin it up. Other than that, no problem.

I have found that you never want your HD on the same IDE channel as the optical drive because of this.

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: Fishy007
If the DVD drive is on the same channel as the drive with the OS, it'll pause. However, if they're on separate channels, the pause will be minimal. I've got my DVD drive on the IDE controller and my OS is on a SATA drive. When I pop in a DVD, I can do other things while I wait for Windows to recognize the disk.
I used to have the dvd drive on the same IDE channel as the hard drive about 2 years ago though and the system would just STOP whenever I inserted a disk.

I get the pauses and have no IDE devices in the system at all.

 

[JBT]

I get the pause as well. I've got my OS on my SATA Raptor and a CD/DVD normally goes into my DVD-RW on IDE. It is quite annoying. Really there should be no pause at all IMO.

 

[grrl]

Hmm, maybe I should invest in a SATA drive.

 

[gsellis]

Curious, what is everyone's definition of "pause"? I get an "Explorer fails to refresh drive mappings" moment. Are others getting the old Windows "Mouse quits moving" moment?

 

[Alex]

Originally posted by: Ausm

Originally posted by: Fishy007
If the DVD drive is on the same channel as the drive with the OS, it'll pause. However, if they're on separate channels, the pause will be minimal. I've got my DVD drive on the IDE controller and my OS is on a SATA drive. When I pop in a DVD, I can do other things while I wait for Windows to recognize the disk.
I used to have the dvd drive on the same IDE channel as the hard drive about 2 years ago though and the system would just STOP whenever I inserted a disk.

:thumbsup:

I agree my rig is setup this way and never pauses.


Ausm

second that!

i don't have SATA but i moved my DVD drive to the secondary channel and disabled autorun and i don't really notice much of a pause anymore and if there is one its <5 seconds so doesn't really bother me...

 

[vulcanman]

You guys mostly missed the original poster's point - he was not asking if you notice a pause, how long it is and if it bothers you. Rather, he was curious to learn the behind-the-scenes technical details that cause it to happen.