Optical Drive Access Question

[Hamhawk]

Why does the game need to spin up and try to read my optical drive every turn when I purchased the game off of steam and downloaded it?

[QuantumTarantino]

Hmm, doesnt do that to me.

[Hamhawk]

I know this doesn't rate high enough for a response but I have a very special optical drive that can play HD DVD's that I do NOT want over used. So an answer would be nice, or perhaps maybe a way to turn off to spin up. I do not want to open my case and unplug my drive every time I play Civ 5.

[Aurer]

It does not makes any sense, since it does not need to load files from disk each turn.. and it won't touch the dvd reader because the file is not being executed from there... and civ does not perform a dvd check (neither steam).

If you have any dvd or cd inside the reader try to remove it from the unit, also disable any antivir while ingame.

[Hamhawk]

You are right, it does not make any sense. My antivirus is always disabled when playing (special Gaming version) and I always keep the drive empty unless in use.

Nonetheles, my drive spins up every single turn. (WHIRRRRRRRR)

[Hamhawk]

I know I am not imagining this. I know it is a minor problem but an acknowledgement would be nice.

[Hamhawk]

Umm, hello tech support, anyone there?

[Tech Ian]

Strange issue - not one that I have seen on here previously.

Do you have any other games through Steam or just Civ V?

[Hamhawk]

Yes, of course. Team Fortress 2, Portal, Civ 4, Torchlight, and more. None if them try to access the drive while playing though.

[Tech Ian]

...and just to clarify - there is no disk in the drive when it does this?

[Hamhawk]

It spins up if there is a disk in the drive, and when there is not a disk in the drive.

[Aurer]

I'd try to make sure your system is clean, there are some bots/trojans that try to record themselves in dvds, like the ones that copy in usb drives, it could be looking for an empty unit.

[Hamhawk]

My system is completely clean of any virus. I used to work as a System Administrator for a large think tank company responsible for many innnovations that make this game possible, so I am very controlling over how my computer operates. A blinking access light every turn with an empty drive or a full spin up with a disk in the drive is a major concern to me. It is apparent that there is only one version of the game that has been adapted for download. This extra wear and tear on my computer system is unwanted.

[callan]

As a former sys admin you really should be comfortable with using the Group Policy Editor to disable the games access to that resource and thus work around this for yourself. The game obviously shouldn't exhibit this behaviour but since this is an obscure and uncommon problem you would be best off to simply help yourself here.

[Hamhawk]

I think I will look into doing that. It is a work-around as long as it does not stop the game from loading or working. A work-around is not a solution however.