help with computer Device Manager

[jumpy]

I was going to ask this in another thread, but it got locked before I could post :88)
Looking at drivers for a certain bit of software, which I shall not name here, but of which we are all aware, I am checking out the 'show hidden devices' in the computer managment device manager window.
When you double click on the driver a panel pops up with 2 tabs on it- 'general' and 'driver'. On the 'driver' tab there are a number of entries:

service name.
display name.
current status.
startup.

The one I am interested in is Startup. There are several options as to how the device/driver should function:

Automatic
Boot
Demand
System
Disabled

The driver(s) in question are set to Boot- presumably meaning that when my computer starts the driver is initialised too. Now perhaps, for reasons of preserving some parts of my computers hardware from damage (speculation), I want to stop this driver from loading automatically, except for when a certain application calls it. Would I be right in assuming that if I set these drivers to Demand, then it will only run actively on my system when I put the disk containing the application into my DVD-RW drive and spinn it up?
I've tried to be circumspect with my language on this one so as to get a purely technical answer, but fear I might have let the cat out of the bag if ppl have strong oppinions on this unmentioned topic.:/\:
If anyone has some clue what I'm saying then please let me knnow if my assumption about driver operation is correct.
Ta.

[jumpy]

guess that's a no then...

[The Avon Lady]

So, this is a StarForce question, ay?

:rotfl:

[Jesper]

Yeah that is for sure STF.

You can set it to "DEMAND" but but but
the Service will keep running till you eventually reboots.

On that notice the STF driver is 2349745% harmless.
I have never seen a system that suffered from it, not even if the system contained \\'@R£Z. IMO all system failures that are blamed on STF are:
1: old and outdated CD Drive
2: p*ss poorly configured system
3: system was about to hang anyways
4: system needs a PC DOC !*

* Most people tends to think they know all about their Computer(s).. trust me they dont !

[jumpy]

So, this is a StarForce question, ay?

:rotfl:

Bah! you had to go and say it! :rotfl:

[Jesper]

So, this is a StarForce question, ay?

:rotfl:

Bah! you had to go and say it! :rotfl:

LOL as it was hard to guess :D :D :D

[jumpy]

You can set it to "DEMAND" but but but
the Service will keep running till you eventually reboots.

So you mean if I set it to demand, then reboot it will then only run when called, but will continue to do so until the pc it turned off the next time. After which when you turn the pc on again it will not load untill the app calls for it?

Basically I want to try and stop my drive spinning up ith a disk in it when I start my computer... this only happens with disks with SF on them.

[Jesper]

yes i would say so.

the issue that your cdrom drive spins up on boot while a disc is in the drive is not STF related tho

1: if its on BOOT then enter your BIOS and set it not to scan/check CD/DVD on boot (prolly named boot device cdrom enable/disable)

2: Windows will always index any cd/dvdrom that is in the drive on startup, cause window automounts cd's/dvd's, this one is very hard to by pass, unless you install Linux ofcuz :D

[Dead Mans Hand]

Erm, maybe a noob question but could you provide more information on the starforce CD? Unless it's overly personal, then, I really don't need to hear it.

Anyways, the driver isn't causing your CD-ROM to spin up (that seems to be the issue here, right?) That's your BIOS reaching out to check for hardware, when it detects the CD in the drive it will attempt to read it to see if the CD is bootable or not, that's all. It shouldn't do any damage to your CD-ROM though it is a, extremely minimal, extra bit of wear on it.

Also, drivers are attached to the kernel by the way, so while I'm not certain even if it's on demand, the driver should still be there, perhaps just not being used as the primary. Otherwise you'd have to reboot after turning it on for the kernel to recognize it. ja?

In short: If you don't want the drive to spin up (as much) leave it empty before booting.

[Jesper]

Also, drivers are attached to the kernel by the way, so while I'm not certain even if it's on demand, the driver should still be there, perhaps just not being used as the primary. Otherwise you'd have to reboot after turning it on for the kernel to recognize it. ja?
Its not the driver that is loaded on demand, it is the STF service.

[jumpy]

Erm, maybe a noob question but could you provide more information on the starforce CD? Unless it's overly personal, then, I really don't need to hear it.
Sorry, I don't quite understand what you mean?

ok, keeping it technical, I'm going to try leaving different disks in the drive and boot up when I get home from work and see what happens.
I don't really want to change the bios boot order if I can help it, as I set it that way for a reason...
All I will say on this so far is that when the drive 'spinns-up' when I first boot the computer, it's not the normal quick 'buzz' you get from the drive when windows is checking for something to load from- in that case usually the drive will spin for a couple of seconds, the little light will come on then it stops. What I am talking about here (and experimenting with trying to prevent/alter) is my optical drive constantly spinning for about 20 minutes non-stop at what sounds (and feels through vibration/resonance in the case- how I noticed it in the first place) like higher revolutions than normal; it's like it's constantly cycling at very high revs, a completely different sound to when the drive is reading or writing at 52x speed. So far the drive 'works' in all respects, but I am certain it never made the strange spinning noise until I installed the two games mentioned in my posts here (http://subsim.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=44560&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0)(starts posts on page 3) ok, just noticed that topic is open again :cool:
I'm trying to keep a fairly open mind as to the cause of the problem here, but this sounds all too familiar to what some other people are reporting in connection with this software. I'm fairly tech savvy when it comes to using computers, but that doesn't mean I have micro$oft certification or whatever :lol: suffice to say if it ain't broke, then I don't try and fix it. The issue here is wheather or not something is broken and what, if anything, I can to to remedy it. So far, the only solution (mentioned in the other topic) is to remove any disk from the drive before shutting down and any subsequent rebooting of the machine, and whilst this in itself is a straightforward suggestion, it still does not answer to the root cause of this 'problem' I and others appear to be suffering from.

[Jesper]

ok lets get one thing straight here.

does it start spinning on
A: boot? (while the system self tests etc)
B: startup? (while windows is starting)

If it is on boot then it has nothing to do with STF since the driver isnt loaded till windows is about 1/3rd thru its start seqenece
The only 2 explainations I have for a 20 mins spin here is:
1: Drive is getting worned out (if its all discs)
2: Few discs are worned out so drive has a hard time indexing them

If it is during startup:
it can be the same 2 issues as above
You can disable the autorun feature
You can eject the disc before boot
You can set the STF service only to be used on demand

my brain is ceasing to function properly now, its weekend and i have deserved it (for once) :D