Cd drive runs continiously with no disk in it

[Phillychip]

My cd drive runs continiouly when I use my computer. As soon as I stop using the internet it stops. I have a dell 531. A few years old with lots of pictures on it. Could this be a memory problem. Any help appreciated as it runs continiously and is annoying.

Thank you,
Phillychip

 

[Combat Wombat]

if you suspect that it's a mem problem... run a mem test;
http://www.memtest86.com/download.html

I don't think it would be the memory causing the optical drive to run constantly... maybe something on the lens that makes it want to constantly read... or a registry error that causes a constant read.

Does this drive read a disc when you insert them?
Have you tried a new optical drive?

 

[Phillychip]

Thanks for the reply. Yes it does read discs fine. No I did not try new Optical drive.

 

[Combat Wombat]

Try a new optical drive, and if it does the same its the OS.