So, as I said in another thread, my computer was fucking up and since I wanted to get a new HD anyway and put windows 7 on it, I did that. It has been working a dream so far, but a problem that I noticed (and was blaming the OS for until now) was that when my DVD drive works hard for a few minutes, or sometimes even when it just reads an old CD or something like that, it will without warning restart my computer, and the problem is more pronounced now. This I don't like.

Having googled for similar problems on my model # (it's an LG GSA-4167B), I found this, which says that certain problems happen because some capacitors are shoddy/worn out, and can be fixed by replacing them (mind you, I've had this drive for almost 4 years and it's been fine until recently). No-one on that thread seems to have had their computer restart though, it's usually just read/write problems.

My questions: should a screwy DVD player even have the power to restart the computer? Is there some way I can remove that power? Any other hints on what the problem might be, or should I just replace the capacitors like that thread says and see if that works?

Cheers, Schu

No, I actually had that thought just then. It's 400W and almost 4 years old, like the rest of the computer, and the fact that it's got 2 hard drives going now is probably a little taxing. It only has the onboard video chipset thingy, but I do want to get a video card for it relatively soon, so that would just be more of a problem.  Also the fact that the power board I have it attached to has  3 other things on it can't help.

The thing is, though, that the computer ran with that amount of stuff (minus the new HD) for over 3 years and had no problem, and then about a month ago started having this issue, so I still suspect there's something wrong with the optical drive itself. Power supply could well be related though, and if I want that video card, I'd probably better upgrade the power supply anyway, I suppose.

It does sound like something's overheating. and you can't really replace capacitors... they're the standing up cylindrical thingies attached to your motherboard. give them a look over, make sure none of them are bulging on top (they should be flat) or starting to pop open. if either of those things is happening, it's a sign of imminent motherboard failure.

I'd clean out the case with some compressed air, make sure it's dust free, and then try monitoring all your system temperatures next time you try and put in a CD, using a program like speedfan.

If it's a power supply problem, it could be the connectors on the PSU to the DVD drive.. you could try using a different connector on the same power supply, or you could try replacing the power supply if you have another one kicking around. a 400W power supply should easily handle a basic PC with no graphics card, even with a few extra hard drives, so I doubt that it's insufficient wattage, though the PSU itself might be failing and not actually be providing enough power.

I'd try replacing the PSU, or at least borrow one from a friend and see how it works with your hardware.
I've had customers bring me machines with the same problem and I encountered one in my flatmate's machine, and every time the PSU was to blame.

As Shitdick suggested, the power supply unit seems to go nuts once the optical drive siphons some more power to read the disc. The reading problems, on the other hand, are probably due to the CDs and/or the drive itself feeling the pasage of time (my old Starcraft CD was so used up that I couldn't play the first campaign - it just couldn't read the cutscenes in the third mission - and that was years ago).