By Stephen Bucaro

Some time ago I purchased a motherboard, CPU, and memory from a local computer store. The sales person did me "favor" of plugging CPU and memory into motherboard. I held my breath as this was done with no care whatsoever taken to prevent damage from a possible electrostatic discharge.

A static discharge can damage or destroy integrated circuit electronics. The problem is that you may not see a visible spark. You may not know that a static discharge occurred. And, you are lucky if static discharge totally destroyed circuit.

Often a component is only damaged and appears to work. This type of damage can produce occasional or frequent errors. This is what technicians call "flaky" because failure does not occur reliably enough to be able to track it down.

By Stephen Bucaro

Today there are many forms of CD (compact disc) media. CD-RW allows you to over-write previous data. CD-R is one-time recordable. This article focuses on problems with standard CD-ROMs (read only media), but some of information also applies to recordable forms.

A CD-ROM is written by etching "pits" into surface of disc. To read a CD, a laser beam is directed at disc as it spins inside drive. The areas between pits, called "lands", reflect more light than pits. A sensor in drive reads data by measuring amount of reflected light.

Most problems with CD-ROMs are caused by mishandling. Fingerprints and scratches on surface of CD cause electrical noise when read in drive. Never touch recorded surface of a CD-ROM, always hold it by edges. Never put a label on a CD-ROM, this can cause it to vibrate because of an imbalance.

Use following troubleshooting guide.

Can't Read CD-ROM

First check obvious. Try another CD-ROM in drive. If you have another computer, try first CD-ROM in other computer.

Recordable CDs are made differently than regular CD-ROMS. Instead of etching pits into surface of disc, heat is used to burn spots on surface of disc. Some high-speed CD-ROM drives cannot read some recordable CDs. Also, file structure on a recordable CD may not be compatible with operating system.

No CD Sound

If CD drive starts, but no sound comes from speakers, try plugging a headset into jack on front of drive. If headset works, problem is in your speaker system or sound card.