Occasionally when i try to install a program or game i get a message saying...

CRC error- the medium from which you are installing may be corrupt.

Or words to that effect.

Any ideas, it is happening on both my dvd-rom and dvd-rw.

A corrupt or dirty disk seems to be the general reply to this error.

Some suggestions in this thread:

http://www.opentechsupport.net/forum...c/33030-1.html

& a more general search:

google

i dont think so, this happens on numerous cd's and dvd's. the discs are clean and some even brand new.

How old is the Sony DVD-RW? How dirty is the inside of your case? Does sony have a new Firmware update for the DVD-RW? If its only happening on CD/DVDs then its something in your drive.

its happening on both my drives, any ideas?

Im thinking it may be the ide cable????

A new cable would be a fairly inexpensive try. You may be right.

Does this happen with all disks? Or do some work & others not?

some work some dont, i have swapped IDE cables last night but still the same prob, i do however have a new DVD-RW on its way so it may be both drives are knackered but i doubt it.

Edit... Still does it with brand spanking new drive.

The only other constants are the HDDs, Memory and Processor.

Just swapped all RAM around and its not the RAM, 1GB of brand spanking new Ram fresh from the box and still did it, im running out of ideas and Patience now.... ;-)

Have you tried turning off DMA?

1.
Open Device Manager.

2.
Double-click IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers to display the list of controllers and channels.

3.
Right-click the icon for the channel to which the device is connected, select Properties, and then click the Advanced Settings tab.

4.
In the Current Transfer Mode drop-down box, select DMA if Available if the current setting is "PIO Only."
If the drop-down box already shows "DMA if Available" but the current transfer mode is PIO, then the user must toggle the settings. That is:

• Change the selection from "DMA if available" to PIO only, and click OK.

See if this affects your errors.

• Then repeat the steps above to change the selection to DMA if Available.